A bumper yield of “Aloron” paddy during the present aus season in Barguna has come as boon for the farmers of the coastal district that was hit by a cyclone in May.
In the district where 90 percent of farmers could not cultivate aus paddy due to the onslaught of Cyclone Mahasen, the good harvest of the high-yielding variety (HYV) of rice this season could largely help cover the shortfall, according to UNB.
While most farmers along the southern coastal belt, including Barguna, were recovering from the losses they suffered during earlier cyclones Sidr and Aila, Mahasen dealt them a further blow by damaging huge aus seed beds during the planting season.
But the excellent production of “Aloron” paddy has made the farmers regain confidence, while enabling them to recover some of their losses.
In Parboti village under Barguna sadar union, some 37 farmers took a risk and cultivated “Aloron” collectively on 12 hectares of land.
Farmer Mostafa Khan said they did not get a good yield from their usual variety of rice. But they have doubled production by growing “Aloron”.
The farmers are getting up to 1.35 tonnes of “Aloron” per hectare - almost thrice the normal yield from other varieties.
Lutfor Rahman, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension, Barguna, said aus cultivation was largely affected in the district due to natural calamity.
However, seeds of the hybrid rice variety cannot be preserved, and farmers have to buy new seeds every year, he added.
In Barguna district as a whole, 3,160 farmers in 81 villages cultivated “Aloron” on 739ha of land during the aus season under a Brac programme.
Sources from Brac’s Agriculture and Food Security Programme said Tk9,000 was given to each farmer to cultivate “Aloron” paddy.
Brac regional manager Goutam Biswas said the programme aims to encourage each family to work towards attaining food security.
Initially, seeds of the hybrid “Aloron” paddy were brought to Bangladesh from China. Now, scientists at the Brac agriculture research centre in Gazipur are successfully reproducing the seeds by using Chinese technology, Goutam said.
The development organisation has been implementing its agriculture and food security programme in 50 upazilas of 12 districts since July 2012, and its activities are expected to reach all the 64 districts of the country by 2015.
