RANGPUR, Apr 01: Wheat farming is gradually decreasing in Rangpur agriculture region in recent years.
According to sources, the peasants of five districts under the agriculture region are showing their reluctance in cultivating the crop due to various reasons including short winters and high production cost against low yield compared to some other crops.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Rangpur official sources said wheat was cultivated on around 20,000 hectares of land in five districts under the region against its target of farming on 24,000 hectares of land this year. The districts are Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Gaibandha.
Last year the crop was cultivated on 21,700 hectares of land in the region while it was cultivated on 26,700 hectares of land in 2017.
Sources said that cold weather is essential for good production of wheat. But owing to repeated short winter seasons for the last few years its production has drastically declined across the region.
Failing to get expected yield, a good number of peasants under the region have lost their interest in wheat farming, sources added.
Shahin Mia, a farmer of Nabdiganj village at Pirgachha upazila in Rangpur district told FE that he has cultivated maize this year instead of wheat, as production of maize is higher than that of wheat.
Around 70 to 80 maunds of maize can be harvested from one acre of land spending Tk 17,000 to Tk 18,000. On the other hand only 25 to 27 maunds of wheat can be harvested from the same area. Its production cost is also higher which is around Tk 15000 to Tk 16000, he added.
Deputy Director of DAE, Rangpur region, Md Moniruzzaman said that wheat cultivation is gradually declining across the region. Short winter seasons were one of the main reasons for the decline.
Scientists at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) are working hard to develop new heat-tolerant and high-yielding variety of wheat. Such variety is expected to get popular among the growers, he added.
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