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Cultivation of boro paddy in Jamalpur may face a setback due to frequent power failure and soaring price of fertilisers.
   Despite the two nagging problems, cultivation of boro is going on in full swing as a vast tract of land has been brought under cultivation this year.
   Sources in the Department of Agriculture Extension said a total of 1,02,000 hectares of land have been brought under boro cultivation this season with a production target of 3,38,519 tonnes of rice.
   The upazila-wise break-up of the target was as follows: 27,700 hectares (high yielding variety) and 500 hectares (local variety) in Sadar, 7,700 hectares (HYV) and 300 hectares (local) in Dewanganj, 10,820 hectares (HYV) and 400 hectares (local) in Islampur, 11,650 hectares (HYV) and 500 hectares (local) in Madarganj, 16,850 hectares (HYV) and 350 hectares (local) in Melandah, 16,700 hectares (HYV) and 400 hectares (local) in Sharishabari and 8,280 hectares (HYV) and 350 hectares (local) in Bakshiganj.
   All the seven upazilas in the district are suffering from crisis of power since the very beginning of the season.
   Sources concerned said the usual demand for power in the seven upazilas was 24 megawatts. But the supply was hardly between 8 and 10 megawatts.
   The situation allegedly worsened further due to the lack of any positive initiative from the authorities concerned to commission some of the power centres that remained inoperative for long.
   The farmers, with such low supply of power, have become worried about irrigation to their boro crop fields in the peak hours.
   Meanwhile, chemical fertilisers are being sold at higher prices than the ones fixed by the government.
   At present per bag urea is being sold at Tk 300 to Tk 315. TSP (pata) at Tk 580 to Tk 600, TSP (shada) Tk 590 to Tk 610, potash Tk 600 to 620, DAP (dargil) Tk 890 to Tk 900, DAP (jadan) Tk 800 to Tk 810, zinc Tk 90 to Tk 100 and gypsum Tk 160 to Tk 180.
   A farmer of village Mesta under Sadar upazila, Md. Aminul Islam Azad, said he decided to cultivate boro in one and half bighas of land, but due to the higher price of potash, he had to use only 15 kilograms of potash in his land where at least 30 kilograms of potash were needed.
   Another farmer, Md. Golam Musafa, of village Kujgar under the same upazila, said this year he is cultivating boro on 5 bighas of land. But due to the higher price of potash he, finding no other alternative, is applying other kinds of fertilisers.
   The DAE officials said potash fertilizer was essential to keep the boro saplings fresh. But the seed beds of boro were affected by cold wave at the beginning of the season.
   Therefore, the DAE authorities have emphasised the need for enhancing the cultivation of HYV instead of local ones.

About 10,000 people in four villages of Chaklahat union under sadar upazila are steeped in ignorance and alienated from the mainstream of development activities for lack of education as well as communication network and absence of any initiative.
   There is not a single primary school at the four villages of Khaniapara, Nomla, Joydal Bhanga and Dahlapara.
   Instead of going to any school, most of the children in the 6 to 12 years age bracket of these villages are engaged in helping their parents at homes and crop fields.
   The poverty-stricken parents feel discouraged to send their children to primary schools located far away from their homes.
   A handful of students of these villages refrain from attending classes at the school on the other side of the river during the rainy season.
   The only link of the people of Khaniapara village with the district headquarters is a bamboo bridge over the river Panga. The bridge is in a very tattered condition and may collapse any time.
   The people of the three other villages have not even a bamboo bridge to go to the district headquarters crossing the Panga river.
   Most of the houses in these villages have no sanitary latrine. No radio set was found in any house in these villages. The roads are also in bad shape.
   Septuagenarian Inteja Bewa of Khaniapara village said she came to this village from India about 40 years ago.
   ‘I have not seen any development in any sector in this village during this long period,’ she noted with regret.
   Golam Mostafa, a farmer, informed that the growers of various agricultural products are deprived of fair price because of the bad communication system.
   ‘Neither we can carry our various agricultural products to markets at distant places nor buyers can come to our region because of hazardous communication system,’ he added.
   The people of the area have demanded of the government to set up primary school, construct at least two bridges over the Panga river and develop the road communication in the region.