BSS, Panchagarh :Agriculture experts at a crop cutting ceremony here Wednesday stressed for expanded cultivation of the off-season, short duration and indigenous parija rice as an additional Aus crop for attaining national food security. RDRS Bangladesh, a reputed NGO, organised the ceremony at a farmers’ field day for harvesting parija rice at the field of farmer Salah Uddin at Shikarpur village of Dhakkamara union under Sadar upazila in the district. The NGO organised the field day under the ongoing five-year term ‘Improving Food Security Governance in South & Southeast Asia through Strengthened Participation of Organisations of Marginalised Farmers’ Regional Project.’The regional project is being implemented in Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Myanmar to improve livelihood of 10.20 lakh marginalised households, including ethnic communities, with financial assistance of the European Union and Dan Church Aid. Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) SM Ashraf Ali attended the occasion as the chief guest with Chairman of Dhakkamara Union Samaj Kallyan Federation Dulen Chandra Roy in the chair. Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Abdul Matin, Programme Manager (Filed Coordination) of RDRS Bangladesh for Panchagarh Hasina Parveen, its Project Manager of the Regional Food Security Governance Project Mahfuz Alam, Agriculture Officer Masud Parvez and Technical Officer Feroz Bulbul addressed as special guests. A total of 265 male and female farmers of the area attended the filed day followed by crop cutting ceremony. The main objective of the event was to demonstrate the ‘early Aman rice-mustard- potato-mungbean-parija (Aus) cropping pattern’ evolved by RDRS Bangladesh to enable the farmers in getting four crops from same land annually. The experts said expanded cultivation of parija rice as Aus crop during the off season between Boro and Aman cultivations without supplementary irrigation can contribute in keeping rice production increasing despite climate change to ensure food security. They said the farmers completed transplantation of 15 to 18 day-old parija rice seedling by May 31 last and the harvest will end by August 15 next to produce 3.5 to 4.14 tonnes additional paddy as Aus crop per hectare on an average. They said parija rice can be harvested in 70 to 75 days after seedling transplantation during the off season in between late May and mid-August when the fields remain fallow after Boro harvest and before plantation of Transplanted Aman rice seedlings. The chief guest lauded the efforts of RDRS Bangladesh for expanding cultivation of parija rice in increasing rice production ensuring four crop yields annually from the same land to attain sustainable food security. He suggested the farmers for further expanding parija rice cultivation that requires no supplementary irrigation as its plants grow well making the best use of unused seasonal rain waters during the months of May, June and July to produce additional rice.
