A paddy variety called 'Fatema' has created a stir in Manda, Naogaon. Each panicle has been found to carry nearly 1,000 grains, and its yield is almost three times that of conventional varieties grown in the country.

People from various areas are crowding to see and buy the paddy grown by hobby farmer Advocate Ashraful Islam Bashir of Doshtina village in Ganeshpur union of the upazila, who has succeeded in growing the new variety. Because it is profitable, many others in the area are interested in growing it. The district agriculture department said it did not know of any variety with such a high yield anywhere else in the country. The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) and the Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI) have begun research on the Fatema variety.

Bashir said the variety looks like BRRI dhan28 and is grown like any other paddy. It can be grown in all three seasons, Aus, Aman and Boro, but yields most in Boro.

He said the plants are about five feet tall, taller than other varieties, and are sturdy, so they do not lodge. Each panicle carries 750-1,000 grains, three to four times more than ordinary paddy, so output is much higher. This season he harvested about 75 maunds from one and a half bighas. Disease and pest attacks are relatively low, the grain is very fine and the cooked rice is tasty.

He added that the crop can be harvested 150 to 155 days after the seedbed is prepared, and it tolerates storms, drought and salinity. Each plant of the variety is 115 to 130 centimetres long, with an average of eight tillers per hill, panicles 36 centimetres long and nearly 1,000 grains on average.

Lebuat Sheikh (40) of Chakulia village in Betaga union of Fakirhat upazila, Bagerhat, first grew the paddy on his family's land in 2016. That Boro season, while harvesting hybrid Aftab-5 paddy on land beside his house, he noticed three panicles of a different kind. They were much larger than the others and carried far more grains. He took the three panicles home, dried them and used them as seed. He named the unknown variety 'Fatema dhan' after his mother.

Farmers Liton, Ranju, Mamun and Atab Ali, who came from various areas, said they had come to see Bashir's paddy after hearing about its high yield and had collected seed from him. They plan to grow it in future.

Shamsul Wadud, deputy director of the district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said the variety's yield could astonish not just the country but the whole world. "I do not know of any variety in the country that gives such a high yield," he said. The paddy tolerates drought and salinity and is suitable for cultivation across the country. If it were grown nationwide, annual production would exceed 5 crore tonnes, he said.

Source: Bangladesh Pratidin. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.