The farmers of six Jhenidah upazilas in Jhenidah district are going to produce 3.8 lakh tones of rice in current Boro season on a total of 87,482 hectares of land. The preparation of the seedbeds is almost completed to transplant the tender plants on prepared lands, said the farmers.
Farmer Taher Ali of Kulla village of Harinakundu upazila when contacted on his seed bed plot, said that he has prepared seedbeds to transplant the Boro saplings on six bighas of land in the season as against five bighas of last season. Reduction of prices of DAP fertilizer have encouraged them to apply adequate fertilizers in the season as required by the crops, he said.
Farmer Abdur Rahim of Kushna area of Kotchandpur upazila when contacted, said he has been cultivating Boro rice on his four bighas of land like lasts season. He will not hesitate to apply adequate chemical fertilizers on the plots when the price was reduced drastically.
Further, the climate was almost favourite till first week of January when the farmers have started transplanting saplings on their plots, Abdur Rahim said.
Office sources of the department of agriculture extension (DAE) in Jhenidah said they farmers of Jhenidah Sadar upazila are going to cultivate Boro on 28,774 hectares, while the Kaliganj farmers will cultivateon 14,408 hectares. Kotchandpur farmers will cultivate 6,060 hectares, Moheshpur farmers will cultivate 20,138 hectares, Shailkupa farmers will cultivate 14,700 hectares, while the farmers of Harinakundu will cultivate the same on 9,410 hectares in the season.
Average production of the rice was 4.35 tones on each hectare n the last season. To meet up the demand of the saplings, the farmers have prepared 200 hectares of hybrid seedbeds, while 3,990 hectares of high yielding varieties (HYV) seedbeds in the season, the sources said.
The sources said a total of 384,230 tones of rice was produced in the district on a total of 88,504 hectares of land in the last season
Deputy Director of the department of agriculture extension (DAE) in Jhenidah Kripangshu Sekhar Biswas when contacted said the farmers might produce optimum Boro in the current season as the production cost will be least due the re-fixation of the price in DAP fertilizer, a main component in farming.
Deputy Commissioner (DC), also president of fertilizer and seeds monitoring Committee in Jhenidah district Saroj Kumar Nath in his comment following Boro farming in the district when contacted, said he had advised the agriculture officials to monitor the selling of the DAP fertilizer when the government had reduced the price for a continuous flow of production so that the farmers could enjoy the new price for safer food production.
