OUR CORRESPONDENTS
Farmers in Khulna, Satkhira, Pabna and Gopalganj districts are passing their days busy transplanting Boro paddy seedlings in their fields.
Our Correspondent from Khulna reports: The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has set a target to bring a total of 2,57,020 hectares of land under Boro cultivation in the district this season with the production target of 11,38,871 tonnes of rice.
Kazi Jahangir Hossain, deputy director of the DAE, Khulna, said farmers have already transplanted paddy seedlings on 60 per cent of the targeted land in the region where plants have grown well and the remaining work would be completed by 15-20 February next.
Rahim Miah, a farmer of village Shapur under Dumuria upzila, said that the sudden price hike of fertilisers and pesticides in the past few days is yet another hindrance to cultivating paddy.
Some unscrupulous traders are responsible for this, who are creating this artificial crisis to get extra benefit.
The farmers alleged that the dealers are selling fertilisers at much higher prices than the rate fixed by the government.
The farmers in the region expressed disappointment and resented inadequate allocation of fertilisers. Many of the farmers cultivated paddy buying fertilisers from the local markets at high prices.
Some of them were also compelled to collect fertilisers from other sources at an exorbitant price.
DAE sources said that the weather is favourable and the cultivation is progressing fast to meet the target before the expected time.
A Correspondent from Satkhira says: Boro paddy farming goes on in full swing in Satkhira district.
In the current Boro season, about 4 lakh farmers are planting paddy seedlings of different varieties in their land in the district.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, the target of 4.22 tonnes of hybrid and Ufshi variety paddy yield per hectare has been set against total 79,820 hectares of land in 7 upazilas of the district.
Upazila-wise breakup of the production is as follows: Total 96,758 tonnes of paddy from 23,250 hectares of land in Sadar Upazila; 52,246 tonnes from 12,650 hectares of land in Kalaroa upazila: 85,705 tonnes from 20,260 hectares of land in Tala upazila; 26,846 tonnes from 6,150 hectares of land in Debhata upazila; 28,528 tonnes from 6,880 hectares of land in Kaliganj upazila; 36,231 tonnes from 8,300 hectares of land in Asashuni upazila and 10,457 tonnes from 2, 430 hectares of land in Shyamnagar upazila.
In the current season, farmers expect to get 22 to 25 maunds of paddy by spending Tk12,000 to 15,000 per bigha.
The government has distributed seeds and fertilisers free of cost under two packages to 20,000 Ufshi farmers and 14,000 hybrid farmers among the four lakh farmers in the district.
Out of this 5 kg Ufshi variety seeds and fertiliser and 2 kg hybrid variety seeds were distributed to each of the farmers.
Deputy Director of the DAE, Satkhira, Saiful Islam said the government has provided adequate quantity of free fertilisers and seeds to the farmers this year.
He also said no upazila of Satkhira was flooded due to rains last monsoon; moreover, as the low-lying arable land in the disaster-prone areas is not submerged, it will be possible to cultivate Boro in those areas this year.
Arable lands remained uncultivated due to waterlogging during the Boro cultivation season in the last few years.
Our Pabna Correspondent writes: Boro paddy seedlings transplantation has got underway in the district amid much enthusiasm and zeal among the growers, though there were some hiccups, initially.
Farmers said that the paddy seedbeds prepared in extreme cold and fog turned green and was about to get damaged.
Paddy seedlings are being transplanted after preparing seedbeds again. The growers expect to receive a fairly good yield.
During a recent visit, the correspondent found farmers in a cheerful mood ploughing fields, hoeing lands, applying organic fertilisers, and
digging trenches for irrigation or setting up sheds for pumps or shallow machines.
Many were irrigating the prepared land; some were planting boro paddy seedlings of various varieties from seedbeds.
Deputy Director of the DAE, Pabna Dr Jamal Uddin said, "Since rice is the main agricultural crop after vegetables in Pabna district, farmers everywhere have opted to plant boro paddy."
Deputy assistant agriculture officers are giving various advices to the farmers on boro cultivation at the field level.
He said, "For several days, extreme cold and foggy air continued to blow across the district. Boro seedlings have turned yellow and even seedbeds are being destroyed in many places. Later, seedbeds are made again and paddy seedlings are planted."
Farmers transplanting Boro paddy seedlings at a village in Satkhira district — FE Photo
Ashraful Islam of Kashipur village of Pabna Sadar upazila said, "I have cultivated Boro paddy on 30 bighas of land. I just finished planting paddy seedlings a few days ago." He said that it cost about Tk15,000 to 16,000 to cultivate paddy on each bigha of land. About Tk3,000 per bigha for paddy seedlings, Tk3,500 for fertiliser and Tk9,000 to 10,o00 for irrigation are needed.
Deputy Director of the DAE, Pabna Dr Jamal Uddin told The FE, "In the current season, a target of 2,57,213 tonnes of boro paddy yield has been set from 57,000 hectares of land in 9 upazilas of Pabna district."
For this purpose, Boro seedbeds were prepared on 3,013 hectares of land in the district.
Our Correspondent from Gopalganj informs: The district is now experiencing a cheerful atmosphere almost everywhere with the cultivators transplanting Boro paddy seedlings in the fields.
The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Gopalganj has taken a massive programme of Boro cultivation on 81,380 hectares of land in the district in the current season.
According to official sources, 60,310 hectares of land have been brought under the hybrid variety of Boro paddy, 21,067 hectares of land under the Upashi variety and 03 hectares have been brought under the local variety.
The total production target was set at 5,85,936 tonnes in the district.
Sources said about 2,15,000 farmers have been involved in Boro farming in five upazilas of the district this year.
Krishna Modal, 50, a farmer of East Arpara in sadar upazila, said he cultivated paddy on ten bighas of land this year and the growth condition was very satisfactory.
He also said, "I think if the weather condition remains favorable, I will get 550 maunds of Boro paddy from my ten bighas of land, whose market price will be Tk4,40,000."
Provash Biswas, 45, son of Harashit Biswas, another farmer of the same village, said, he cultivated Boro paddy on 9 bighas of land.
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