The fragrance of golden rice is now wafting across the vast Barendra region of Rajshahi.
Ignoring the intense heat and scorching sun, farmers in the district are reveling in the current season's Boro paddy harvesting and threshing festival. Paddy harvesting officially began in the district about a week ago.
Currently, the work of harvesting the crops is in full swing. According to the Agriculture Department, this huge campaign will continue throughout the month of May.
According to sources from the Rajshahi District Agricultural Extension Department, Boro rice has been cultivated on a total of 68,300 hectares of land in 9 upazilas of the district and in the Boalia and Motihar thana areas of the metropolitan area this season. The crop condition is quite satisfactory as the weather has been favorable so far. The Agriculture Department has set a target of producing a total of 3,27,544 metric tons of rice in the district this time.
According to preliminary data, the average yield per hectare is 4.70 metric tons.
This year, the fields of Rajshahi have witnessed a wide variety of rice varieties. Farmers have cultivated a total of 35 different varieties of rice according to their preferences and land type. Among them, high-yielding Bri-rice and various modern hybrid varieties are more prevalent.
Agricultural officials say that cultivating different varieties of rice has reduced the risk of disease and made it easier to manage labor during the rice harvest.
According to field data, about 10 percent of the total paddy crop in the district has been harvested and threshed so far. Although the yield of the varieties that have been harvested initially is 'rough', the yield rate will increase further as the Agriculture Department and the general farmers are hopeful. Especially in mid-May, when the long-term and high-yielding varieties begin to be fully harvested, the average yield is expected to exceed the target.
On a field trip to various upazilas, farmers were seen rushing into the fields with sickles and rice husks as soon as the dawn broke. In some places, rice is being harvested using the traditional method with sickles.
Somewhere else, rice is being harvested and threshed quickly with the help of combine harvester machines. After threshing, the farmers are also busy drying the rice in the sun and baling it.
A farmer named Simon told BSS, "We have started harvesting paddy. I hope that if there is no storm and rain, the entire paddy will reach the house well. The yield is going well."
Farmers in Paba and Godagari upazilas said they are relieved by the weather conditions over the past week. If there are no major natural disasters or storms or rains throughout this month, they will be able to harvest their golden harvest without any problems.
District agriculture officials told BSS that they are working round the clock to supervise the paddy harvesting at the field level and provide necessary advice to the farmers. They are optimistic that almost the majority of the target paddy will reach the farmers' granaries by the end of May. If this huge campaign is successful, Rajshahi's food security will be further consolidated and there will be a positive impact on the local economy.
Rajshahi Department of Agricultural Extension Additional Deputy Director (Grains) Mita Sarkar told BSS that paddy harvesting has started in Rajshahi since last week. Farmers are happy to be able to harvest Boro paddy without any problem. The yield is going well. It is expected that the remaining paddy crops will yield better yields. Farmers have been given various suggestions to get good yields. Boro paddy harvesting activities will continue throughout the month.
