Farmers are increasingly turning to wheat production across the country, encouraged by better price and favourable weather, a top agriculture official has said.
"Better prices for wheat in the last couple of years and lower production costs compared with boro paddy are encouraging farmers to go for wheat," Director General of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) A Z M Momtajul Karim said.
"I think chilly weather may continue for a long time in Rangpur, Dinajpur and Rajshahi regions, which is suitable for wheat production", he said.
He said production will be at least 1.4 million tonnes if no major disaster strikes the country.
Last year, the farmers produced 1.30 million tonnes, which were the highest in 11 years, it was 3.8 per cent higher compared with those of FY'13 when output was 1.255 million tonnes.
The DAE said the highest wheat production was recorded at 1.9 million tonnes in the 1999 financial year. The acreage rose to 0.43 million hectares in FY'14 from 0.41 million hectares the previous financial year.
He said apart from suitable weather, introduction of a few developed seeds by the government research wings has helped attain a good production last year.
Following the last year's success, the ministry of agriculture has increased the output target by nearly 7.7 per cent this year, compared with the last year, officials said.
Wheat acreage, which fell to its lowest level at 0.35 million hectares in FY'12, has started to rise since FY'13.
Farmers get better price as per maund (40 kg) was sold at Tk890 to 950, according to the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM).
The Directorate General of Food (DGoF) also bought 0.15 million tonnes of wheat at Tk1,080 per maund in the last season, according to DGoF data.
"We are expecting that the wheat output would exceed the official target as acreage has increased," Deputy Director of the DAE Md Rafiqul Hasan told the FE.
The government's purchase of wheat also gave farmers added incentive, said Golam Hafiz Kennedy, a farm economist.
"If price is better, farmers will always be encouraged to grow more crops," he said.
Principal Scientific officer at Wheat Research Centre under Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) Dr. Md. Zahidul Islam Sarker told the FE that wheat cultivation got a momentum in newer districts like Faridpur and Pabna this year.
Development of heat-tolerant varieties like Barigom-26, Prodip, Shotabdi, Barigom-19, 20 etc are helping boost production as farmers are facing the least pest attacks on their plants.
tonmoy.wardad@gmail.com
Better price luring farmers to get into wheat production
Yasir Wardad | Published: December 28, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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