Wheat output in north likely to exceed target
Farmer and agronomists expect a higher yield of wheat in the northern region this season as plants have grown well due to favourable weather condition. Photo shows a wheat field at Akcha village of Thakurgaon district. Photo: STAR
Farmers and agronomists are expecting a bumper production of wheat in the northern region this season as the plants have grown well due to favourable weather condition. Prolonged winter and timely irrigation has helped wheat plants in the area to grow fast, said Dr Dinabandhu Pandith, principal scientific officer of Wheat Research Centre (WRC) in Dinajpur. About 1.15 lakh hectares of land -- 53,000 hectares in Thakurgaon, 23,347 hectares in Dinajpur, 14,550 hectares in Panchagarh, 4,060 hectares in Rangpur, 2,080 hectares in Gaibandha, 12,050 hectares in Kurigram, 1,171 hectares in Lalmonirhat and 5,450 hectares in Nilphamari district in this season. Production target in the eight northern districts is 2.77 lakh tonnes. The target is likely to exceed much as farmers are expecting to get 12 to 15 maunds (one maund is equal to 37.32 kg) of wheat per bigha (0.3306 acre) of land and harvesting will start in the last week of March, DAE officials and farmers said. The farmers faced trouble in collecting quality seeds at the beginning of the season as Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation failed to supply insufficient amount of seeds. Farmers overcame the situation by using locally preserved seeds and buying seeds from private companies at higher rates. The farmers of Thakurgaon, the highest wheat producing district in the country, last year produced 1.32 lakh tonnes of wheat from 57,500 hectares of land while the total production was 9.58 lakh tonnes from 4.39 lakh hectares of land across the country, DAE sources said. This season, about 3.69 lakh hectares of land have been bought under wheat cultivation to produce 10.20 lakh tonnes of wheat in the country. Wheat cultivation is gaining popularity in the region due to its increasing demand, good prices, easy cultivation process and lower production cost than that of IRRI-Boro, farmers and DAE officials said. "I have decided to cultivate wheat considering its growing demand and high price in the market," said Shahidul Islam, 42, of Farabari village in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila. Cultivation of wheat, requiring only three times irrigation, is much easier and less costly than paddy cultivation, Shamsuzzoha of Shakoya village in Boda upazila of Panchagarh said. Production cost of wheat on per bigha of land is Tk 4500 at the maximum while it needs around Tk 8500 to cultivate IRRI-Boro crops, he said. WRC has developed two new high yielding varieties of wheat Hashi and Tista that will be introduced at the farmers' level in next season, Dr Dinabandhu said. Now the farmers use high yielding varieties of wheat seeds Shatabdi, Prodeep, Shourav, Bijoy and Gourab that are developed by WRC. The country produces 9 lakh to 10 lakh tonnes of wheat per year against the demand of about 30.35 lakh tonnes, WRC officials said. November 15 to November 30 is the peak season for wheat cultivation. Good temperature, sandy-loamy soil and easy availability of water are needed for the cultivation.
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