An extensive plan has taken to cultivate T-Aman paddy in all the seven upazilas of the district during the current season.
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) office sources said a total of 1, 21,259 hectares of land would be brought under T-Aman paddy cultivation this year with the production target of 3,13,475 tonnes of rice.
Of the total, 1,04,445 hectares of land would be cultivated HYV (high yield variety) with an output target of 2,84,080 tonnes of rice, 1,005 hectares hybrid with the target of 3,317 tonnes and 15,809 hectares LV (local variety) with the target of 26,078 tonnes, sources said.
The upazila wise break up of the land to be cultivated is 17,700 hectares of land in Sadar upazila, 13,950 in Sadullapur upazila, 12,500 in Palashbari upazila, 28,900 in Gobindaganj upazila, 25,500 in Sundarganj upazila, 14,500 in Saghata upazila and 8,209 in Fulchhari upazila.
Meanwhile, to bring the land under the farming the farmers of the district have prepared seedbed of 6,871 hectares of land where the seedlings have grown well.
Earlier, to make the cultivation programme a success, Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) and its approved dealers distributed high quality Aman seeds to the farmers of the district at fair prices.
Besides, different state run commercial banks including Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank have taken initiatives to disburse Agri-loans on easy terms to the poor and marginal farmers to help them cultivate T-Aman paddy on their land without economical hardship, said a bank official.
In addition, DAE is conducting training to the farmers for adopting modern technologies of paddy cultivation, crop management, proper use of fertilizer and preservation of quality seeds, said Golam Mostafa, additional deputy director-crop of DAE.
To ensure the production of T-Aman paddy in the district this year, Barinda Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) has also kept its electricity run 334 deep tube-wells fully ready to supply irrigation water to the Aman paddy field, if necessary, said executive engineer Habibur Rahman Khan.
Talking to the BSS deputy director of DAE Mir Abdur Razzak said necessary measures have taken for availability of fertilizers, insecticides and other Aagri-inputs at the grass root level of the district during the current Aman season.
