In Yusufpur village of Debidwar upazila, Cumilla, the rumble of machines fills the fields. A single machine is cutting, threshing and even bagging the rice. Farmers say machine harvesting and threshing cost less and take less effort, and they no longer have to chase labourers.

According to the district agriculture office, a 50-acre block demonstration of synchronised ("somoloy") Boro cultivation was set up in Yusufpur under the agricultural incentive programme to encourage mechanisation. Seedlings were raised in trays and planted with rice transplanters, harvesting is done with combine harvesters, and BRRI dhan102 was grown at farmers' request.

• Farmers are getting an average of 91 maunds an acre, and up to 100 maunds on some plots.
• About 900 maunds of extra rice were produced on the 50 acres, worth Tk 12,96,000 at the government price of Tk 36 a kg.
• The new variety and synchronised method saved Tk 19,815 an acre, or Tk 9,90,750 across 50 acres.

Farmers Sanu Mia, Nur Hossain and Nazrul Islam said machine planting of 30-day-old seedlings increased the number of productive tillers, the main reason for the good yield, along with BRRI dhan102. Farm women Aruna Begum and Sakina Begum said harvest season used to mean endless work threshing day and night with no time for children, cooking or meals; now a machine cuts and threshes the rice, which goes home in sacks, and there is no extra work drying straw.

Combine harvester entrepreneur Emdadul Haque said interest has grown after initial reluctance, and he expects machine planting to exceed 100 acres next season.

Sub-assistant agriculture officer Rafiqul Islam said machine-planted fields produce more tillers, and after a one-acre BRRI dhan102 demonstration under the PARTNER programme last year, farmers decided to grow the variety. Upazila agriculture officer Agriculturist Banin Roy said the block had two aims, popularising mechanisation, especially rice transplanters, and spreading BRRI dhan102 for Boro, and both are showing positive results. Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md. Abul Hasnat Khan said synchronised cultivation saves farmers labour, time and money while raising yields.

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