The district has seen a bumper production of a rice variety, Balia 2, this season.
Sources said this variety yielded 11.50 tonnes of paddy per acre, growing from a seedling into ready-for-harvest in only 140 days.
The district Agriculture Department Deputy Director (acting) Ramesh Chandra revealed this information on Saturday at a programme held in the paddy field of a local paddy grower Manindra Hazra to mark the harvest day.
After the harvest, the paddy was measured in the presence of the Agriculture official who presided over the programme which was attended by the Partex Agro Area Sales Manager Rakibuzzaman Roni, Marketing Officer Masud Hossain, seed traders Bishnupada Biswas and Biranga Mondol, and farmers Dayal Pande, Rano Pando, Bharot Mondol, Proshando Biswas, Bimal Krishna Kabiraj among many others.
Manindra Hazra said among the rice varieties, the Balia 2, Malik and Rupashi Bangla, Balia 2 yielded the most.
“All rice growers in the district have got a good harvest in the district,” he said.
Manindra informed the attendants that the rice variety needed as much irrigation and manure as the BR 28, a much-known rice species.
However, production costs are much less than other rice varieties, he said, adding that the Balia 2 yielded twice as much as the BR 28.
In his speech, the Partex Agro Area Sales Manager Rakibuzzaman Rani said the Balia 2 rice variety was weather-friendly for cultivation, and is pest resistant.
The farmers will benefit from the cultivation of this species of rice, he claimed.
