Home ›› 19 Dec 2021 ›› Nation
Pulse farming is in full swing in northwestern districts, raising hopes for expected yields.
Pulse farming is increasing gradually across Rajshahi region as it is a very profitable crop and it does not require much labour, fertilisers, irrigation and pesticides like other crops, said officials.
Under Rajshahi agriculture zone, 1.65 lakh tonnes of pulse are expected to be produced in all eight districts of the division during the current season.
Different types of pulses, including lentil, black gram, grass-pea, chickpea, pea (motorshuti), winter mung bean and pigeon-pea, are likely to be produced from 1.27 lakh hectares of land.
Target has been set to produce 61,433 tonnes of pulses from 42,319 hectares of land in four districts of Rajshahi Agricultural Zone, while 60,357 tonnes from 44,265 hectares in four other districts of Bogura Agricultural Zone.
Target of producing 73,582 tonnes of lentil was set from 51,088 hectares of land, 3,475 tonnes of chickpea from 2,144 hectares, 43,057 tonnes of black gram from 39,501 hectares and 39,103 tonnes of grass-pea from 30,185 hectares of land.
Besides, 5,358 tonnes of peas are likely to be produced from 3,930 hectares, 145 tonnes of pigeon pea from 137 hectares and 127 tonnes of winter mung-bean from 100 hectares of land.
"We have already adopted all possible measures to meet the existing demand of pulses through attaining the production target," said Abdul Awal, Deputy Director of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
He said the growers here are showing more interest in lentil cultivation as it does not take much irrigation cost. Besides, they got abundant production in the last few years.
Some 13,500 farmers were given seeds and fertilizers valued at around Tk 1.02 crore free of cost for grass-pea farming under the government's agriculture incentive programme.
Similarly, 9000 farmers received seed and fertilizer incentives worth around Tk 1.31 crore for lentil farming, while 4,000 got incentives valued at Tk 30.90 lakh for mung-bean cultivation.
"We are cultivating lentil to avoid hassle in getting irrigation water for paddy as it needs less irrigation water to produce lentil," said Mozammel Haque, a farmer of Kharchaka village under Paba upazila, adding that acreage of lentil is increasing day by day.
Haque said he has cultivated lentils on three-bighas of land this year without spending extra money for irrigation.
A farmer can get four to five maunds of lentil from per bigha of land. One maund of lentil is now being sold from Tk 4,000 to 4,300 in local markets, he said.
Agriculturist Abul Kalam Azad revealed that the region is a unique site for expansion of pulse farming particularly the black gram, chickpea, pea and lentil.
He said the pulse, especially lentils, is the vital source of calcium, iron and vitamin-B and C and it plays a crucial role in building the human body.
More than 1,500 volunteers are encouraging and inspiring farmers to cultivate the less water consuming crops through water resource management on behalf of the 'Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM)' Project.
DASCOH Foundation has been implementing the IWRM project in 1,280 drought- hit villages of 39 Union Parishad and three municipalities in eight upazilas of Rajshahi, Naogaon and Chapainawabganj districts supported by Switzerland since 2015.
