Aus paddy harvest nears completion across the country and the farmers are happy to see its bumper production. Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) officials have attributed bumper yield to favourable weather conditions.
Transplantation of Aus seedlings started in April and its harvest began in August. It is indeed good news that country’s farmers have been able to protect their paddy and harvest their crop without any natural disasters
like flood. Cultivators are now busy collecting ripe paddy from their fields amid festive mood. Most paddy fields have become eye-catching, letting fresh fragrance spread all over in remote villages across the country.
Favourable weather conditions and timely rain have helped the farmers get bumper yield this season and its price is good as well. Besides, the prices of fertiliser and other inputs were lower and crop fields remained unaffected by pest attacks.
Aus cultivation is lucrative for the farmers due to its less expense as they can grow seedlings after harvesting Boro paddy. About 20 maunds of Aus paddy can be produced from one bigha of land.
Per maund paddy is being sold at Tk 750 to Tk 800 in the local market. Farmers are earning profits after meeting all expenditure. Also, they are making extra profits by selling its straw.
Aus cultivation is increasing in different districts of the country day by day as its cultivation is lucrative. Therefore, farmers are showing keen interest to cultivate Aus paddy.
Cultivators are now busy
collecting ripe paddy from
their fields amid festive mood
The fields with fully-ripened paddy have brought smile on farmers’ face. They are very much hopeful about getting bumper yield like the previous couple of seasons.
The government continues providing farmers with price support and vows to take necessary steps against middlemen and millers who are out to compel the farmers to sell paddy at lower prices.
The government will, however, launch a food grain procurement drive across the country soon. We fear that the farmers in dire need of cash might be compelled to sell paddy at much cheaper rates to unscrupulous middlemen and millers. The given the reality of the government buying only a small portion of rice and paddy from the farmers and millers, it needs to do more at a much better pace.
Otherwise, the farmers miss out on benefits of the government’s price support which is intended to help them and middlemen and millers end up cashing in on benefits instead. Our farmers are now applying scientific methods for cultivation and they do not use excessive fertiliser and insecticides on their croplands.
Different state-run commercial banks, including Bangladesh Krishi Bank, also distributed Aus crop loan to the cultivators to make them capable of continuing their Aus paddy cultivation network properly without any financial crisis. But middlemen and millers are out to control the paddy market and they are the ones who are to blame for the fall in prices.
We saw that many farmers did not get fair prices in the previous year as the government had not procured paddy directly from them. As a result, middlemen always gain benefits as the government buys rice only from mill owners. We think the government must not procure paddy from middlemen as the ministry’s key target is to purchase paddy from real farmers. It will also have to form special monitoring committee to ensure fair prices of paddy. We wish this year ‘Aus Harvest’ will be blissful one that will bring new hopes, opportunities and joys for our farmers.
