Mustard cultivation falls
Tangail farmers fear less production due to flood, rain
Mustard was cultivated in the district on less land than targeted this season due to prolonged flood and heavy rain, along with dense fog, raising fear of less than targeted production among local growers.
District Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Additional Deputy Director agriculturist Abu Hanif said a total of 38,000 hectares of land were targeted for mustard cultivation in 12 upazilas of the district this year, adding that the target was not achieved due to flood and heavy rain.
In this situation, a total of 28,406 hectares of land were brought under cultivation, he said.
Moreover, many farmers could not prepare their land for mustard cultivation in time due to stagnant water in the crop fields of low lying areas.
Bumper production of mustard was achieved and a total of 41,271 tonnes were produced on 38,000 hectares of land last season, said Shariful Islam, sub-assistant agriculture officer of DAE in the district.
Mustard was cultivated on 2,500 hectares of land in Sadar upazila, 2,375 hectares in Basail, 6,494 hectares in Mirzapur, 680 hectares in Sakhipur, 1,223 hectares in Bhuapur, 720 hectares in Kalihati, 151 hectares in Madhupur, 1,370 hectares in Delduar, 178 hectares in Dhanbari, 9,000 hectares in Nagarpur, 2,270 hectares in Gopalpur and 1,445 hectares of land in Ghatail upazilas.
Different varieties of mustard were cultivated here, such as Ufshi, Tori-7, B-14, and B-15. Besides, some local varieties have also been cultivated in the district.
Abdur Rahim, a mustard grower at Bhatchanda village in Sadar upazila, said he had made good profit last year, but the yield this year may be much less due to heavy rain at the beginning of the season and dense fog later.
Abdul Haque and Lal Miah of the same village said they will not be able to recover the production costs this year as many of the plants contain no grain.
Abu Hanif of DAE said flood, heavy rain and dense fog hit mustard cultivation this year, raising fear of less production. "As the sun has started shining again, we are advising the farmers to use pesticides for saving the rest of the crop," he added.