The farmers of six districts in south-western region of the country have produced a record 9,06,122 metric tonnes of maize exceeding the fixed production target by 6,99,821 tonnes during the just-ended Rabi season in Jashore agriculture region.
DAE officials said better Maize yield achieved as the plants are growing excellent everywhere in the region this season.
The six districts are-Jashore, Jhenidah, Magura,Kushtia, Chuadanga and Meherpur.
The officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Jashore said farmers already completed harvest of maize and produced over 9.06 lakh tonnes of the crop exceeding the production target. “The achieved maize output is higher by 2,06,301 metric tonnes than the fixed production target,” Deputy Director of the DAE at its regional office Sudhendu Shekhar Malakar told Bangladesh Post on Monday.
The DAE Jashore region had fixed a target of producing 6.99-lakh tonnes of maize from 83,192 hectares of land in six districts during the Rabi season. “The farmers, however, cultivated maize on 63,809 hectares of land,
higher by 14,815 hectares than the fixed farming target,” DD said.
Expressing satisfaction over super bumper production of maize during the
last Rabi season, Additional Director of DAE for Jashore region Samir Kumar Goswami said maize farming is expanding in recent years bringing self-reliance to many farmers.
“Like farmers in the mainland, char people are increasing maize cultivation on sandy char lands and dried-up riverbeds after getting repeated bumper production with lucrative price in recent years,” he said.
The government is increasing assistance, incentives and provides trainings to the farmers putting emphasis on expanding cultivation of lees irrigation water consuming cereal crops like maize that helps farmers to improve their livelihoods and cut poverty. Getting various assistance and technical supports from the government along with the repeated bumper yield and better profits, farmers are expanding maize cultivation every year both on the mainland an char areas, he added.
“Maize farming has been proved to be more profitable than other crops encouraging farmers to increase its cultivation using latest conservation agriculture technologies like strip tillage to get better output at reduced costs,” said Ali Hassan deputy director of Chuadanga DAE said.
Farmers Abdul Aziz of Subdia village, Swapon Biswas of Shankerchandra village, Abdul Kader of Darabaria village and Md Haris Chaudhury of Dinonathpur village in sadar upazila of Chuadanga said they sold their harvested maize at rates between Taka 600 and 650 per mound.
They expressed satisfaction over bumper maize production and better market price between Taka 600 and 650 per mound (every 40 kilogram) after harvesting their crop during the just-ended Rabi season.