Aman rice output hits a new high
Aman rice output rose to a new high of nearly 1.35 crore tonnes in the immediate past season owing to increased plantation, particularly of high-yielding varieties, said officials of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
Farmers planted the monsoon-based crop on 55.90 lakh hectares last season, up from 55.30 lakh hectares a year earlier, according to preliminary data of the BBS.
Aman accounts for 38 percent of annual rice production.
With the 2.93 percent spike in aman production, the total rice output this fiscal year stands at 1.57 crore tonnes.
The output, which although is a year-on-year increase of 1.63 percent, fell short of the Department of Agricultural Extension's target of 1.60 crore tonnes.
The DAE set out to ensure production of 24.75 lakh tonnes of rice during the aus season, 1.35 crore tonnes during aman and 1.90 crore tonnes during boro season.
However, boro production target may not be achieved as cultivation declined after many farmers switched to other crops such as wheat and potato, according to agriculture officials and seed sellers.
Farmers grew boro paddy on 46.85 lakh hectares of land during the current harvesting season, down from last season's 48.40 lakh hectares, according to the DAE.
The latest acreage is the lowest since fiscal 2008-09.
“There is uncertainty,” said a senior official of the DAE about the achievement of the boro rice production target. He said harvesting of the rice has begun in the haor areas in the northeast, with many farmers encountering flash floods in their paddy fields.
“Half the crop in the haor areas has been harvested. There is a risk of crop damage for submergence,” said the official.
Early this month, the US Department of Agriculture said total boro output in Bangladesh may be 1.86 crore tonnes in the current season.
Bangladesh requires more than 3.50 crore tonnes of rice a year for consumption, according to the USDA.
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