Farmers brace for bumper Aman paddy in Gaibandha

GAIBANDHA, Nov 2 (BSS): Farmers of all the seven upazilas in the district are expecting bumper production of Transplanted (T) Aman Paddy during this current season.
Office sources said Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) set a target to cultivate T-Aman paddy on a total of 1, 21, 259 hectares of land in the district this year with the production target of 3,13,475 metric tons of rice.
The cultivation target was fully achieved after blissful rainfall though the transplantation of Aman seedlings was hampered at the initial ad middle stage of the season due to prevailing drought like situation.
Of the total, some 17,700 hectares of land were cultivated in Sadar upazila, 13,950 in Sadullapur upazila, 12,500 in Palashbari upazila, 28,900 in Gobindaganj upazila, 25,500 in Sundarganj upazila, 14,500 in Saghata upazila and 8,209 in Fulchhari upazila.
Later, the target fixed by the department was exceeded bringing more 6751 hectares of land under the cultivation due to favorable climatic condition during the current season
The transplanted seedlings of Aman paddy have already grown well and the scenario of paddy field has turned into greenish look. The growers are so much busy in nurturing the paddy field with the hopes of getting desired production of the crops this season.
In order to make the cultivation programme a grand success, Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) distributed high quality Aman seed to the farmers of the district at fair prices.
Besides, different state run commercial banks including Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank are disbursing agri loans on easy terms to the poor and marginal farmers of the district to help them cultivate the T-Aman paddy on their land this season, sources said.
Additional deputy director (Training) of DAE AKM Aminul Islam said favorable climatic condition, proper distribution of high quality seed of BADC and timely supply of fertilizers and other agri inputs to the growers are the reasons behind the expectation