The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Rangpur

The farmers have been continuing maize cultivation with huge enthusiasm as sowing of maize seeds gets full momentum in northern Bangladesh with a record production target fixed for this season, officials said yesterday.

No seed crisis was noticed anywhere and the farmers are expected to bring more land than the fixed target under maize cultivation this season like in the past six consecutive seasons.

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has fixed a target of producing 9,27,000 tonnes maize from 1,54,500 hectares of land during this season against last year's target of producing 7,86,602 tonnes maize from 1,35,155 hectares of land in the region.

The farmers including the small and marginal farmers and char dwellers have been farming the cash crop in more and more land in the plain land side by side in the vast tract of the sandy chars in the river basins.

The DAE officials said cultivation of maize in 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 been encouraging the farmers in farming maize in more lands to earn more profits.

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, officials and farmers said.

Over 40,000 hectares of char lands in the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla, Jamuna, Ghaghot and other river basins in the region are expected to be brought under maize farming this season that is higher than that of the previous season.

Maize farming is more profitable and the farmers will do better this time as they have got high yielding variety of maize seeds and are farming the crop using scientific method of cultivation for further successes.

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

The farmers are expected to bring more lands under maize farming this year and an all-time record production of the crop may be achieved this time in the region, the DAE officials added.