Bumper Aus yield delights Lalmonirhat farmers

Farmers in different upazilas of Lalmonirhat are very happy getting a bumper production of Aus paddy this season due to favourable weather.

Meanwhile, at least 150 farmers of six villages in three upazilas of the district are seen more delighted as they got production beyond their expectation cultivating zinc-enriched Aus for the first time this year.

According to Lalmonirhat Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Aus paddy was cultivated on 6,700 hectares of lands in five upazilas of the district this year.

Besides, farmers in those upazilas are very much pleased as they got 13 to 16 maunds (one maund equals to 40 Kg) of paddy from each bigha of land.

Local farmers started harvesting Aus from last week and will continue till the end of June.

Deputy Director (DD) of Lalmonirhat DAE Bidhubhushon Roy said an increasing number of farmers in the region are switching to Aus cultivation as they do not want to keep their land idle.

“After harvesting potato, farmers start preparing their land for Aus cultivation in second week of March and harvest the crops in mid June,” the DD said, adding that Aus farming saw a bumper yield this year due to quality seeds and favourable weather.

“I cultivated Aus on eight bighas of land this year, while it was only two bighas last year,” Azizul Islam, 63, of Kulaghat village in Sadar upazila, said, adding that after harvesting potato he went for Aus cultivation as it needs less farming cost.

Farmer Sayem Ali, 55, of Mandolerhat village in Sadar upazila, said he cultivated zinc-enriched Aus on two bighas of land for the first time this year and was happy to get 17 maunds of paddy from each bigha.

“Zinc-enriched variety of Aus is better than other varieties as it produces expected yield and is safe from all kinds of diseases,” he said, adding that he will cultivate zinc-enriched Aus on a large scale from next season.

“We received Aus seeds of zinc-enriched variety from a local non-governmental organisation (NGO),” said farmer Musa Miah, 65, of the same village.

Nurul Haque Sarker, executive director of NAZRI, an NGO in Lalmonirhat, said they provided zinc enriched variety seeds to 150 farmers free of cost this year and the result was fruitful.