In Kushtia district, the hearts of farmers are filled with joy after planting Aman paddy. Because, as the yield has increased, the price of rice has also improved. Farmers are very happy. The paddy harvesting of the land is now in its final stage.
Sources of the Agricultural Extension Office say that in the current Aman season, Aman seedlings have been cultivated on a total of 88 thousand 919 hectares of land in Kushtia. From that, the target of rice production has been set at three lakh tons. 22 to 25 maunds of paddy are produced per bigha of land. Initially, each maund of paddy was sold at Tk 1,400, but now it is being sold at Tk 1,200 to Tk 1,300.
According to the Agriculture Department, due to better size and quality of rice, 100 kg more rice per hectare is available than the previous year. This time the production of paddy has increased due to the distribution of improved varieties of seeds, adequate irrigation and fertilization and favorable weather conditions and timely rains. Losses that were expected due to increase in fertilizer and diesel prices have been offset by good yields. Where last year 3.3 tons of rice was available per hectare, this time it is 3.4 tons.
Rana Hossain, a farmer of Daulatpur upazila, said that this year he cultivated Aman paddy on three bigha land. An average of 25 maunds of paddy was obtained per bigha. However, the cost of production has increased this year compared to other years. Still he made a profit by selling paddy.
Rahul Amin, a farmer of Fulbaria village of Mirpur upazila, said that this time he cultivated paddy in 39 bigha land. Got a good yield. He got good price by selling paddy.
Hayat Mahmud, Deputy Director of Kushtia Agricultural Extension Office, said that farmers across the district now have a big smile. In addition to the yield of paddy, the price is also better than last year.