Rajshahi paddy farmers switch to mango, guava farming

RAJSHAHI, Oct 27: The farmers in different upazilas here have been showing interest in mango and guava cultivation in paddy lands for the last couple of years after getting quick profit from the farming.
Mango and guava cultivation is risk free, and the farmers can earn quick profit at a low cost and within a short time.  
As a result, the farmers are gradually bringing more lands under guava and mango cultivation across the district. Besides, the paddy cultivation is decreasing in the vast Barind tract day by day.
To meet the demand of the growing population of the country, more croplands for paddy cultivation are necessary, but 234 hectares of arable land are getting lost per year in this region. The total arable land in the district is 2,46,363 ha.
In 2016-17, the amount of cultivable land was 1,88,999 ha while in 2017-18, it has been reduced to 1, 88,758 ha. In 2016-17, paddy was cultivated on 75,300 ha which was reduced to 71,314 ha in 2017-18.
Mango has been cultivated on 10 per cent of the cultivable land in the district and guava on 5,600 ha of land.  As a result, paddy cultivation is decreasing by 16 ha per season, said sources at the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE).  
Agriculture office sources said, paddy is cultivated on 48 lakh ha of land in Bangladesh.
Chief Scientific Officer of Rajshahi Paddy Research Institute Dr. Rafiqul Islam said, "Paddy is cultivated on 11.42 million ha of land in the country. The farmers have been feeding the people of Bangladesh by inventing new varieties of paddy. Following their contribution, the country is becoming more and more affluent in food."
Already, agricultural scientists have invented 86 varieties of paddies in Bangladesh, said Deputy Director (Crops) of Rajshahi DAE Abdul Awal.
DD (Horticulture) of Rajshahi DAE Manjurul Haque said, "The farmers are interested in fruit farming in the hope of getting more profit. Considering the future, the paddy cultivation should be kept normal and we should focus more on increasing paddy production."
He further said, "Rice is the country's staple food and the main food of 87 per cent of people of Bangladesh. At least 50 per cent of the people in the world are dependent on rice. Half of the total rice of the world is produced in China and India."
India's agricultural expert Bijan Adhikari said in an interview, "Rice production started almost 5,000 years ago. Paddy is still produced in 115 countries of the world. About 25 per cent of the rice is produced in the Indian subcontinent and half of the rice is produced in Bangladesh, India and China."
Once, 82 varieties of rice were produced in Bangladesh. Due to dependence on the cultivation based on chemical fertilisers, most indigenous paddy varieties have been lost.
The target of Boro cultivation in Rajshahi in 2015-16 was 69,411 ha of land whereas it was cultivated on 67,490 ha of lands. Although the cultivation target in 2016-17 was 69,412 ha but it was cultivated on 67,330 ha of lands. In 2015-16, the target of Aush paddy farming was 44,612 ha but it was cultivated on 40,269 ha of lands. In 2016-17, the target of Aush paddy cultivation was 46,209 ha of lands while the recent floods have damaged 47,900 ha of lands. The target of Aman paddy cultivation was 75,224 ha but 70,330 ha were cultivated.
There are 39,790 ha of arable lands in Godagari upazila where guava is cultivated on 3,690 ha of lands. The local farmers are showing more interest in fruit cultivation than paddy cultivation day
by day.
DD (Crops) of Rajshahi DAE Abdul Awal said, as the farmers are benefiting from fruit production so they are getting interested in fruit cultivation.
DD (Horticulture) Manjurul Haque said, "The farmers have made the country rich in food stocks by producing crops. As rice is our staple food, so we should prioritise crops cultivation otherwise it will affect the food security of the country."