Plantation of Parija paddy nears completion

RANGPUR, May 17 (BSS) : Plantation of off-season indigenous parija paddy seedlings is nearing completion in Rangpur division as its expanded farming began from this season to increase food production under adverse climatic conditions. After successful farming of the short duration and additional crop in recent years, RDRS Bangladesh supplied 53 tonnes seeds this season among 10,600 farmers who completed preparing seedbeds in April last, officials and experts said today. "The farmers began transplantation of the seedlings from May 1 to complete the process by May 20 next on 10,600 bigha land in all eight districts in Rangpur division to produce 3.5 tonnes additional paddy per hectare," they said. Head of Agriculture and Environment of RDRS Bangladesh Dr MG Neogi said that 1,500 farmers successfully cultivated parija on 1,500-bigha land last season and got excellent results like in the previous seasons. Farming of parija paddy launched by the NGO a few years back, has now become popular in the poverty-prone area to cope with the seasonal poverty by producing additional foods grains under changed climatic conditions. Parija paddy seeds can be sowed by using Direct Seeded Rice method to harvest in 90 days or transplanted 20-day old seedlings to harvest in 75 days to achieve maximum yields by August 15 before transplantation of T-Aman seedlings on the same land. The paddy can be cultivated as an additional crop during the off-season in between late May and mid-August when the fields remain completely fallow after Boro harvest and before plantation of T-Aman seedlings, Dr Neogi said. Director (Resources and Environment) of RDRS Bangladesh Dr Syed Samsuzzaman said that the country faces an annual deficit of 2.5 million tonnes rice when there is 0.6 million hectares land suitable for farming Parija paddy in Rangpur division. The experts said the country could ensure its food security and become a rice- exporting nation if Parija paddy was cultivated on 3.5 million hectares suitable land throughout the country to produce an additional 9 million tonnes of the paddy annually. "Earlier, we conducted 3-year research on 11 extinct indigenous variety paddies like shaita, parija, lakheejota, atha binni, kataktara, panbira, hashi kalmi, dular, marichbati, shurja mukhi and dhola shaita," they said. Finally, we found parija's 3.5 tonnes paddy per hectare yield in shorter period, and selected the variety as the most effective one and successfully cultivated it with tremendous yields in greater Rangpur consecutively in recent years, they added. Under the assistance of Inter Church Co-operation of the Netherlands, the NGO has been successfully cultivating Parija paddy with the technical supports of the scientists and experts of DAE and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agriculture University. "The farmers need only Tk 10,000 for cultivating parija on one acre against Tk 20,000 for Boro and Tk 15,000 for T- Aman paddy in the process of getting an additional paddy harvest from the same land," Dr Neogi said.