Farmers in Ranisankail upazila of Thakurgaon are smiling after growing early varieties of rice this season. Yields have been good this year too.

On Saturday, 9 October, the road through the Hosengaon, Dharmagarh, Kashipur and Nekmarad areas of the upazila ran past wide Aman fields. In some fields the rice had begun to ripen, and farmers were busy cutting it and bringing it home. Several farmers there said Aman output this year is 54 to 60 maunds per acre (100 decimals), at a cost of Tk 25,000 to 27,000. Rice is selling for Tk 700 to 750 a maund at market, so the rice from an acre is fetching more than Tk 38,000. After this harvest, they get the chance to plant early potatoes.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), in the past, the months of Ashwin and Kartik used to bring monga, or near-famine, to the northern region at this time of year. Most people had no food at home and went without until the Aman rice was harvested.

Where the Aman crop would otherwise take one to two months more, Aman rice has ripened already. These varieties developed by BINA have great potential: yields are good, and they ripen within 100 days. After cutting this rice, potatoes, mustard and other crops can be grown. There was once a shortage of work in the region in Ashwin and Kartik, leaving farmers, day labourers and others almost unemployed. Early Aman varieties were introduced to end this.

This season, Aman has been planted on 21,455 hectares in the upazila, of which farmers have grown early hybrid Aman on 5,145 hectares. Besides hybrids, harvesting and threshing of high-yielding BINA dhan17, BRRI dhan75 and BRRI dhan87 have begun. So far, rice on 250 hectares in the district has been harvested.

Abul Hossain, 37, a farmer from Bhangbari in the upazila, grew hybrid rice on two acres and is now busy harvesting it. He said both yields and prices are good this time, and that is what makes farmers happy.

Munjar Hossain, 55, another farmer from Dharmagarh Mondolpara village, grew a hybrid variety on two bighas. Asked about the yield, he said that taking costs and rice prices together there would be a reasonable profit this time. The money he gets from the rice will go into growing potatoes.

Agriculture officer Sanjay Debnath said farmers can harvest early rice within 110 to 115 days. It ripens 60 to 70 days earlier than other Aman varieties, so farmers profit by growing other crops in the remaining time. Interest in these varieties is growing, and farmers can now take three harvests a year from their paddy land. After growing, cutting and threshing early rice, they are now planting potatoes and mustard, and are profiting from it.

Source: Amader Shomoy. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.