Irri-boro farming starts in full swing in Dinajpur, Joypurhat

Farmers of Dinajpur and Joypurhat districts have started sowing Irri-boro seedlings with the hope of recouping the losses in aman season this year.

However, many farmers are facing problem as they failed to recover even the production cost in last boro and aman seasons.

During a visit to Raniganj area under Dinajpur Sadar upazila, this correspondent saw one Kurban Ali sowing paddy on his two bighas of land.

"As around 100 maunds of my aman paddy from the last season has remained unsold, I am facing monetary problem to bear the cultivation cost this season," he said.

In Dinajpur and Joypurhat markets, a 75-kg sack of paddy is selling between Tk 1,000 to Tk 1050 while according to farmers, their production for the same was Tk 1,100 to Tk 1,200.

Azizul Islam, a leader of farmers in Dinajpur, said many paddy growers in the Irri-boro season are facing fund shortage as their paddy produced in immediate past aman season did not bring them much money.

"Many farmers sold their paddy for low prices while others kept their produce stocked with hope to get better prices in future. They are looking for loan to bear the cost of Irri-boro farming, which has gone up," he said.

He urged the government to extend help for the farmers.

According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), 1.76 lakh 651 hectares of land has been brought under Irri-boro farming in Dinajpur district this year with a target to produce 5.5 lakh tonnes of rice.

Golam Mostafa, deputy director of Dinajpur DAE, said farmers have already completed sowing seedlings on 25 percent of the targeted land.

The department is working for proper distribution of fertiliser in the district, he said.

In Joypurhat, Anisur Rahman of Jamalpur village under Joypurhat Sadar, Tafiz Uddin of Jamalganj village under Akkelpur, Anwarul Islam of Hatiar village under Kalai upazila and Khalil Uddin of Dasra village under Khetlal upazila said this year they started maize cultivation to avert losses in paddy farming.

Abdul Wahed of Ramnagar village under Panchibibi upazila of Joypurhat said he took a loan of Tk 20,000 from a local NGO as he fell short of capital to plant Irri-boro on three bighas of land.

DAE officials in Joypurhat said this year they have a target to bring 72,313 hectares of land under Irri-boro farming in the district to produce 2.96 lakh tonnes of rice.