Rangpur region to produce 64,000 tonnes of wheat

The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has fixed a target of producing 63,661 tonnes of wheat from 18,800 hectares of land for all five districts in Rangpur agriculture region during this Rabi season. Officials of the DAE said farmers produced 66,283 tonnes of wheat from 21,160 hectares of land against the fixed production target of 69,630 tonnes from 19,550 hectares of land during the last Rabi season in the region.

“Farmers have already started preparing their croplands for sowing wheat seeds after harvesting Aman rice,” said Agriculturist Md Tauhidul Iqbal, additional director of the DAE for the Rangpur region.

To make the wheat farming programme a success, the government, through the DAE is distributing wheat seeds, Di-ammonium Phosphate and Muriate of Potash fertilisers as special agriculture incentives among small and marginal farmers.

“The process of sowing wheat seeds will get momentum with further progress in harvesting Aman rice crop in the region from next month,” he said.

The DAE, Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC), Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) and other agriculture-related organisations have taken ample steps to make the intensive wheat farming programme a success this season.

“The authorities concerned have taken measures to ensure supply of high-quality wheat seeds, latest technologies, fertilisers and other inputs to farmers to promote the cultivation of the cereal crop,” Agriculturist Iqbal added.

Farmers are mostly cultivating high yielding wheat varieties like ‘Bijoy’, ‘Pradip’, ‘Sotabdi’, BARI Gom25, BARI Gom26, BARI Gom27, BARI Gom28 and BARI Gom29 using conservation agriculture (CA)-based technologies to enhance production.

Senior Coordinator (Agriculture and Environment) of RDRS Bangladesh Agriculturist Mamunur Rashid said farmers are mostly farming wheat adopting the latest technologies being provided by the government in recent years.

Adoption of the CA-based strip tillage and bed planting methods in sowing wheat seeds using seeder machines largely increase the wheat yield-reducing need for irrigation compared to the full tillage methods, largely saving labour costs.

Agriculturist Dr Md Abdul Mazid, who got the Independence Award-2018 (food security), lauded the government for encouraging farmers in cultivating high yielding wheat varieties using the latest technologies to get excellent production and more profits.

Farmers Ariful Haque, Manik Mian, Lutfar Rahman, Golam Mostafa and Aiyub Ali of different villages in Rangpur Sadar said they are preparing to sow wheat seeds on their croplands after harvesting Aman rice.