The Ministry of Agriculture has urged its field officials to assist seasonal paddy harvesting labourers to travel in safety to the country’s haor regions in the upcoming Boro harvesting season through maintaining health regulations in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
“It’s time to harvest Boro paddy. Seasonal labourers from different parts of the country, including North Bengal, will start coming to the haor regions. So all concerned have been requested to ensure that the travel and movements of the labourers are smooth and in line with health guidelines,” said the Agriculture Ministry in a press release on Thursday, reports BSS.
The ministry urged the field level officials of the Agriculture Extension Department to implement and follow the government directives in the interest of a continuity of production and marketing of agricultural goods, including harvesting of paddy, during the public holidays.
It also urged the officials to follow the government directives to protect their health and that of the farmers and labourers in order to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission during paddy harvesting and labourers’ movements.
According to the Agriculture Extension Department, this year’s target for the yield of Boro rice is around 2.04 crore tonnes, with the haor regions expected to produce 20% of the total production.
