Farmers are busy harvesting Aman in Rangpur, waiting for a fair price

In Rangpur, there has been a bumper crop of various types of winter vegetables including aman. Aman paddy harvesting festival has already started. And the farmers and workers are spending busy time in cutting and threshing.

Farmers say the yield has been good this year despite high prices of agricultural inputs and lack of rain at the start of cultivation. Now worth the wait. The agriculture department has announced that the target of Aman production in the district is about five lakh tons.

On Saturday, various areas including Mahiganj, Nabdiganj, Deuti Bazar, Mohabbat Kha, Chilmon, Rajendrapur of Rangpur Sadar Upazila can be seen on the ground, the farmers are busy in harvesting and threshing Aman paddy.

Farmers Mokchedul Rafiqul Islam and Adam Miah of Deuti Bazar area told bdnews24.com that although there was no rain at the beginning of Aman cultivation, the weather was favorable throughout the season. Apart from this, there was less insect attack in the field.

This year the yield is better than any other year; However, if the expected price of the crop is available, the farmers are hoping to clear all the debts and make a profit.

Azizul Islam, a farmer in Nabidiganj area, said that agricultural workers have also become busy around Aman cutting and threshing. Paddy cutting laborers are not available even with higher wages than other times.

Farmers said that they have to earn 500 to 600 Tk per person daily from cutting and threshing to delivering rice to the bales. Many others are harvesting paddy on bigha contracts. The workers are getting a wage of 3000 to 3000 taka per bigha.

Several workers including Abul, Palash, Fazlu, Samsu, who worked in paddy cutting and threshing, said that there was no work even a few days ago. They are getting work every day since the start of paddy harvesting.

Meanwhile, farmer leaders say that the cost of paddy cultivation has increased due to the increase in the price of agricultural inputs. If the correct price of paddy is not ensured in the current season, the farmer will suffer losses.

Palash Kanti Nag, convener of Rangpur Krishak Sangam Parishad, told bdnews24.com, “Though the country’s economy is based on agriculture, farmers are always neglected. Farmers do not get fair price even though they grow crops with difficulty. Even though the government has given incentives in various fields, it has not shown much interest in the farmers.”

He urged the government to buy paddy directly from the farmers at 33 percent incentive in the current Aman season.

Obaidur Rahman Mandal, Deputy Director of Rangpur Agricultural Extension Department, told bdnews24.com that there were some problems in cultivation due to lack of rain at the beginning of the season, but the weather was favorable at the end. Due to high photosynthesis in paddy plants, the yield has also improved.

This time, Aman has been planted in one lakh 67 thousand hectares of land in the district; And the production target has been set at around five lakh tons by the agriculture department.