Rice and jute seed and chemical fertiliser have been distributed among 7,500 farmers in Kumarkhali upazila of Kushtia under an incentive programme aimed at increasing the production of Aus rice and jute.

The seed and fertiliser were handed out at 12.30pm on Wednesday (22 March) on the upazila parishad premises, in a programme organised by the upazila administration, the Department of Agricultural Extension and the Department of Jute. The chief guest was Barrister Selim Altaf George, member of parliament for Kushtia-4.

The event was presided over by Upazila Nirbahi Officer Bitan Kumar Mondal. Those present included Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Mst Nasrin Banu, municipal mayor Samsuzzaman Arun, Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Md Amirul Arafat, Upazila Agriculture Officer Debashish Kumar Das and upazila Swechchhasebak League general secretary Russell Hossain Arju.

Upazila Agriculture Officer Debashish Kumar Das said that under the agricultural incentive programme for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, 4,500 small and marginal farmers were each given 5 kg of seed and 10 kg each of MOP and DAP chemical fertiliser to increase Aus rice production, and 3,000 farmers were each given one kg of jute seed free of charge to increase jute production.

He added that this fiscal year's target for Aus rice cultivation has been set at about 5,500 hectares, and the target for jute cultivation is 5,300 hectares.

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