Mirza Abdur Rob Bulbul: Chalanbeel is formed by rivers, canals and beels. 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 the beel area are farmers. Therefore, agriculture is their only main source of livelihood. In addition, agriculture is the main driving force of the overall development and economy of the country.
The 9 Upazilas of Chalanbeel are Tarash, Ullapara, Shahjadpur, Faridpur, Bhangura, Chatmohar, Gurudaspur, Singra and Atrai. The main artisans of the overall development of agriculture are farmers. Although it is unpopular, it is true that in our country, the interests of the main artisans of agriculture, farmers, are not protected to a large extent. It is safe to say that there are no natural disasters this season. According to the information of the Agriculture Office of Chalanbeel own Upazila, unlike other places in Bangladesh, which are known as a storehouse of agriculture and grain, in the historical Chalanbeel area of the country, farmers in this area are hoping for an unexpected harvest of Iri-Boro rice this year compared to other years.
The entire Chalanbeel area is now green, green and green across the horizon, creating a charming atmosphere in the Beel area. The farmers of Chalanbeel are now busy in the field of Iri-Boro rice from morning to evening, taking care of the vast fields of Beel and applying fertilizers. Now, wherever you look in the field of Chalanbeel, you can see young rice ears and 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. Seeing someone busy clearing weeds from the paddy field and irrigating the land, it seems that the farmers have no time to catch their breath to grow their desired crop well. When talking to Md. Abdur Rashid, a farmer from Chowra village in Tarash upazila, he said that he has cultivated Iri-Boro paddy on 25 bighas of land. The entire paddy field has already finished sprouting. Now he is only irrigating the land. There has been no natural disaster since the beginning of paddy planting, and since the weather is favorable this year, judging by the appearance of the paddy plants and the grains, it is expected that there will be a bumper paddy yield this time. In addition, there has been moderate rainfall in this area for the past three years, which will be of great benefit in terms of bumper paddy yield, the farmers told this reporter.
However, although the attack of insects and spiders is a little more than in other years, it has been possible to suppress it with the overall cooperation of the Agriculture Office. The farmers of the entire Chalanbeel area are generally dependent on agriculture. So they were busy with rice care work in the hope of a good harvest of Iri-Boro rice throughout the season. Due to the pressure of various types of work, the farmers have forgotten to eat and drink for the bumper harvest of rice.
As the bumper harvest and price of rice in the last Iri-Boro season were unexpected, the farmers have taken to the field to cultivate Iri-Bora rice. According to the information of the Chalanbeel own agricultural office, Iri-Bora rice has been cultivated on 2,65,000 (two lakh sixty-five thousand) hectares of land in the current Iri-Boro season, according to the sources of the Agriculture Department. The appropriate time for harvesting and threshing Iri-Boro rice in the months of Baishakh and Jaishthya, the ears of Iri-Boro rice of the early variety have already finished emerging in 1,10,000 (one lakh ten thousand) hectares of land. The festival of harvesting and threshing of Iri-Boro paddy will begin in this area within the next 15 (fifteen) days. The target of paddy production in the entire Chalanbeel area this year 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 (seventy lakh ten thousand) metric tons of paddy will be supplied to different areas of the country.
Farmers of the area said that Iri-Boro paddy of Chalanbeel 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 Chalanbeel respective upazila, 11,500 (eleven thousand five hundred) farmers have been provided hybrid paddy seeds as agricultural incentives in the entire Chalanbeel area this season. Notable rice varieties cultivated are Miniket, BR-29, BR-49, Jira, BR-102, BR-103, BR-104, BR-105, BR-106, BR-107 and Sampa Katari rice. Although the cropland was not completely flooded with flood water this year as required, according to the agricultural office sources of Chalanbeel respective upazila. During the on-site information search, farmers Md. Solaiman Hossain of Gonta village of Talam union, Md. Abdul Mannan, Md. Abdul Malek of Shilongda village and Md. Shukur 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 even if there is a bumper crop of crops, if there is no natural disaster or crop failure, they will not get the right price for selling paddy.
There is disappointment among the farmers of this area. Till today, the farmers of the area told this reporter that the weather in this area is favorable for a bumper crop of paddy. In addition, it is true that the crop will be higher this year compared to other years because the weather has been favorable for the farmers this year compared to last year until yesterday. Therefore, they expressed their hope. But they are worried about determining the right price of the crop. Although there is apprehension among the farmers, the crop yield will be beyond expectations with the tireless work of the farmers and timely advice from the officers and employees working in the Agriculture Department, said Md. Shukur 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 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 field of food procurement, storage and distribution, which is the demand of the local people. In this regard, when contacted directly with the Tarash Upazila Agriculture Officer, Krishibid Md. Abdullah Al Mamun, he said with great sincerity that this year only in Tarash Upazila, Eri-Boro paddy has been planted on 22,510/-(twenty-two thousand five hundred and ten) hectares of land.
He said that the target of paddy production has been set at 96,900 (ninety-six thousand nine hundred) metric tons. The 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 an unexpected bumper yield in their land. This year, 1,000 (one thousand) farmers have been given 2 kg of hybrid paddy seeds as an agricultural incentive to create interest among the farmers, he told this reporter, but there is no reason for the farmers to worry about the fair price of paddy.
