LALMOHAN, BHOLA, Jan 21: Lalmohan Upazila of the district has recorded a bumper harvest of Aman paddy this season, bringing smile to farmers despite early setbacks caused by excessive rainfall.
After overcoming initial challenges at the beginning of the season, growers achieved better-than-expected yields, with total paddy production valued at Tk 241.92 crore, according to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
Officials at the Upazila Agriculture office said, Aman paddy was cultivated on 23,105 hectares of land in Lalmohan this season. Of the total area, high-yielding varieties (HYV) were grown on 22,146 hectares, while local varieties covered 950 hectares. Hybrid varieties were cultivated on nine hectares.
The total production during the Aman season stood at 107,520 metric tonnes of paddy, the DAE said. With the market price averaging Tk 900 per maund, the total value of the harvest was estimated at Tk 241.92 crore.
Farmers said favourable weather conditions during the later stages of cultivation played a key role in ensuring good yields.
Md Babul, a farmer from Charchhakina area under Ward No 4 of Kalma Union, said he cultivated BRRI Dhan-103 on 20 decimals of land and BRRI Dhan-11 and BRRI Dhan-52 on 100 decimals this season. "At the beginning, excessive rainfall caused serious problems with seedbeds, and we were worried about transplanting seedlings," he said.
"However, once the seedlings were transplanted, there were no major problems. The yield turned out to be good," he added. Babul said his total production cost from planting to harvesting was around Tk 40,000, while his profit stood at about Tk 30,000.
Another farmer, Md Abdul Latif from the Fulbagicha area under Ward No 6 of Lalmohan union, said he cultivated Aman paddy on 200 decimals of land this season. "I have already harvested all the paddy. Due to favourable weather, the yield was as expected," he said.
From 200 decimals of land, Latif harvested around 150 maunds of paddy, which he sold at Tk 920 per maund in the local market.
Lalmohan Upazila Agriculture Officer Agriculturist Md Abu Hasnain said farmers initially faced difficulties with seedbeds due to excessive rainfall at the start of the season, causing some delay in cultivation. "Despite late planting, farmers achieved satisfactory yields from their fields," he said.
He added that the upazila exceeded the national average yield target this season. "Throughout the Aman season, our field-level officers provided farmers with necessary advice and technical support to address various problems," he said.
The agriculture office also distributed different agricultural inputs among farmers to support cultivation, the official added.
