Mustard seed yield may exceed target this year

Mustard seed has already surpassed the previous year’s production even though 16 per cent of the crop on 1.27 lakh hectares of land has not been harvested yet.

Officials concerned expect that the total production will exceed the target set by the government for the current fiscal year. Favourable weather, proper management, government incentives and less pest attack are the key reasons for an increase in mustard yield.

They have also expressed the hope that it will help reduce dependency on imports of edible oils as the government has devised a three-year plan to meet the growing demand from locally-produced oil seeds.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), the farmers produced over 9.59 lakh tonnes of mustard seed till February 28 of the fiscal year 2022-23.

The production in the current fiscal year has already exceeded the previous year’s yield by 1.35 lakh tonnes. However, the farmers had produced 8.24 lakh tonnes of mustard seed in FY22.

Though the government set the target to cultivate mustard on 6.70 lakh hectares, the farmers cultivated the pricy oil seed on 8.12 lakh hectares of land. Of them, they harvested the crop on 6.85 lakh hectares of land while per hectare yield was 1.40 tonnes.

DAE officials expect that another 1.78 lakh tonnes will be added to the total output from the rest of 16 per cent land considering on an average 1.40 tonnes of yield per hectare. According to their estimate, the total production will reach 11.37 lakh tonnes, up by 0.26 lakh tonnes from the target of 11.12 lakh tonnes set by the DAE for FY23.

As of February 28, highest 78, 605 tonnes mustard seeds were produced in Sirajganj, followed by Naogaon 73,616 tonnes, Rajshahi 63, 207 tonnes, Tangail 62, 920 tonnes and Manikganj 50,850 tonnes.

The highest 1.65 tonnes per hectare were yielded in Joypurhat while the lowest 1 tonne in Rajbari, Khagrachari and Bandarban.

Humayun Kabir, control room in-charge of Field Service Wing of the DAE said, “We are expecting that the production will exceed the target if the yield continues at the current rate of 1.40 tonnes per hectare.”

“The full production data will be available within a week,” said Kabir, also an additional deputy director of DAE.

Mustard on the right track to reduce import dependency

According to the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC), in 2021, Bangladesh had a demand for 30.3 lakh tonnes of oils and fats, 92 per cent of which was met through imports.

The DAE data shows that Bangladesh imported 28.72 lakh tonnes of edible oils and oil seeds in FY22 against export of 2.06 lakh tonnes.

To reduce dependency on imports, the government formulated a plan last year to meet 40 per cent demand from locally-produced oil seeds in three years while mustard is the most suitable one in Bangladesh for its favourable weather conditions.

The government has set the target to produce 15.60 lakh tonnes of oil seeds in the current fiscal year. Of the total, 11.11 lakh tonnes or more than 71 per cent are expected to be produced from mustard seeds. Around 4.50 lakh tonnes of oil can be extracted from mustard seed to be produced this year.

According to the government plan, apart from mustard, 1.96 tonnes seed will be harvested from peanuts, 0.62 lakh tonnes from sesame, 1.52 lakh tonnes from soybean, 0.23 lakh tonnes from sunflower and 0.15 lakh tonnes from flax.

Weather, varieties and proper management play the key role

The mustard season lasts from November to mid-March. During this period, the country did not experience any cyclone, storm or heavy rainfall.

Md Rezwan, a farmer from Shahjadpur upazila of Sirajganj, cultivated mustard seed on five bighas (33 decimals) of land. Of them, four bighas were High Yielding Variety (HYV) and another was local variety.

“HYV varieties gave 4.4-5 maunds per bigha this time which was below 4 maunds in previous years. Local variety gave near about 4 maunds per bigha which was around 3 maunds earlier,” Rezwan said.

“DAE officials have taken intensive care about farmers. Moreover, the pest attack was less than the previous years. And many farmers received seeds and fertilisers. All these things together boosted the production,” he added.

Md. Abul Kalam Azad, Deputy Director of DAE, Naogaon said, “Suitable varieties and proper management have played the key role in increasing the output while incentives and high market price of mustard oil encourage the farmers to cultivate mustard.”

“BARI mustard-14, BARI mustard-15 and BARI mustard-17 are three high yielding varieties which were widely used in the fields. These varieties can give around 7 maund yield per bigha. In some cases, it has given 8-9 maunds per bigha.”

“Technology is also important. Farmers know how to use chemical fertilisers such as urea, TSP, and MoP. But in case of mustard, along with those fertilisers, gypsum gives high yield while boron strengthens the ties between seeds and plant. We have taken care of farmers in using fertiliser,” he said.

Highest incentives

Mustard farmers have received the largest amount of government incentives compared to other Rabi season crops in FY23, which has become a key factor in the rapid expansion of this oil seed cultivation across the country this year.

According to the DAE, 10 lakh mustard seed farmers received Tk45 crore as incentives in FY23. Each of them got 10 kg MoP and 10 kg DAP fertiliser.

Fair price encourages farmers

The price of mustard oil went up by Tk100 per litre in the retail kitchen market in last one year. Now it is being sold at Tk360 per litre on average.

This price is almost twice compared to soybean oil and more than double compared to palm oil. Soybean oil is being sold at Tk180 per litre on average and palm oil at Tk150 per litre in the retail market.

“Rice is no more a profitable crop. Mustard gives the chance to make profit. Moreover, it can be cultivated in between Aman and Boro season, so it’s an opportunity to make profit by cultivating mustard seeds,” farmer Rezwan said.