<i>A gift from Indonesia now a blessing for farmers </i>
HYV aromatic rice varieties yield around 90 maunds per acre in Mymensingh
A farmer in Satuti village in Gouripur upazila harvesting the Indonesian variety of aromatic rice.Photo: STAR
Two kilogram seeds of high yielding aromatic rice varieties received as a gift from a research center in Indonesia is now a blessing for farmers in Myjmensingh. Agriculture scientists say the rice varieties could be an export item after meeting the growing home demand. The gift was received during a visit by a 10-member team of agriculture scientists led by the Director General of Agriculture Extension Department (AED) in 2006. Back to Bangladesh, the team handed over the seeds to award winning AED official Md. Abul Mansur, Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officer in Gouripur to see whether they can be grown in Bangladesh climate. Abul Mansur got the President's Award in agriculture in 1999 for his contribution to agriculture and mobilising farmers. Mansur grew the two fine but coarse varieties of paddy on 20 decimal land at Satuti village in Gouripur in Amon season last year. The experiment was somehow successful. The yield was estimated at around 45 maunds per acre, officials said. In this year's Amon season, he grew the paddy on three acres in Gouripur and Sadar upazilas of Mymensingh and in Netrokona Sadar. The yield surprised him and the farmers to grew the paddy under his supervision. It was 90 to 100 maunds per acre, Md. Abul Mansur told this correspondent recently. Normally, Bangladeshi varieties of aromatic rice give an yield of 25-30 maunds per acre. The Indonesian coarse aromatic rice is like Brri-28 but the yield is nearly double, Mansur said. Sixteen maunds of the Indonesian varieties of rice have been sold among 150 farmers coming from Dinajpur, Bogra, Pirojpur, Sylhet, Netrokona, Sherpur, Gazipur, Chittagong and different upazilas of Mymensingh, Mansur said. Some research institutions including Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) and BRAC have contacted him for seeds, he said. The two varieties will be cultivated on some 130 acres in next Boro season and it will be expanded in next Amon season. Mansur said field study showed that the rice varieties can be grown in all seasons in Bangladesh and farmers can preserve seeds from their produce. Preservation of seeds at farmers level will not affect the yield, he said. The seed is being sold at Tk 50 per kg for Gouripur farmers and at Tk 100 for farmers outside the upazila. Seeds of local aromatic varieties are sold at around Tk 200 per kilogram. In fields, the Indonesian varieties mature earlier than local aromatic rice varieties and are less susceptible to pest attack, Mansur said.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments