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GFMM desk: Due to a high production cost and low prices of the products over the years boro cultivation in Faridpur has declined.
Data from the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) shows that the target of boro cultivation was 39,417 hectares in 2010-11, which has dropped to 24,000 hectares in 2019-20.
Farmers said they did not get a fair price for the crop last season. Although the cost of producing one maund (37.32 kgs) of paddy is Tk. 800 but they have sold around Tk. 600.
Hafizur Rahman, a farmer in the C&D Ghat area of Sadar Upazila, said he cultivated paddy at a cost of Tk. 14,000 on 6 bighas (1 bigha=14,400 square feet) of land last year. “I was only able to earn Tk. 10,000. So, I decided to plant onions, pulses and wheat this year,”he said.
Several farmers in Ambikapur village mentioned that paddy cultivation is dependent on irrigation and hence the cost is always higher.
Boalmari rice seller Anwar Hossain said farmers were deprived of fair value through import of rice. “Besides, the government buys rice from the millers, not directly from the farmers. If this continues, farmers will not cultivate burrows in the future. "
However, Deputy Director of DAE Karthik Chandra Chakraborty gave a different version.
"DAE is encouraging farmers to diversify their products and that is why they are cultivating alternative crops," he said. "There will be no shortage of rice even after the production is reduced."
According to DAE sources, Bangladesh produced 20.4 million tons of boro rice in 2018-19 against a target of 19.6 million tons. Boro output in 2017-18 was 19.7 million tons compared to the target of 19 million tons.
According to the data obtained, the boro production was 18.4 million tons in the fiscal year of 2016-17 while it was 19 million tons in the fiscal year of 2015-16 and 18.3 million tons in 2009-10.
Source: Online/SZK
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