Staff Reporter, Rangpur :
Sufferings of the cattle farm owners and rearers have mounted under Taraganj upazila in Rangpur district due to sudden price hike of fodder across the upazila.
According to sources per sack (37 kg) of wheat bran is being sold at Tk 1,450 to Tk 1,500 against its previous price of Tk 1,240 to Tk 1,250 couple of weeks ago. Per sack (25 kg) of gram husk is sold at Tk 1,220 to Tk 1,240 while it was sold at Tk 950 to Tk 960 few weeks before. Per kg rice bran is sold at Tk 10 to Tk 12 against its previous price of Tk 9 per kg few weeks ago.
Upazila Livestock Office sources said there are some 125 dairy farms in the upazila, those have been providing major share of milk in markets. There around 900 cows in the farms.c Besides, cattle farmers and rearers under the upazila have around 70,000 cows.
Mashiur rahman a cattle farmer of village Jagodish of the upazila said that he has 20 milch cows in his farm. Per day two sacks of wheat bran and one sack of gram husk are required for his cows. Due to exorbitant price of fodder he is facing serious difficulties in providing the cattle with adequate feed. As a result the cows are getting feeble which may affect production of milk, he apprehended.
In this situation the owners of the dairy farms and cattle farmers urged the concerned authorities to take effective and immediate steps to control the price hike of fodder.
Wheat harvest nearing completion in Rangpur region
Harvesting of wheat is nearing completion now with excellent yield rate despite a shortfall in the fixed farming target in five districts under Rangpur agriculture region.
Officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said a target of producing 78,418 tonnes of wheat from 23,763 hectares of land was fixed for the region during the current Rabi season.
“However, farmers have finally cultivated wheat on 19,810 hectares of land, 3,953 hectares or 16.64 percent less than the fixed farming target of the crop this time,” said Horticulture Specialist of the DAE at its regional office Khondker Md. Mesbahul Islam.
Of them, farmers have cultivated wheat on 1,610 hectares of land in Rangpur, 3,230 hectares in Gaibandha, 8,200 hectares in Kurigram, 1,440 hectares in Lalmonirhat and 5,330 hectares of land in Nilphamari districts of the region this season.
Farmers have already completed harvest of wheat on 16,967 hectares of land, 85.65 percent of the total land in the region.
“The farmers have so far produced 54,415 tonnes of wheat with an average yield rate of 3.21 tonnes per hectare in the region,” Islam said.
He said the fixed target of wheat farming could not be achieved following expanded cultivation of maize on more land as farmers got repeated bumper production and lucrative price of maize in recent years. Islam said the market price of newly harvested wheat stands at Taka 25 per kg now on an average.
Talking to BSS, farmers Manik Mian, Nizamul Haque, Sunil Kumar, Azgar Ali and Farhad Hossain of different villages here said they already completed harvest of high yielding wheat varieties and got yield rates between 3.18 and 3.30 tonnes per hectare.
“We are showing more interest in maize farming for its better yield rate and lucrative price with huge demand in local markets. So, wheat farming is decreasing now,” said farmer Arif of village Najirdigar here.
Deputy Director of the DAE of regional office Md. Moniruzzaman said farmers are getting better yield rate of wheat despite shortfall in the farming target adding that harvest of the crop would complete by the next week in the region.
Sufferings of the cattle farm owners and rearers have mounted under Taraganj upazila in Rangpur district due to sudden price hike of fodder across the upazila.
According to sources per sack (37 kg) of wheat bran is being sold at Tk 1,450 to Tk 1,500 against its previous price of Tk 1,240 to Tk 1,250 couple of weeks ago. Per sack (25 kg) of gram husk is sold at Tk 1,220 to Tk 1,240 while it was sold at Tk 950 to Tk 960 few weeks before. Per kg rice bran is sold at Tk 10 to Tk 12 against its previous price of Tk 9 per kg few weeks ago.
Upazila Livestock Office sources said there are some 125 dairy farms in the upazila, those have been providing major share of milk in markets. There around 900 cows in the farms.c Besides, cattle farmers and rearers under the upazila have around 70,000 cows.
Mashiur rahman a cattle farmer of village Jagodish of the upazila said that he has 20 milch cows in his farm. Per day two sacks of wheat bran and one sack of gram husk are required for his cows. Due to exorbitant price of fodder he is facing serious difficulties in providing the cattle with adequate feed. As a result the cows are getting feeble which may affect production of milk, he apprehended.
In this situation the owners of the dairy farms and cattle farmers urged the concerned authorities to take effective and immediate steps to control the price hike of fodder.
Wheat harvest nearing completion in Rangpur region
Harvesting of wheat is nearing completion now with excellent yield rate despite a shortfall in the fixed farming target in five districts under Rangpur agriculture region.
Officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) said a target of producing 78,418 tonnes of wheat from 23,763 hectares of land was fixed for the region during the current Rabi season.
“However, farmers have finally cultivated wheat on 19,810 hectares of land, 3,953 hectares or 16.64 percent less than the fixed farming target of the crop this time,” said Horticulture Specialist of the DAE at its regional office Khondker Md. Mesbahul Islam.
Of them, farmers have cultivated wheat on 1,610 hectares of land in Rangpur, 3,230 hectares in Gaibandha, 8,200 hectares in Kurigram, 1,440 hectares in Lalmonirhat and 5,330 hectares of land in Nilphamari districts of the region this season.
Farmers have already completed harvest of wheat on 16,967 hectares of land, 85.65 percent of the total land in the region.
“The farmers have so far produced 54,415 tonnes of wheat with an average yield rate of 3.21 tonnes per hectare in the region,” Islam said.
He said the fixed target of wheat farming could not be achieved following expanded cultivation of maize on more land as farmers got repeated bumper production and lucrative price of maize in recent years. Islam said the market price of newly harvested wheat stands at Taka 25 per kg now on an average.
Talking to BSS, farmers Manik Mian, Nizamul Haque, Sunil Kumar, Azgar Ali and Farhad Hossain of different villages here said they already completed harvest of high yielding wheat varieties and got yield rates between 3.18 and 3.30 tonnes per hectare.
“We are showing more interest in maize farming for its better yield rate and lucrative price with huge demand in local markets. So, wheat farming is decreasing now,” said farmer Arif of village Najirdigar here.
Deputy Director of the DAE of regional office Md. Moniruzzaman said farmers are getting better yield rate of wheat despite shortfall in the farming target adding that harvest of the crop would complete by the next week in the region.
