BRRI Dhan-33 starts in Rangpur

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RANGPUR, Oct 5 (BSS): Farmers are now very happy as they have already started harvesting the short duration and anti-Monga variety BRRI Dhan-33 (paddy) in greater Rangpur on the eve of holy Eid-ul-Fitr and Durga Puja festivities.
They expressed satisfaction on the excellent yield rates of 4.5 tonnes to 5.0 tonnes paddy per hectare so far though harvesting will get full momentum a few days later, officials in the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) and farmers said.
The farmers of Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Gaibandha districts cultivated the short duration paddy in 40,122 hectares land this year, which was 122 hectares higher than that of the fixed target of 40,000 hectares for the area.
A partner NGO, Grameen Atto Unnayan Sangstha (GAUS), involved with BRRI Dhan-33 farming, will organise a two-day fair on the success of the short duration paddy at village Laksmichap under Sadar Upazila in Nilphamari on October 16-17 next.
The government launched large-scale farming of the short duration paddy this year for the first time as a part of the ongoing comprehensive programmes for eradicating Monga by the year 2013 from poverty-prone Rangpur area.
Experts of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and DAE told the news agency that plantation of seedlings and sowing seeds of the 115- to 118-day duration BRRI Dhan-33 (paddy) was completed on time using the latest technologies.
Principal Scientific Officer of BRRI and Programme Coordinator of 'BRRI-Model Monga Mitigation Programme for Greater Rangpur Abdul Mazid told the news agency that the crop grew well and its large scale harvest will begin a couple of days later.