Growers eye bumper wheat yield in Rangpur agri zone

Agriculturists and farmers are expecting bumper yield of wheat in five districts under Rangpur Agriculture Zone this season as the plants are growing well amid favourable weather.

Harvest is likely to begin by the end of this month.

The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Rangpur has fixed a target of wheat cultivation on 24,283 hectares of land in the region but the farmers have cultivated the crop on 28,053 hectares this season, which is 15.53 per cent higher than the target.

The original production target was 75,278 tonnes of wheat.

District-wise, the cultivation areas are 3,730 hectares of land in Rangpur district, 3,095 hectares in Gaibandha, 13,578 hectares in Kurigram, 5,960 hectares in Nilphamari and 1,690 hectares in Lalmonirhat district.

Frustrated over the earlier price fall of aman paddy, many farmers of the region have become interested in wheat cultivation instead of boro paddy this season, locals said. 

Easy cultivation process and lower production cost compared to other crops also encouraged the farmers to cultivate wheat.

"It requires Tk 4,800 to Tk 5,000 to cultivate wheat on one bigha of land. I cultivated it on four bighas of land this year and hope to get 10 to 15 maunds of yield from per bigha, if the weather remains favourable. We sold wheat at Tk 700 to 900 per maund last year," said Shajahan Mian of Machari village in Kaunia upazila under Rangpur district.

Abdul Hakim of Changmari village under Gangachara upazila of the same district said he cultivated wheat on two bighas of land this season and the growth is excellent.

Smooth supply of water and agro-inputs like fertilisers and pesticides helped the growth, he added.

Farmers have mostly cultivated high yielding wheat varieties Pradip, BARI Gom-26, Bijoy, Protiva, Shotabdi, Sourav, Gaurab, and Swarna, said Pratip Kumar Mandal, Rangpur regional additional director of the DAE.

"The farmers are showing more interest in wheat cultivation after getting repeated bumper yields along with good prices. They have been supplied with quality wheat seeds, fertilisers and other inputs, and provided training on latest technologies to achieve the production target," he said.