After watching a video on Facebook, Mizanur Rahman Mizan, a farmer from Kamarpur village in Nordas union of Bagmara upazila, Rajshahi, bought seed online and planted a trial crop of black rice. The upazila agriculture office says it is the first time the rice has been grown in Bagmara.
In a small field in the middle of Kamarpur the dark-coloured crop stands out among the green paddy, and hundreds of farmers and visitors from nearby villages have come to see it.
Mizanur said seed, fertiliser and irrigation cost him Tk 4,000 to 5,000 in all. If the yield is as he hopes, he will grow it on a larger scale next year. Local farmers say black rice fetches Tk 200 to 300 more a maund than ordinary paddy, which has made many of them curious.
Local farmer Majid Sardar said that if Mizanur's venture succeeds it will bring diversity to farming in the area.
Upazila Agriculture Officer Abdur Razzak said that although rice is grown on 3,700 hectares in Bagmara each year, this is the first black rice. Its high market price has drawn interest among local farmers, and the agriculture office will provide technical support for growing it, he said.
Farmers in the area are now waiting to see what Mizanur's field yields. The report is by Samakal's Bagmara (Rajshahi) correspondent.
Photo: Koba-chan / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5)
Source: Samakal
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