The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Rangpur

The farmers of the northern region have been continuing maize cultivation in large scale as sowing of maize seeds gets full momentum where a record cultivation target has been fixed this season, officials said yesterday.

No seed crisis was reported as huge quantities of the seed were distributed among the farmers under the post-flood agriculture rehabilitation programme and the farmers are expected to bring more land under maize cultivation. The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has fixed a target of producing 7,86,602 tonnes maize from 1,35,155 hectares of land in the region this year which is 67.65 percent of the national target.

The farmers including the flood-hit small and marginal farmers are farming the cash crop in more and more land in the flood-ravaged char areas under the post-flood agri- rehabilitation programmes.

Senior DAE officials said cultivation of maize in vast sandy- char land and in the dried-up beds of the rivers and their tributaries in the region brought about a revolutionary change to the poor farmers and unemployed youths in recent years. Besides, the adequately favourable soil, climatic and topographic conditions and growing poultry feed industries have encouraged the farmers in farming maize in more lands to earn more profits through farming the cash crop. The farmers in the char areas are bringing huge sandy-barren lands under maize farming this year as they got tremendous yield of the cash crop and fair prices in recent years, DAE officials said.

Over 34,000 hectares of char lands in the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla, Jamuna, Ratnai, Saniyazan, Dudhkumar, Atrai, Mohananda, Kartoa, Ghaghot and other river basins in the region are expected to bring under maize farming that is almost double than that of the previous season.

Maize farming is more profitable than many other crops and the farmers will do better this time as they have got high yielding variety of maize seeds and are farming the crop using the latest scientific method of cultivation for further successes, DAE officials added.

Experts said there are immense potentials to increase maize production further by bringing thousands of hectares of char lands in Kurigram, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Gaibandha, Bogra, Sirajganj, Pabna and other districts of the region and the country as a whole.

"The farmers are expected to bring a record land area under maize farming this year to recoup the colossal losses caused by the recent floods and an all-time record production of the crop may be achieved this time in the region," they said.