BSS, Rajshahi :
Large-scale promotion of raised-bed technology needs to be given importance for boosting farming outputs in cost effective manner to ensure food security, agricultural scientists and researchers here said.
Raised-bed planting of various cereal crops including transplanted aman and wheat is advantageous in areas where ground water level is receding and herbicide-resistant weeds are creating a problem, they added.
The observation came at a farmer’s field day titled “Transplanted Aman Farming in Bed Planting Method in Drought-prone area” held at Shahapur village under Charghat Upazila of the district yesterday. Regional Wheat Research Centre (RWRC) and Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) jointly organized the event with financial support from Krishi Gobeshona Foundation (KGF).
KGF Executive Director Dr Nurul Alam addressed the discussion as chief guest with Dr Israil Hossain, Chief Scientific Officer of RWRC, in the chair. KGF Programme Director Dr Rahim Uddin Ahmed, Deputy Director of DAE Abul Kalam Azad and Senior Scientific Officer of BRRI Dr Nazmul Bari also spoke as special guests.
During his welcome address, RWRC Senior Scientific Officer Dr Ilias Hossain narrated the aspects and salient features of bed planting method and its farmer’s level expansion.
For planting wheat and other crops on beds, a tractor drawn bed planter is used. The bed planter is mounted at the back of a medium size tractor. In one pass of tractor, the front big lines of planter makes two beds and three furrows and seed drill at back sow three or four rows of wheat and heavy iron bar behind it close the seeded rows and smoothen the beds, he detailed.
Dr Ilias Hossain told the meeting that the wheat was cultivated on around 1.67 lakh hectares of land in the region last year and 5,000 hectares of those were brought under the bed-plantation method. He expected that the wheat farming in the modern system will be increased in next season.
In addition to the wheat, farmers were seen showing to adopt the method in some other seasonal crops like mugbean, maize, potato and lentil in next season.
Under the conventional system, the single largest constraint requires planting of wheat in the country late in winter, leading to a poor yield. Sowing bed could be a good alternative to the country’s dominant wet culture, he said.
Bed planting improves water distribution and irrigation efficiency, gives better results in using fertilisers and pesticides and reduces weed infestation and crop lodging. It saves crops from disturbance from rats, Dr Israil Hossain revealed while sharing his expertise on the issue.
The pattern helps farmers save 30 percent irrigation water and 30 to 40 percent of seeds and fertilisers.
To maintain sound soil health, it could be advisable to grow rice using a different system in order to improve compatibility between monsoon rice and upland winter crops.
Dr Hossian recommended minimising the constraints for the sake of sustainable rice and wheat production. Farmers needed to be aware about the resource conserving technologies and modern scientific methods so that wheat production remained technologically sound, economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally secure.
While sharing views two local farmers, Habibur Rahman and Nasim Ahmed, said that they got two bed-planter machines from RWRC and cultivated wheat on around 500 bighas of land last year. They harvested 5/7 mounds more yield from per bigha of land than the conventional system.
The donation inspired them to purchase two more machines. By which, they will cultivate wheat on around 750 bighas in the coming season.
Besides, they have become machinery service providers and are doing business and making money through sowing seeds on others lands. Similarly, the landowners are also getting benefits of the technology.
The farmers, however, said they need subsidy to purchase adequate planters for large-scale expansion of the wheat and other crops farming in the region.
