Good aman yield expected

Farmers and agriculture officials in the district are expecting good yield of aman paddy amid favourable weather this year.

“At the beginning of the season, some of our paddy saplings got damaged. But we could cultivate the crop on all of our lands as we had prepared seedbeds that was more than the usual demand,” said Emdaul Haq, 42, a farmer of Kalikhathi village under Pirojpur Sadar upazila.

Unlike the last couple of years, the paddy plants did not face any pest attack this season and so, the crop grew well, farmers said.

“Aman paddy is growing well on my five bighas of land. We expect a good yield this season if there is no natural calamity before the harvest,” said Motiur Rahman, 55, a farmer of Kalakhali village in Pirojpur Sadar.

Harvesting will start within a few weeks, farmers said during this correspondent's visit to several paddy fields. 

This year aman paddy has been cultivated on 64,977 hectares of land in the district that was 64,180 hectares last year, according to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE).

On an average, 1.91 tonnes of rice was produced in one hectare of land last year. This year the DAE has set a target to produce 1.17 lakh and 879 tonnes of rice in the district.

“It rained well when the aman plants flowered and there was no pest attack. Besides, the plants remained free from natural calamities this season. And so, we expect that rice production will cross the target this year," said Md Abul Hossain Talukder, deputy director of Pirojpur DAE.