The cultivation and production of wheat in four districts of Barisal increased three-fold in the last four years under the Integrated Agricultural Productivity Project of the Agriculture Ministry.
Wheat production rose to 10,997 tonnes on 3,672 hectares in the 2013-14 fiscal year, highest in four years, mainly due to quality seed supply and climate change effects on weather.
The amount was only 2,889 metric tons on 1,213 hectares in the 2010-11 fiscal year under this project, according to statistics from IAPP in Barisal.
Dr AKM Mizanur Rahman, regional project manager of IAPP in Barisal, said wheat cultivation area and production are increasing due to farmers' growing interest in the crop, and a shift from boro cultivation.
Lower production cost of wheat, without dependence on irrigation and salinity, compared to irrigation-dependent salinity-sensitive boro, and less volatile prices compared to rice might have encouraged growers to sow the grain on more of their lands, the agriculturist said.
According to the Barisal regional office of IAPP, the production and cultivation of wheat was 2,844 metric tons on 1,185 hectares in Barisal, 14 metric tons on six hectares in Jhalakathi, 15 metric tons on 12 hectares in Patuakhali, and 16 metric tons on 10 hectares in Barguna under IAPP projects in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
However, it was increased to 10,265 metric tons on 3,259 hectares in Barisal, 397 metric tons on 138 hectares in Jhalakathi, 190 metric tons on 178 hectares in Patuakhali, and 145 metric tons on 97 hectares in Barguna under IAPP projects in the 2013-14 fiscal year.
Quality seed supplies also contributed to higher yields from 1.5 metric tons to 3.5 metric tons per hectare. The government's purchase of wheat also gave farmers some added incentive.
In recent years, breeders at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (Bari) developed six high-yielding wheat seed varieties, as BARI GOM- 20,22,24,25 and salinity-resistant 26 and 27 contain high protein and have better yielding capacity to rejuvenate farmers' waning interest in the crop, Dr Mizanur said.
Agriculturists said rising acreage and production of wheat might cut Bangladesh's import costs for the grain, the demand for which grows every year owing to a rising population, health consciousness, and industrial use.
Dr Mizanur added: "In previous years locally-grown wheat contained low protein and was not suitable for industrial processing. Wheat containing high protein is needed for baking. Farmers will get higher prices for growing wheat with high levels of protein. It will also reduce our import dependence.”
According to food ministry data, the country needs 4 million metric tons of wheat, two-thirds of which are imported every year. In fiscal 2013-14, over 2.6 million metric tons of wheat was imported, up 44% from that in the previous year.
