The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Barisal

Farmers have been busy planting Boro seedlings under an extensive programme during the current season in 11 districts of the Barisal Agriculture Extension Zone (BAEZ).

Officials told BSS here yesterday that the farmers are expecting a record bumper crop as more lands have been brought under Boro cultivation this year in the region.

They said special programmes like Small Hold Support Project (SHSP), Integrated Area Development Project (IADP) and Barisal- Patuakhali Integrated Agriculture Development Project (BPIADP) were undertaken to make the current Boro cultivation a complete success.

Besides, as many as 9,150 contact farmers were given training on the latest agro-technology for farming as well as protecting and harvesting the output economically within the zone this year.

Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) supplied 1.3 crore KGs of improved seeds to the farmers side by side with fertilizers, insecticides and other inputs for higher production of Boro paddy in the region.

The joint forces have been closely monitoring the overall supply of fertilizers, insecticide, power and diesel to the farming areas. Power pumps and other power-driven irrigation equipment were also provided to the farmers to grow more Boro paddy this year.

BADC has, so far, installed 274 Power Driven Deep Tubewells (DTWs), 4,855 Shallow Tubewells (STWs) and 1,256 Low Lift Pumps (LLPs) side by side with fielding 19 DTWs, 42,538 STWs and 14,357 LLPs in the Boro cultivation areas.

DAE arranged the setting up of several demonstration plots for making the farmers aware about the modern agro-based technology on Boro cultivation to score, according to the officials, the highest yield this year.

They said Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) and other commercial banks will disburse short-term loans among the small and marginal farmers for making the program a success.

Additional Director of DAE Bashir Uddin told BSS that all modern technologies for cultivation have been applied on 58,225 hectares of Boro lands to recover the loss of Aman paddy caused by last year's floods and cyclone sidr.

Of the total acreage, he said, 2,28,048 hectares have been brought under Uphashi variety of Boro, 77,006 hectares under hybrid variety of Boro and 23,640 hectares under high yielding local variety of Boro.

Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC), Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB), DAE, Public Health Engineering Depar-tment (PHED), Power Development Board (PDB), Palli Bidyut Samity (PBS) and Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) have undertaken special programmes this year for brining more lands under the Boro cultivation.

Meanwhile, farmers have already planted Boro seedlings on 2,50,670 hectares of lands including 32,535 hectares under high breed, 1,93,705 hectares under uphashi and 24,430 hectares under high yielding local varieties till now.

Plantation of the seedlings have been gaining momentum day by day for completing the programme within March 15 next, the officials said. Earlier, the farmers prepared seedbeds on 23,318 hectares in these Districts.