Most of the varieties of paddy are usually harvested during Aman season in November but, Bangladesh Atomic Agriculture Research Institute (BINA) invented high-yielding BINA-17 paddy variety starts to ripen in October.
For this reason, farmers can easily grow any Rabi crops by harvesting this paddy earlier. Besides, the use of fertilizer and water in this paddy cultivation is 30 to 40 percent less. Its lifespan is 40 to 50 days shorter than some common varieties of rice.
Due to these favorable reasons, this variety of paddy has gained popularity among the farmers of Magura in the current Aman season. Another name for this BINA-17 paddy is Super Rice. According to District Agricultural Extension Department, the paddy has been cultivated in 2 thousand 8 hundred and 22 hectares of land in the district this year.
Visiting a field in Dariapur village of Magura Sadar on Tuesday, it was found that there is this variety of Bina-17 variety in about 30 acres of land. Whereas, other varieties of Aman paddy where still raw Bina-17 variety has ripened and local farmers were seen bringing those paddies home.
Bhakta Kumar Biswas, a farmer of the village, said that the yield of this paddy is 6 to 7 tonnes per hectare. Irrigation cost of farming for this drought tolerant paddy is 40 percent less than other rice. Insecticides also do not cost much as insect and spider attacks are less too.
Besides, the cost of urea fertilizer is 30 percent less. Since this paddy ripens in 110 to 120 days farmers plant pulses within a short time. They can produce 3 to 4 different crops in a year. Bhakta Kumar has cultivated this paddy in 4 acres of land this time. The average yield per hectare is 7.2 MT. The same statement was made by Ruhul Amin, Moksed Mandal and others.
Inventor of BINA-17 paddy also the Director General of the Bangladesh Atomic Agriculture Research Institute (BINA) Dr Mirza Mofazzal Islam said, “Usually the life span of local variety of Aman paddy is 180-160 days and it falls down due to its height. Due to its long lifespan, farmers in most parts of the country cannot cultivate more than two crops a year. Therefore, through research, high yielding and short-lived BINA-17 paddy varieties have been discovered for the Aman season.”
“The life span of Binadhan-17 is 112-117 days and average yield is 7.8 tons per hectare. Many people have also called BINA-17 variety of paddy as Green Super Rice due to its low water content. This variety requires one-third less urea fertilizer and 40 percent less irrigation. Each sheaf of paddy has 200-250 grains and the yield is promising. So, cultivation of this variety of paddy is very profitable. If we can increase crop density, we will be able to double the income of farmers by 2030”, he added.
Humayun Kabir, Agriculture Officer of Magura Sadar upazila, said that there is a huge demand at the consumer level as the rice is thin. In addition, this rice stays long after cooking. Its cultivation is gradually expanding through District Agricultural Extention Department.