::: Star Insight :::

Behind The Scene

Sunamganj

Early Harvest Rice Varieties

It was a joyful day for about 2,000 farmers from the upazilas of Derai and Shulla. The farmers organized a function on crop field under the open sky in a festive mood at the remote village of Faridpur in the Shullla upazila under the Sunamganj district.
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Iqbal Siddiquee

The farmers organized a function on crop field under the open sky in a festive mood at the remote village of Faridpur in the Shullla upazila under the Sunamganj district.

The crop cutting function and farmers rally was celebrating the harvest of 2 early varieties of Boro paddy on 9 April.

The varieties, along with some others were cultivated successfully in the area under a special program called - Economic Empowerment of the Poorest (EEP), being implemented jointly by the government and some other organizations in the region.

BRI-45 and BRI-28, released by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) are suitable for cultivation since these can be harvested much ahead of the Boro season in low-lying regions such as the Sunamganj district, which is prone to early flooding almost every year.

The farmers said during the end of Choitra and Baishakh (March-April) almost every year, they suffer much and remain worried because of early flooding. Boro paddy is their only crop, so they need early varieties of paddy, which can be harvested successfully before major natural calamities like hailstorms and floods.

Addressing the rally, Deputy Director of DAE, Sunamganj, Dr. S. M. Afsaruzzaman said “Per hectare yield of these varieties varies from 4.5 tons to 5.5 tons. But these are much safer for the farmers in general for the Haor region, which remain in threat of early flood every year.”

“Along with the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), DAE and BADC, the Helvetas Swiss Inter cooperation, an international organization has been working in Sunamganj for popularizing the early varieties of Boro paddy since 2005” the gathering was told.

Deputy Commissioner of Sunamganj - Md. Yamin Chowdhury was the chief guest while Inter Cooperation's Project managers Zahid Hasan, Masud Rana and Fuad Hossain, farmers-Shahan Ara Begum and Mujibur Rahman also addressed the crowd.

The chief guest said the advanced varieties of paddy needs to be popularized properly in the Haor (low-lying) region of the country since the farmers here suffer crop loss every year due to early flood.