GAIBANDHA: Farming of ‘Barshali Dhan’, a variety of transplanted Aus paddy (T-Aus), has gained much popularity among farmers of the district in recent years for its desired output, reports BSS.
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) sources said after harvesting Boro paddy the land remained totally useless and fallow for three months until the start of T-Aman paddy cultivation.
If seedlings of Barshali Dhan are transplanted on the land just after harvesting the Boro paddy in the month of Baishakh, the farmers could harvest it at the end of Bahdra or in the first week of Srabon.
In this way, a farmer could get three crops including T-Aman paddy, Boro paddy in a year easily and be economically benefited side by side with achieving food security for his family.
The sources said like the previous years the farmers of the district were motivated to cultivate the T-Aus variety on their land this year. And accordingly the farmers cultivated the T-Aus variety on 4800 hectares in all the seven upazilas of the district during the current season.
The sources said the variety includes BRRI Dhan 28, BRRI Dhan 42, BRRI Dhan 43, BRRI Dhan 48, BR 26, parija, and Qudrat.
Abu Bakar Akanda, a farmer of Shantiram village under Sundarganj upazila, said he farmed the T-Aus variety on two bighas of land this year to get additional crop in the gap of the Boro and Aman season.
Rashedul Islam, Sundarganj upazila agriculture officer, said if the weather is favorable, the farmers can get 14/15 maunds of paddy from a bigha of land with a nominal cost.
Rashedul Islam also said the farming of T-Aus variety has gained much popularity among farmers of Sundarganj uapzila than other upazilas of the district as a total of 2500 hectares of land of the upazila were brought under the farming this season.
The seedlings of the T-Aus variety have grown well on the land and taken a greenish look which gives the growers expectation to get desired output against the crop.
Deputy director (DD) of DAE AKM Ruhul Amin told BSS that the department set a target to farm the variety on 1682 hectares this year, but the target was exceeded with bringing more 3118 hectares under the farming.