Steps taken to ensure maximum rice yield in Nagaon this year

A CORRESPONDENT

NAGAON: Despite two waves of flood in the beginning of the monsoon season, Nagaon agriculture department targets to cover maximum 1.5 lakh hectare Sali paddy area during the ongoing season.

Seeds of three most popular high-yielding rice varieties- Bahadur, Ranjit and BINA (Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture) – have been provided to most of the farmers of the district from the department this year.

A sources in the agriculture department said that climatic condition this year was very suitable for winter paddy (Sali paddy) and all possible measures had been taken to ensure maximum rice harvest this year.

According to that source, recent floods damaged 8,000 hectares Sali paddy area of 22,000 households, especially in the south-western agriculture region under Kampur revenue circle of the district. "We are assisting these farmers with seedlings so that they can cover their damaged areas," said the source.

The agriculture department created seed bed in 150 hectare area with the help of 21 farmer groups of Laukhuwa, Batadrava and Darigoi (Koliabor) area. Seedlings yielded in these beds will be distributed among the farmers of the flood-hit areas.

"We hope seedlings will cover at least 1,500 hectare paddy area. These are also high-yielding varieties and farmers will definitely get better yield," the source said.

With 1.69 lakh hectare Sali paddy area, Nagaon is the largest rice zone of the state. As per record, the district annually produces 3,68,347 MT rice. District Agriculture Officer Ashok Borthakur said that the three rice varieties – BINA, Ranjit and Bahadur - were popular among the farmers of the district.

"BINA is a short duration variety that takes only 135 days. Bahadur takes 140 days while Ranjit takes 155 days. Among the three, Ranjit is preferred by farmers for many reasons," he said. "In the flood-hit areas under Kampur revenue circle, farmers will get enough time for re-transplantation. If flood does not hit again, they can easily cover their damaged paddy fields with seedling support from the department," he added.

The Nagaon administration on Wednesday said that the flood situation had improved in the inter-district bordering villages of Kampur and water level of both the Borapani and Kapili had receded during the last 24 hours.

Also Watch: Get Set Global: Assamese in UK coping with the Pandemic