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FARMERS in all the five upazilas of Chapainawabganj have shown their increased interest in boro cultivation in the current season.
   The government’s motivation as well as high market price of rice has been attributed to the wide-scale boro cultivation this year. The farmers seem to be less bothered about high price of all agricultural goods and agriculture labour. They said the price of their produce would help them to recoup the present expenditure.
   According to the Department of Agricultural Extension in Chapainawabganj, a target has been fixed to bring 46,000 hectares of land under boro cultivation this year, but the farmers have already brought 57,000 hectares under boro cultivation in the five upazilas.
   The farmers have brought 13,025 hectares under the cultivation as against targeted 11,152 hectares in the district headquarters, 11,820 hectares as against 10,770 hectares in Shibganj upazila, 14,575 hectares as against 12,906 hectares in Gomastapur upazila, 11,800 hectares as against 7,267 hectares in Nachole upazila and 5,780 hectares as against 3,905 hectares in Bholahat upazila.
   DAE officials on Thursday said the farmers had completed plantation of boro seedlings on 98 per cent of land. The cultivators are continuing plantation of boro seedlings on their land and the process would continue till mid-March.
   Asim Kumar Malakar, deputy director of the Chapainawabganj DAE, said, ‘If favourable weather prevails, the farmers will be able to achieve a bumper production of boro this season.’ The total rice production is likely to stand at 2,12,000 tonnes, he said.
   Malakar added that they were providing the farmers with necessary advice and assistance and sharing practical knowledge and experience with the field-level farmers.
   Meanwhile, some farmers said they were facing problems for the high production cost. Many farmers of Nachole, Gomastapur and Shibganj upazilas said the high price of DAP, TSP, MOP fertilisers and agriculture labour had put them in trouble.
   According to market sources, a 50kg bag of DAP fertiliser is now selling in the market at Tk 1,800 while it was just Tk 900 last year. Like this, the price of MOP was Tk 700; but now it is selling at Tk 1,139. The cost for an agriculture labourer was Tk 80 to Tk 100 in the previous year while now it stands at Tk 130 to Tk 150.
   But the deputy director disagreed with the farmers’ statement. He said due to use of balanced fertiliser, ultimate cost of cultivation would come down.
   The price of agri inputs creates excessive cost, they said. But some said though their production cost had put them in trouble, they were likely to recoup the losses after the harvest due to high price of rice.
   On the other hand, some farmers complained about lack of irrigation facilities due to shortage of deep tube-wells.
   Reza Mohammad Nure Alam, executive engineer of the Barind Multipurpose Development Authority of Chapainawabganj, said 152 deep tube-wells were stolen during the last one year. Out of these, 126 have been replaced, but the rest 26 cannot be replaced due to lack of proper security on the cultivated field.