The agriculture ministry in the current season is giving top priority to increase cultivation and production of Aman rice, a major crop that requires less irrigation to grow. To inspire the growers for Aman cultivation, the ministry has kept on providing incentives worth Tk 10 crore that included seeds, fertilisers and cash money, said senior officials. The agriculture minister, Matia Chowdhury, on Wednesday gave directives to the deputy commissioners to take all out efforts to expand cultivation of Aman and
other crops which are mostly dependent on rainwater or surface water for irrigation.
According to department of agricultural extension, the farmers have already started cultivation of Aman, the second important crop in terms of volume of production, amid favorable weather.
Aman plantation usually begins in early July and it continues until end of September, DAE field service wing officials said, adding that the
government set a target to bring
56.34 lakh hectares of land under Aman cultivation during 2014-15 crop year.
When asked, agriculture ministry secretary SM Nazmul Islam told New Age that it was the government’s priority to discourage boro
cultivation to reduce pressure on groundwater.
So the deputy commissioners were advised to encourage the cultivation of rain-fed Aman, Aus and other oil seeds crops, he said.
Another senior official at agriculture ministry said the government was distributing Aman incentives worth Tk10 crores among 101,722 farmers in 31 districts to boost Aman production during the current season.
Under the incentive programme, each farmer is entitled to get 10 kg of the Nerica variety or five kg of the high-yielding variety of Aman seeds to cultivate one bigha as input assistance free of cost, said officials.
Besides, the farmers were also entitled to get 20 kg of DAP and 10 kg of MOP fertilisers free of cost, they said.
According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, some 12,897,210 metric tonnes of Aman were produced in last fiscal year.
When asked, Abdullahil Baque, associate professor of agronomy at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, told New Age on Friday that one kilogram of rice usually needs some 2800 to 4000 liters of water to get produced.
The agronomist suggested that all agricultural research projects should be run by engaging ‘the growers and the researchers only’ to ensure proper utilization of the funds.
-With New Age input
