Aman paddy has produced a bumper yield in many parts of Magura district, and farmers are now busy threshing. Farmers say heavy rain this season has raised aman yields several times over on both cultivated and previously uncultivated land.

Araj Ali, a farmer in Magura Sadar upazila, said: "This time I grew different varieties of paddy on 20 bighas. With plenty of rain, the yield has been good. If we get a fair price in the market, we will not have to make a loss on the paddy."

Dhala Sheikh, a farmer from Bhitashair village in Magura Sadar, said he had grown aman on eight bighas. "The paddy has done well. With fewer insect attacks and diseases, the yield is better than in other years. But rain and wind have already flattened the paddy on a lot of land, which worries me a little."

Magura district has 26 combine harvesters, four rice transplanters and 33 reapers. A combine harvester can cut an acre of paddy an hour. Small farmers said hiring the machine for Tk 4,000 to 5,000 harvests an acre, which saves some of the cost and time of growing paddy.

Taleb Mia, a farmer from Nakol village in Sreepur upazila, said the weather and fertiliser availability had both been favourable this year. Many farmers also did not plant aman this time after several years of continuous losses. "Perhaps for these reasons farmers are getting a fair price this time," he said.

Upazila agriculture officer Md Tozammel Haque said transplanted aman in the district this season covers 11,955 hectares, with estimated production of 2,29,234 tonnes. "We expect an average yield of 3.70 tonnes per hectare. Of the total, hybrid paddy has been grown on 10,030 hectares. At the moment the overall condition of the fields is good," he said.

Md Tajul Islam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Magura, said the weather had been favourable and fertiliser supply good. "Overall production has been good this time, and farmers are getting good prices too. Above all, we are seeing smiles on farmers' faces, and that is what matters."

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