Agri researchers focus on motivating farmers for increasing crop intensity

SYLHET, Oct 20: Speakers, including agriculture researchers and officials laid emphasis on motivating the common farmers in modern technology for increasing the crop intensity and production.

Besides, the government should provide further assistance for both grassroots and field staff to achieving the goal, they said in a day-long regional workshop at the Sylhet District Council on Saturday.

Things could be achieved through increasing irrigation facilities, raising the use of quality seeds and by bringing arable lands under cultivation in the division, which has huge potentiality and fertile lands, the speakers added.

Over a hundred officials from different farm institutions in the region took part in the workshop.

Director of DAE, Field Service, Md Abdul Muyeed addressed it as the chief guest and Project Director of the 'Raising crop intensity in Sylhet region' project Md Ohiduzzaman was the special guest.

DAE Additional Director, Sylhet division, Md Altabur Rahman chaired the event and deputy directors Md Abul Hashem of Sylhet, Md Shahjahan of Moulvibazar, Mohammad Ali of Habiganj and Bashir Ahmed Sarker of Sunamganj attended the event, among others.

The project director said Sylhet region's crop intensity has been raised from 165 to 169 per cent against the national 192 per cent, so there had been no alternative to increase the yields of all crops since there had been a huge potentiality and vast tracts of fertile land here.

This region has also a good prospect of diversified crops through raising irrigation facilities and using high-yielding variety seeds of all high-value crops, he said.

Since seeds are the root of farming process, agricultural production could easily be raised by 15 per cent to 20 per cent only through using quality seeds, the speakers noted.

The farmers at all levels should be motivated for selecting high yielding varieties of paddy, onion, mustard, maize, sunflower and lentil, the speakers said.

"Besides we need monitoring of the whole process of farming, including combating pest attack, harvest and preservation of crops and their seeds", Md Abdul Muyeed said.

The DAE have been setting demonstration plots of these crops for disseminating the advanced knowledge and technology, he further said.

Since huge crop lands remain arable for ages in the region, a special programme has been started for bringing more lands under farming. The speakers also stressed for inclusion of the rest 10 upazilas ouit of 40 in the division in the next phase since these are dropped in the present phase of the project, ending in June 2019.

[email protected]