Md. Harun Ur Rashid, Staff Reporter,
Farmers in Nilphamari are busy planting Boro rice seedlings from morning till the end of the day, ignoring the cold and dense fog. This busyness of men and women has turned into a festival in the severe winter of Magh. The farmers are doing various tasks throughout the day, including watering the land, cultivating, clearing weeds, leveling the land with ladders, applying fertilizers, and even planting seedlings in the prepared land. Since the soil in this district is suitable for Boro cultivation, they have taken to the field with full swing. Many believe that the Boro target will be exceeded this year compared to other years due to the good weather.
On Wednesday (January 5), Prabhati Rani was seen removing seedlings from the seedbed in Kittonia Para of Gorgram Union in Sadar Upazila. She said, "I have planted Boro rice seeds for three bighas of land. A few days ago, I had to worry because of the severe cold and dense fog. But now the weather is fairly good. So, the work is going on at full speed."
Farmer Supen Roy said, "I have planted Boro rice on five bighas of land. The cost of land cultivation, irrigation costs, labor wages, and planting has been about fifteen thousand taka. The cost of harvesting the rice will be about twenty-five thousand taka." Initially, there was also a shortage of agricultural laborers. Laborers could not be found even at high prices. However, if the price of rice is good, we will benefit.
Farmers Abtar Ali and Sujan Mia of Tupamari Union said, "We have planted Boro rice in the land. If the weather is favorable, we hope there will be a bumper rice harvest. This will meet the needs of the district and farmers will benefit by selling the surplus rice outside."
Deputy Director of Nilphamari Agricultural Extension Department, Dr. S.M. Abu Bakar Saiful Islam, agronomist, said that due to the high yield of hybrid rice, 51-52 percent of rice is planted in the district every year. This year, the amount of rice planted in this variety will increase. The total production target has been set at 3 lakh 71 thousand 6 hundred 48 metric tons. Boro rice planting is going on in full swing in the district. We hope that the target will be exceeded. Along with this, we are always encouraging farmers to plant advanced technology, especially improved rice varieties, in order to increase the target.
According to the Agriculture Department, the Nilphamari Agricultural Extension Department has set a target of planting Boro paddy on 81,857 hectares of land in the district during the current season. So far, Boro paddy planting has been completed on 15,120 hectares of land in the district.
