Massive programme of pulses farming in N-region

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RAJSHAHI, Dec 13 (BSS): The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) fixed a target of producing 1,04,415 tonnes of pulses including lentil, gram and mashkalai from around 100,400 hectares in the country's 16 northern districts under Rajshahi division.
Officials said that 50,313 tonnes of lentil, 5,812 tonnes of gram and 48,290 tonnes of mashkalai would be produced during the current Rabi season in the region.
Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI), Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC), DAE and several NGOs have taken necessary steps to make the cultivation of pulses a success in the region.
Under the programme, the farmers soon after harvesting the transplanted Aman paddy have brought 95,112 hectares under pulses production in Rajshahi, Naogaon, Natore, Chapainawabganj, Pabna, Sirajganj and Bogra districts and also 1,389 hectares in Joypurhat district under the Rajshahi Agriculture Zone during the current season.
Similarly, a total of 9,303 hectares were brought under the farming in eight other districts of Rangpur, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Kurigram, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts under the Rangpur Agriculture Zone.
Adequate training, technical assistance, inputs, high quality imported and locally produced seeds and agri-loans are being provided to the farmers under various programmes of different government and non-government organisations.
The officials said special steps, taken in recent years to produce pulses, helped increase production of pulses to keep the price of these food items within tolerable limit.
On-Farm Research Division (OFRD) of the BARI has been implementing the field-level research programmes styled "Reduction of Yield Gap of Gram" aimed at making the gram farming popular at the growers' level through applying modern method.
OFRD Senior Officer Shafiqul Islam said the research programmes had created a positive impact among the target groups and said the prospect of gram cultivation in the high lands is bright. "Chickpea seeds should be sown in lands under the arrangement of insufficient irrigation within two to three days after the harvest of Aman paddy," he said.