Fields around the degree college in Banshbaria village, Bagatipara, Natore, were once full of sugarcane. After several years of losses, farmers largely stopped growing cane and turned to mango orchards, which stayed fallow outside the season. This year the cropping pattern changed dramatically: BRRI dhan87 is now grown in the Aman season in orchards and nearby fields, with better-than-expected yields.
From cane and Swarna to BRRI dhan87
Farmer Mahfuz Hossain, who grew it on four bighas, said the fields grew cane, then Swarna for three or four years, but Swarna is coarse and low-yielding. On the agriculture department's advice, a few villagers tried BRRI dhan87 last year, and after a bumper harvest most farmers planted it this year, getting 22 to 24 maunds per bigha of fine grain that fetched about 1,300 taka a maund last year.
Mojibur Rahman set an example by growing it in his mango orchard: the sturdy plants cause no harm, and he gets both mangoes and rice. Abdur Rahim, who grew Indian Swarna on 10 bighas for a decade, has switched because Swarna's yields fell, pests increased and its coarse grain sold poorly; he added that BRRI dhan87 seed is easy to save.
Variety traits
According to the agriculture department, BRRI dhan87 is blast-resistant, with strong stems and large panicles that do not lodge; it survived Cyclone Sitrang without damage and yields about 7.5 tonnes per hectare. Swarna takes 145 days, while BRRI dhan87 takes 127 and can be cut 15 days earlier, leaving time for mustard, potato and other Rabi crops.
BRRI developed the variety through selection of homozygous lines and three years of yield trials, followed by on-farm trials in the 2016 Aman season; the National Seed Board released it in 2018. Plants average 122 cm, the grain is long and slender and exportable, a thousand grains weigh about 24.1 grams, and the tall plants give good straw.
Spreading the variety
Dr Md Fazlul Islam, head of BRRI's Rajshahi regional office, said seed for one-bigha demonstrations was provided in each of 837 blocks in the Rajshahi region, with training and fertiliser, and mustard, lentil and chickpea can follow, then Boro. BRRI Director General Dr Md Shahjahan Kabir said many of BRRI's 108 varieties are high-yielding and BRRI dhan87 will soon become the main Aman crop.
Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.
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