<i>Thakurgaon farmers expect bumper wheat production</i>
Women working in a wheat field in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila.Photo: STAR
The farmers of five upazilas in Thakurgaon district are expecting a bumper production of wheat in the current season. They are getting interest in wheat cultivation due to its increasing demand, high price, favorable weather and its lower production cost than IRRI-Boro paddy. The farmers have cultivated 47,800 hectares of land against the target of 46,262 hectares with the production target of 97,150 tonnes in the district, Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) officials said. The cultivation process of wheat is easy and production cost less than that of IRRI-Boro paddy, they said, adding that the production target will be exceeded if the favourable weather continues. Shahidul Islam, 40, a farmer of Farabari in Sadar upazila told this correspondent that they had taken to wheat farming due to its growing demand and high price in the market. Cultivation of wheat, requiring only three times irrigation, is easy whereas paddy cultivation is hard and costly, Babul of Nargun union in Sadar upazila said. Production cost of wheat on per bigha (0.3306 acre) land is maximum Tk 4,000 while it needs around Tk 7,000 to cultivate IRRI-Boro crops, he said. The farmers are expecting to get 12-14 maunds (one maund is equal to 37.32 kg) of wheat from per bigha.
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