Thakurgaon farmers are now passsing busy hours planting Boro seedlings in the fields. Although they are fraustrated for not getting fair price for Boro rice last year they were seen planting the seedlings from dawn to dusk.
This was found on Thursday visiting various fields in Thakurgaon, which is well known for producing paddy. Like every year farmers of the district had already started planting Boro seedlings at the end of winter season. However, many farmers complained that the cost of Boro production is increasing due to high prices of pesticides, vitamins and organic fertilizers and agricultural equipments. They also said they hardly gain any profit as the wages of workers are also high.
According to sources in the district agricultural department, this year, it has been targeted to plant Boro paddy on 62,350 hectares of land in Thakurgaon. Already, about 40 percent of the land has come under the cutivation. The remaining lands will be cutivated in the next 7-10 days. This year, the target of Boro paddy production has been estimated to be 2 lakh 48 thousand and 90 metric tons.
Parimal Chandra Barman, a farmer of Rahimanpur union said that Thakurgaon district is primarily an agricultural economic district. He said by selling the Boro paddy they don’t even recover their production cost. If the government ensures a fair price for Boro paddy, then they will be able to get some profit. He urged the government to ensure fair price for the Boro paddy.
Deputy Director of the Thakurgaon Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) Altaf Hossain said they are giving advice to the Boro farmers of the district on behalf of the DAE. Hopefully if the weather is favorable and there is no natural disaster bumper yields can be expected in Boro paddy production this year, he added.