Farmers in Nilphamari have begun cultivating Boro despite incurring losses during Aman cultivation a few months ago.
They incurred losses between Tk2,000 to Tk3,000 per bigha during Aman harvest, but still continued with the scheduled Boro cultivation from last week.
Sources at the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) office in the district said the target for Boro cultivation this season was set at 11.13 lakh tons across 83,000 hectares of land.
Hamidul Islam, a farmer at Khagakharibari union of Dimla upazila said Aman cultivation was plagued with various difficulties for the past several years, while they also did not get fair prices for their produce in markets.
Hafiz Uddin, another farmer from the vicinity, said he incurred Tk3,000 loss on each of his two-bigha farmland cultivating Aman last season, as he did not receive a fair price for his Aman paddy from wholesalers.
HabiburRahman, another farmer from Sadar upazila'sRamnagar union, said Aman and Boro cultivation were all they knew for generations.
If they did not cultivate Aman and Boro paddy, it would adversely affect rice prices across the country. They would appreciate if they received fair paddy prices similar to those received selling vegetables, he lamented.
Rashidul Islam, another farmer, said the government should focus more on farmers as continuous losses would turn them away from agriculture to other occupations.
Nikhil Chandra Biswas,deputy director of the district's DAE office, said the target for Boro cultivation this season has been set to 11.13 lakh tons across 83,000 hectares.
The government was working to provide agricultural incentives, subsidies and rehabilitation initiatives to farmers previously affected by losses during Aman cultivation.
Farmers said Aman harvest was affectedadversely by attacks of a brown plant hopper locally called "current poka."
The pests sucked up fluid from the paddy plants and corns at the milk stage, causing them to dry up and ultimately fall to the ground. The pests ruined crops on a bigha of land in only in three to four days, spreading at the speed of electricity and was thus given the name "current poka."
