A lack of rain delayed Aman planting considerably for farmers in Khulna district this year, which worried them. Yet despite the late planting, the Aman crop is a bumper one and the golden paddy will be brought home within five to seven days. Farmers in Dakop upazila, which suffers from river erosion, are beaming and getting ready for the harvest. Their one prayer now is that no natural disaster strikes.

Across Dakop upazila the fields now glow with golden paddy. In some fields the paddy is half-ripe, but in many it has ripened to gold, and the sweet smell of ripe paddy fills the villages. Farmers are preparing for the harvest in a festive mood.

Farmers said that this Aman season brought intense heat on one side and a lack of rain on the other, so they had doubted whether Aman could be planted at all. Towards the end of the season, relief came with a short spell of rain, and farmers used it to plant Aman after the middle of the season.

Farmers feared that the late-planted fields would not yield well without occasional rain in the following days. But several spells of rain late in the season, and finally the gusty winds and several days of rain brought by Cyclone Sitrang, dispelled those fears. Dakop upazila is heading for a good Aman crop.

The upazila office of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said farmers have grown transplanted Aman on 19,230 hectares this season. Along with local varieties, the varieties grown include BRRI dhan87, BRRI dhan76, BRRI dhan49, BRRI dhan30, BR23, BR11 and BR10.

Farmers said these varieties need less irrigation and chemical fertiliser, and suffer fewer disease and pest attacks that are easily controlled, so yields in the upazila have been good for several years.

Bhupen Mondal, Arshad Aziz and Kamlesh Majumder, growers in Chalna municipality, said that since the seedlings were planted, DAE field officers have made farmers aware of diseases and pests, especially the brown planthopper. Diseases and pests in Aman fields were controlled by spraying pesticide as soon as they were seen. "We hope to get the full Aman yield this time," they said.

Every year the brown planthopper does a lot of damage to paddy in the upazila. This season, however, the DAE taught farmers how to control the brown planthopper and various diseases and built awareness among them. Sub-assistant agriculture officers stayed in the field giving advice and technical help, and the upazila agriculture officer held daily farmer gatherings area by area. Farmers were advised to apply irrigation and fertiliser on time and to control diseases and pests, including the brown planthopper, completely. As a result, the transplanted Aman yield in the area this season is expected to be higher than in previous years.

Visits to the upazila's nine unions and one municipality and conversations with farmers show that favourable weather, proper care and little disease have produced a bumper Aman crop. As far as the eye can see, golden ears of paddy sway in the breeze, bending towards the ground under the weight of the crop. Harvesting will begin across Dakop in five to ten days, and farmers are preparing for the Nabanna festival.

Additional Upazila Agriculture Officer Mostafizur Rahman said: "To get a good yield, I and the sub-assistant agriculture officers advised farmers in the field in various ways. This year the Aman target in Dakop upazila was 19,230 hectares, and it has been achieved. Under the agricultural incentive programme, free transplanted Aman seed and chemical fertiliser were distributed to 1,300 marginal farmers in the nine unions and Chalna municipality. There has been a bumper crop this transplanted Aman season, and I hope it will exceed the production target."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.