Despite floods, heavy hailstorms, and other climate challenges, three districts in the Rangpur division have managed to yield a bumper crop of Boro this season, as part of the Teesta barrage irrigation project.
The Nilphamari, Rangpur, and Dinajpur districts were brought under the irrigation program that was inaugurated on January 15.
The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) sources said cropland of about 40,000 hectares was irrigated in the project command area — which should yield approximately 2,095,230 tonnes of rice priced at a minimum of Tk119 crore.
Cropland in the project command area has been irrigated and soon the Boro paddy will be harvested in: Nilphamari sadar, Jaldhaka, Dimla, Kishoreganj, Syedpur, upazilas in Nilphamari district; Rangpur sadar, Taraganj, Gangachara, Badargonj of Rangpur district; and Chirirbandar, Parbatipur, Khansama of Dinajpur district.
Executive Engineer Abdullah Al Mamun—working in the Dalia sector of the project—showed in a report that the irrigation cost for a hectare of land, with an electric irrigation pump machine is Tk10,500. The irrigation pump operates with diesel costs of Tk14,000 per hectare, but in the project command area of the Teesta barrage, irrigation costs only Tk1,200 per hectare.
"If we could have managed to get more water to flow through from the Teesta, upstream, we would have irrigated 79,000 hectares of the land in the first phase. We were only able to irrigate 40,000 hectares because of insufficient flow — which is a lot less in comparison," said Engineer Abdullah.
Agricultural Extension Officer of the Teesta Barrage Irrigation Project Rafiul Bari said: "Because of insufficient water upstream, 40,000 hectares of land were irrigated in the project command area.
"Farmers were able to harvest 25-29 maunds of rice per bigha(0.2529 hectare).They also saved electricity and diesel worth Tk550 crore."
Harvesting season is scheduled to start within two weeks, but farmers have already harvested BR-28 rice, said farmer Bimal Chandra Roy.
