SHIBCHAR: Farmers in Shibchar upazila of Madaripur district are currently engrossed in the task of planting Aman paddy. In various areas of the upazila, one can observe farmers uprooting and planting Aman saplings.
Recent days of rainfall have facilitated the process of planting seedlings, making it easier for the farmers to carry out their tasks.
Particularly captivating is the sight of women laborers engaged in picking and planting the seedlings. Farmers have revealed their plans to cultivate several popular rice varieties this season and are relieved by the sufficient rainfall as compared to the previous year.
According to the upazila Agriculture Office, the target for planting Aman paddy in 4,700 hectares of land of the upazila has been set for the current season. The target is to cultivate 1,200 hectares of local varieties and 3,496 hectares of high yielding varieties.
It can be seen on the ground that the farmers are plowing fields, some are uprooting seedlings, while others are busy planting seedlings in the land. Someone is busy tending the re-planted saplings. Farmers are hoping that if the weather is favorable, the paddy will be better this time. As a result, the dream of the farmers is to be able to grow paddy in the current season.
Farmers said that good yield of paddy has been achieved due to favorable weather in this season. Besides, they have benefited from the very good price of paddy in the market. As a result, many paddy fields were damaged. If the weather remains good this year, the harvest will be better than last year, God willing.
Farmers also said that it would be difficult to plant paddy at any time if the land was submerged in water. Besides, the amount of water available in the land at present is a suitable time for planting paddy. If the long drought starts again, even if the water of the land dries up, it will be difficult to plant paddy. So the farmers are busy planting Aman paddy currently.
One of the farmers, Md Kamal Hossain of the upazila, intends to plant Aman paddy on a substantial 250 cents of land this year. He has already started the planting process due to the continuous rainfall, which ensured adequate water supply for the fields.
Similarly, Md Ali, a farmer from the upazila has initiated the Aman plantation on about 150 acres of land, expressing hope to succeed with the available water.
Farmers have been advised to maintain their irrigation systems even in the absence of rainwater, and the irrigation pumps are operational.
