Chalanbeel Correspondent: Chalanbeel is formed by rivers, canals and gullies. The historical Chalanbeel of Bangladesh is well-known to the people of the whole country as a storehouse of grain and fish. 80% of the people of this region are farmers. Therefore, agriculture is their only source of livelihood. Besides, agriculture is the main driving force of overall development. The Upazilas of Chalanbeel are Tarash, Ullapara, Shahjadpur, Faridpur, Bhangura, Chatmohar, Gurudaspur, Singra and Atrai. In an agriculturally dominated country, agriculture is the main driving force of our economy.
The main artisan of the overall development of agriculture is the farmer. Although it is unpopular, it is true that in our country, the interests of the main artisan of agriculture, the farmer, are not protected to a large extent. It is safe to say that there are no natural disasters this season. Like other places in Bangladesh, which is known as an agriculturally dependent and grain storehouse, in the full season of planting Iri-Boro rice, this year, compared to other years, the historical Chalanbeel area of the country is cultivating Iri-Boro rice.
The farmers of the area are unexpectedly spending their time in rice care. The farmers of Chalanbeel are now spending their time in the vast fields of the beel from morning to evening, in the fields of Iri-Boro rice fields and applying fertilizers. Now, wherever you look in the fields of Chalanbeel, you can see young green, young Iri-Boro rice plants. When you search for information on the spot, you can see that some farmers are applying fertilizers and pesticides to the land.
Some are spending their time busy cleaning the weeds of the rice fields and irrigating the land. Seeing this scene, it seems that the farmers do not have time to catch their breath to grow the desired crop well. Speaking about Md. Nazim Uddin, a farmer from Shilongdah village in Tarash upazila, he said that he has cultivated Iri-Boro rice on 20 bighas of land. Weeding of the rice field has already been completed. Now, he is only applying fertilizers and pesticides to the land. There has been no natural disaster since the beginning of rice planting, and since the weather is favorable this year, it is expected that the rice yield will be good this year.
However, the attack of insects and spiders seems to be a little more than in other years. Farmers in the entire Chalanbeel area are generally dependent on agriculture. Therefore, they are busy with the maintenance work of Iri-Boro rice all the time in the hope of a good yield. Due to the pressure of various types of work, farmers have forgotten to eat and drink.
As the bumper yield and price of rice in the last Iri-Boro season were unexpected, farmers have taken to the field to cultivate Iri-Boro rice.
According to the information of the Chalanbeel own agricultural offices, 2, 65,000 (two lakh sixty-five thousand) hectares of land have been planted with Iri-Bora rice in the current Iri-Bora season, according to the Agriculture Department sources. The planting of Iri-Bora rice of the early variety has already been completed on 1, 10,000 (one lakh ten thousand) hectares of land, which is the right time for planting Paush and Magh Iri-Bora rice. Already, after the mustard harvest, rice planting has been completed on the remaining land.
The target of rice production in the entire Chalanbeel area has been set at 1,20,10,000 (one core twenty lakh ten thousand) metric tons. After meeting the needs of the people of Chalanbeel area, 70, 10,000 (seven lakh ten thousand) metric tons of rice will be supplied to different parts of the country.
Farmers in the area said that Chalanbeel rice will make a special contribution to the overall economic development of the country and food self-sufficiency. According to the information source of the Agriculture Office of the respective Upazila, 11,500 (eleven thousand five hundred) farmers have been provided with hybrid rice seeds as agricultural incentives in the entire Chalanbeel area this season. The notable rice varieties cultivated are Miniket, BR-29, BR-49, Zira, BR-102, BR-103, BR-104, BR-105, BR-106, BR-107 and Sampa Katari rice. Although this year, the cropland was not completely flooded with flood water compared to the need at the time. Even so, according to the Agriculture Office of the respective Upazila of Chalanbeel, there will be no loss to the farmers in rice production.
During the on-site information search, farmers Md. Haider Ali of Gonta village of Talom union, Md. Ganjer Ali, Md. Abdur Rashid of Chowra village and Md. Zafar Ali of Manikchapar village told this reporter with great joy that there will be an unexpected crop production, on the other hand, they expressed their disappointment with great sadness, because the crop yield will be unexpected if there is no natural disaster or crop failure, even then they will not get the right price by selling the paddy.
There is disappointment among the farmers of this area. Besides, it is true that the crop will be more this year compared to other years because the weather has been favorable to the farmers this year compared to last year. So they expressed their hope. But they are worried about determining the right price of the crop.
Although there are concerns among the farmers, the crop yield will be beyond expectations due to the tireless work of the farmers and timely advice from the officers and employees working in the agriculture department, said Md. Zafar Ali, a resident of Manikchapar village. When contacted, the officials of the agriculture department said that the crop yield this year will be better than the set target, but they assured the farmers that they will not have to face problems with prices like in previous years. The farmers expressed their strong hope that it is very important for the government to formulate a balanced policy in the procurement, storage and distribution of food, which is the lifeblood of the local people.
When contacted directly in this regard, Tarash Upazila Agriculture Officer, Agronomist Md. Abdullah Al Mamun, he said with great sincerity that this year only in Tarash Upazila, Iri-Boro paddy has been planted on 22,510/-(twenty-two thousand five hundred and ten) hectares of land. The target for paddy production was set the target of paddy production has been set at 96,900 (ninety-six thousand nine hundred) metric tons, he said. 24 block supervisors of 8 unions of the upazila are regularly providing all kinds of good advice to the farmers for cultivating early varieties of paddy, so that the farmers can grow unexpected crops in their lands. This year, 2 kg of hybrid paddy seeds have been given to 1,000 (one thousand) farmers as an agricultural incentive to create interest among the farmers, he told this reporter.
Mirza Abdur Rob Bulbul/ENAF
