Years after Sidr, Aila in Coastal Areas
Salinity-tolerant paddy comes as blessing for cyclone-hit people
Idris Mia is all smiles as he eyes good harvest of Bina-8, a salinity-tolerant variety of aman paddy, at his field of Nalbunia village in Karaibaria union in Amtali upazila under Barguna district. Photo: STAR
Cultivation of salinity-tolerant varieties of paddy is gaining popularity among the farmers of coastal districts Patuakhali and Barguna as high salinity followed by the onslaught of cyclones Sidr and Aila made vast farmlands unsuitable for local varieties. The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) set up a number of 'demonstration plots' in the two districts under Barisal division to motivate local farmers to cultivate these varieties for better food production. "I cultivated Bina-8 variety on my 1.50 hectares of land this year according to suggestion from DAE and got four tonnes per hectare of aman paddy whereas we got only one to 1.50 tonnes from the same field. I have got the yield in only four months while local varieties took at least five months," Idris Mia, 50, a farmer of Nalbunia village of Kraibaria union under Amtali upazila, said. "Our hard days seem to have ended as now we can produce food grains including paddy on our saline-affected land," said Hafiza Begum, a woman of the same village engaged in farming. Like Idris and Hafiza, many farmers are cultivating saline -tolerant varieties introduced by BRRI (Bangladesh Rich Research Institute). "Local farmers who got poor production of paddy due to salinity on their land have stating cultivating new varieties to change their fortune. We set up 10 demonstration plots under the upazila and local farmers are very encouraged to see the production," Dilip Kumar Mali, deputy assistant agriculture officer in the upazila, said. We suggested farmers to cultivate salinity-tolerant hybrid aman varieties of BRRI-53, 41, Bina-40, 41, 53, 27 on their land, he added. About 20,000 hectares of land in the district have been brought under cultivation of these varieties, said Abu Layez, deputy director of Barguna DAE. A team from Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute in Mymensing, comprising its Director General Dr MA Sattar, Chief Researcher Dr Mirza Mofazzal Islam and Director (Research) Dr Abdus Salam went on a field visit at Nalbunia in Amtali upazila on Friday. "Over 10 lakh hectares of cultivable land remain out of coverage due to high salinity in the coastal region including Patuakhali, Barguna, Bhola, Noakhali, Bagerhat, Satkhira and Chittagong. But at least 40 lakh tonnes of supplementary paddy production is possible by bringing these lands under cultivation of salinity-tolerant varieties," Dr MA Sattar told local journalists during the visit. "We produced 17 tonnes of seed to distribute among local farmers. BADC, DAE and NGOs like STRASA-IRRI are also producing seeds for the purpose," he said. Newly introduced aman variety Bina-8 is tolerant to high level of salinity and it was approved by the National Seeds Council in 2010, Dr Mirza Mofazzal Islam said. "It is possible to produce 4.50 to 5.50 tonnes per acre on saline-affected lands and 7.50 to 8.50 tonnes on normal lands by cultivating the variety. It takes 130-135 days to harvest paddy in the boro season and 105 to 120 days in the aman season. Pest attack on it is less too," he said. BRRI and Bina varieties are also becoming popular among farmers in Patuakhali district. This year 31,000 hectares of land have been brought under their cultivation in Patuakhali district. Local farmers are getting encouraged to cultivate salinity-tolerant varieties due their good yield, said AZM Momtazul Karim, deputy director for DAE. "I cultivated Bina-41 paddy for the first time on my one-acre land and got 95 maunds of paddy from there but earlier I got only 25/30 maunds by cultivating a local variety," Abdur Rashid Mridha, 57, of Shiali village under Sadar upazila.
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