Off-season Parija farming vital to boost rice output

RANGPUR, July 31 (BSS): Agriculture experts at a crop cutting ceremony have stressed for expanded cultivation of short duration, off-season and indigenous parija paddy adopting newer cropping pattern for food security amid adverse climate.
Expanded cultivation of parija rice as an additional Aus crop adopting the 'early Aman rice-mustard-potato-mung bean-parija cropping pattern' evolved by RDRS Bangladesh has been enabling the farmers getting four crops from same land annually, they said.
They were addressing the crop cutting ceremony organised by RDRS Bangladesh at the parija rice field of farmer Babul Chandra Barman in village Tentultola Bazar under Radhanagar union of Atoari upazila in Panchagarh on Thursday afternoon.
Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) of Panchagarh SM Ashraf Ali attended the ceremony as the chief guest with Programme Manager (Field Coordination) of RDRS Bangladesh for Panchagarh Hasina Parveen in the chair.
Atoari Upazila Agriculture Officer Shamim Iqbal, Boda Upazila Agriculture Officer Al Mamunur Rashid, Assistant Coordinator (Agriculture) of RDRS Bangladesh Syeda Nuhera Begum and Chairman of Radhanagar Union Federation Anil Chandra Adhikari addressed.
A large number of male and female farmers were present to witness harvesting of the off-season rice, farming of which required no supplementary irrigation as its plants grew excellent using seasonal rainfalls during March, June and July this season.
In her welcome speech, Hasina Parveen said RDRS Bangladesh evolved the cropping pattern before launching cultivation of parija rice few years back after long research to adapt with climate change impacts to keep rice production increasing.
After getting repeated bumper productions in the previous years, 2,200 new beneficiary farmers have cultivated the eco-friendly parija rice on 2,200 bigha of lands in Rangpur division under an extensive programme taken by RDRS Bangladesh this season.
Earlier, the NGO distributed 11,250 kg parija seed among these farmers under its core programme and Crop Intensification Project supported by Krishi Gobeshona Foundation and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agriculture University, she said.
Under the programme, 1,500 farmers have cultivated parija rice, adopting the early Aman rice-mustard-potato-mungbean-parija cropping pattern evolved by RDRS Bangladesh while 750 others after harvesting Aman-wheat-tobacco-maize this season.
Besides, some 8,000 farmers of Rangpur division, who started cultivation of parija rice since 2009 with the assistance of RDRS Bangladesh, have also expanded cultivation of the rice at their own efforts this season.
In her speech, Syeda Nuhera Begum said the farmers completed transplantation of 15 to 18 day-old parija rice seedling by May 31 last and the harvest will end by August 15 next to produce 3.0 to 3.5 tonnes additional paddy per hectare on an average.
The experts thanked RDRS Bangladesh for expanding parija rice cultivation under its core programme and Crop Intensification Project supported by Krishi Gobeshona Foundation and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agriculture University.
They said parija rice can be harvested in 75 days after seedling transplantation during the off season in between late May and mid-August when the fields remain fallow after Boro harvest and before plantation of T-Aman seedlings.