Motiar Rahman
PABNA, May 17: Agriculture scientists have innovated a new technology of cultivating paddy as co-crop with sugarcane attaining a unique success in the cost-effective production of the two crops in the same place together.
Sugarcane is a long-term and profitable crop that takes more than a year to produce. It takes 10-12 months from planting to threshing. In addition to the long time, sugarcane production also costs a lot of money.
In the last one decade, due to losses in cultivation, sugarcane production in Pabna and surrounding districts has decreased remarkably. As a result, sugar mills in North Bengal have struggled to meet the threshing target due to lack of raw materials.
Agricultural scientists at Bangladesh Sugarcrop Research Institute (BSRI) in Ishwardi upazila of Pabna district have developed the method of cultivating paddy as a companion crop with sugarcane to overcome this crisis and make sugarcane farming profitable.
After continuous efforts in experimental production in the last three years, detailed tests are now underway.
The researchers hope to quickly spread this method at the farmer level by removing the limitations. In this process, the irrigation and fuel costs of paddy cultivation are one-fourth of the conventional method.
In addition, agricultural scientists say that farmers will benefit from the low cost of production due to the multi-purpose use of land.
BSRI Chief Scientific Officer Dr Shams Tabriz told The Financial Express that usually in the northern region, it takes about 2,500 litres of water to produce one kilogram of Boro paddy. But sugarcane is a drought-tolerant crop.Since rice and sugarcane have opposite characteristics, mixed cultivation of these two crops saves water.As a result, irrigation and fuel costs can come down. At the same time, the fertiliser applied for rice is also used for sugarcane. Farming of the two crops will be with the same cost. So overall, the farmer will get good profit."
Bangladesh Academy of Science Chief Scientific Officer and Principal Researcher of the Sugarcane and Paddy Joint Cultivation System Innovation Project Dr Anisur Rahman told the FE, "The cost of cultivation by farmers will reduce by one third through the two-cropping process. Since sugarcane cultivation takes more time, farmers were not getting much profit by cultivating sugarcane alone.So, we were looking for ways to reduce costs and gain economic benefits."
"In that case, joint cultivation of sugarcane and paddy is very suitable.We are now conducting the final test.It will be expanded to the farmer level soon," he added.
He further said it is possible to produce sugarcane and rice jointly in both bed method and direct cultivation. Since there is a system for conserving surface water, there will be no need for groundwater. As a result, fuel and electricity consumption will reduce. If this new technology expands, there will come positive changes in the agriculture sector through maximising the use of land.
Ishwardi Upazila Agriculture Officer Mita Sarkar told the FE, "Sugarcane is a cash crop. Joint cultivation of rice and sugarcane is undoubtedly a big economic
opportunity for farmers.However, planting and maintenance at the right time are very important in this case.If farmers can cultivate according to the right rules, they will benefit."
Dr. Kabir Uddin Ahmed, director general of the Bangladesh Sugarcrop Research Institute, said, "Since paddy is
the main crop in Bangladesh, we believe that rice cultivation in sugarcane fields will quickly gain popularity. This way farmers will get additional crops at the same cost. It has been calculated that this method will reduce the cost of cultivation by one-third."
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