Farmers in six upazilas in Jhenaidha are expecting a bumper crop of Boro paddy in this year, despite the losses caused by the recent cold spell.
The cold spell, which continued until late January, damaged significant numbers of Boro saplings in the area.
Ahmed Ali, a farmer from Maharajpuar under Kaliganj upazila, said he had resumed planting Boro seeds on his five bighas of land.
During the early period of the season, Boro harvests were greatly affected when the mercury dropped to 11-12 degrees Celsius in Jhenaidha, plunging farmers into uncertainty.
Naresh Chandra Mandal, a farmer from Sailkupa upazila, said he was planting Boro seeds on his five decimals of land for the second time this season, as the saplings planted earlier were damaged by the low temperatures and severe foggy weather.
Sources at the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Jhenaidah said, the DAE had set a target to produce 3.13 lakh tones of paddy in six upazilas under the district, by planting high-yielding varieties of Boro paddy on a total of 81,310 hectares of land – including 2,994 hectares planted with hybrid varieties.
In the last season, farmers produced 3,12,755 tons of paddy on 81,275 hectares of land.
“As the losses caused by the cold foggy spell are now being recovered, the farmers are expecting a bumper yield of the Boro rice this season” said Joynul Abedin, deputy director of the DAE in Jhenaidah. l
