The government plans to distribute incentive packages that include seed, fertiliser and cash to promote the cultivation of high yielding Aush and drought tolerant Nerica paddy varieties for this season.
“The government has been trying to make low water-need Aush and Nerica varieties popular among farmers. If the Aush varieties get popular, the Boro cultivation can be reduced which is responsible for depleting the ground water level due to its high water-need,” Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury told journalists at her office yesterday.
The incentive package totals around Tk33 crore and will be distributed to 231,363 farmers in 49 districts across the country.
Of them, 201,363 farmers will get an Aush cultivation package and the remaining 30,000 will get a Nerica package.
In the Aush package, each farmer will receive 5kg seed, 20kg Urea fertiliser, 10kg DAP fertiliser, 10kg MOP fertiliser and Tk400 cash for irrigation for each bigha of land.
The Nerica package on the other hand contains 10kg seed, 20kg Urea, 10kg DAP, 1kg MOP and Tk400 for irrigation for each bigha.
She also said that the incentives like seeds and fertilisers have already been mobilised at the local level, while the cash will go out through the bKash service to recipients’ accounts directly.
