Farmers have been sowing mustard seeds now with huge enthusiasm, as the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has fixed a huge target of producing 5.5-lakh tonnes mustard in the country during this season.
Though the early sowed mustard fields are now in full bloom in the vast char areas and fallow lands on the river basins, sowing of mustard seeds has been continuing in full swing in the other areas.
The blooming mustard fields have already worn eye-catching yellow looks in the vast char areas of Kurigram, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Nilphamari, Bogra, Sirajganj and Pabna districts on the river basins, where the seeds were sowed earlier.
Sowing of the seed will complete soon as harvest of the T- Aman paddy and early vegetables is nearing completion almost everywhere including the country’s northern region, officials and experts said today.
Meanwhile, the DAE, BADC, BARI and some NGOs and organisations have been distributing quality mustard seeds and the banks disbursing easy-term agriculture loans among the farmers to achieve the fixed target of mustard farming this season.
Of the fixed national target, a total of 2,49,417 tonnes of mustard seeds will be produced from a total of 2,26,980 hectares of land in the country’s 16 northern districts during the current season.
The farmers including the landless char people in the river
side and char areas have been showing more interest this season
after getting repeated bumper productions and excellent prices of
mustard in recent years.
Additional Director of DAE’s Rangpur Zone Mohsin Ali told
BSS that adequate training, technical assistance, inputs, quality
seeds, latest agri-technologies and agri-loans are being provided
to the farmers for making the programme successful.
Additional Director of the DAE at Khamarbari Kamal Shariful
Alam said that the farmers are expected to complete sowing
mustard seeds soon and they are mostly sowing the high yielding
variety seeds evolved by Bangladesh Agriculture Research
Institute.
Mustard will be cultivated in 3,012 hectares in Rangpur,
7,533 in Gaibandha, 1,146 in Lalmonirhat, 1,428 in Nilphamari,
11,357 in Kurigram, 6,571 in Dinajpur, 6,084 in Thakurgaon and
379 hectares in Panchagarh districts under Rangpur Zone.
RANGPUR, Nov 29 (BSS)
