It is the Bengali month of Poush. There are many crops in the fields, and many farmers are preparing seedbeds for boro rice. The Agriculture Information Service (AIS) has advised farmers how to look after them and which technologies are most useful.

The AIS says farmers should grow BRRI dhan88, BRRI dhan89, BRRI dhan92, BRRI dhan96, BRRI dhan97, BRRI dhan19, Bangabandhu dhan100, BRRI dhan101, BRRI dhan102, BINA dhan10, BINA dhan14, BINA dhan24 and approved hybrid rice this season instead of the older BRRI dhan28 and BRRI dhan29. For planting with a rice transplanter, seedlings should be raised in trays.

In areas with severe cold, cover the seedbed with clear polythene from 10am until evening, drain the seedbed water in the morning and add fresh water. Shake off the dew that gathers on the seedlings every morning. If the seedlings turn yellow, top-dress with 7 grams of urea per square metre.

If the seedlings still do not turn green, apply 10 grams of gypsum per square metre. Prepare the land with a balanced dose of fertiliser. Use a rice transplanter to save both time and money. Transplant the seedlings to the main field when they are 25 to 30 days old.

• Wheat: give the first irrigation when the seedlings are 17 to 21 days old. Apply 12 to 14 kg of urea per acre, and clear weeds with a weeder within 25 to 30 days of sowing.
• Maize: earth up the soil around the base of the plants, mix urea well into it and irrigate. Break off the dead lower leaves.
• Potato: top-dress with urea when earthing up 30 to 35 days after planting. To protect potatoes from late blight, as soon as low temperatures, foggy weather or rain are forecast, spray Dithane M-45, Hemencozeb or Indofil at 2 grams per litre of water every 7 to 10 days. As soon as the disease appears, spray Secure or Acrobat MZ at 2 grams per litre every seven days.
• Cotton: when the cotton is mature, pick the seed cotton on sunny, dry days. Pick good cotton separately and dry it in the sun three or four times before storing.
• Pulses and oilseeds: harvest mustard and linseed once they are 80 per cent ripe. For pulses, cut the crop a few inches above the soil rather than pulling up the whole plant.
• Vegetables: once red amaranth, radish greens and spinach are finished, sow seed again. Soil moisture falls in winter, so irrigate vegetable fields regularly as needed.
• General: grow high-value crops for better profit, choose short-duration, high-yielding varieties, and use modern farm machinery to save labour, time and cost.

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