BSS, Rangpur :
Expanded cultivation of short duration mungbean as an additional cash crop brings more profits to the farmers side by side improving soil health and meeting local pulse demand.
Agriculture experts viewed this at a farmers’ field day organised by RDRS Bangladesh, an NGO, on cultivation technologies of BARI Mug-6 and harvesting the crop in village Uttar Barovita under Barovita union in Kishoreganj upazila of Nilphamari on Monday afternoon.
The field day was arranged for disseminating farming technology of mungbean adopting the cropping pattern of ‘Short duration Aman rice- mustard/potato-mungbean- short duration Aus (pariza) rice’ among farmers to get four crops on same land annually.
The NGO evolved the new cropping pattern in 2011 with assistance of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agriculture University and Krishi Gobeshona Foundation.
Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) for Nilphamari Golam Md Idris attended the event as the chief guest with Chairman of Barovita Union Federation Arbindu Roy in the chair.
Kishoreganj Upazila Agriculture Officer Enamul Haque addressed the occasion as the special guest.
Agriculture and Environment Coordinator of RDRS Bangladesh Mamunur Rashid delivered welcome speech on the occasion participated by over 200 male and female farmers of the area, NGO and public representatives, local elite and journalists.
Mamunur Rashid narrated the newer cropping pattern that substantially improves soil health, environment, ecology and livelihoods of the poor effectively paving way for getting four crops annually on the same land bringing more profits to farmers.
Under the programme, RDRS Bangladesh extended assistance to 350 farmers for setting up of 350 exhibition plots of BARI Mug 6 and BU Mug 4 on 350 bigha lands, with one bigha land by each farmer, in Nilphamari district alone this season.
“The short duration and high yielding varieties pulses of BARI Mug 6 and BU Mug 4 can be harvested in only 65 to 70 days (seed to seed) to get average yield rate of 1.2 tonnes per hectare or 4 mounds per bigha,” Mamunur Rashid added.
After harvesting the BARI Mug-6 on the occasion in only 62 days after sowing mungbean seed on his 35 decimals of land on March 16 last, farmer Niharanajan Sarker of the village got over four mounds of the pulse.
The chief guest called for popularising the newer cropping pattern and asked the farmers for expanded farming of BARI Mug 6 and BU Mug 4 to earn more profits and meet local pulse demand saving foreign exchange.
