Bangladesh News

The government plans cultivation of newly invented rice variety– BRRI Dhan-33 — on 40,000 hectares of land in five northern districts in the coming Aman season to fight Monga (near-famine situation).

The new variety can be harvested during the Monga period, creating job opportunities for farm workers.

“BRRI Dhan-33 can be harvested during October 15 - November 15, agricultural labourers will get employment just at a time they find no jobs locally. Marginal farmers, who also traditionally face financial crisis due to Monga, can from now have a harvest at this time,” said Dr MA Mazid, chief of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) Regional Station, Rangpur.

Monga is an annual phenomenon in October-November in Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha and Nilphamari districts with marginal farmers and farm workers facing economic crisis and lack of jobs. This forces them either to leave for other districts for employment or puts them in dire distress.

The plan to cultivate the new variety with higher yield aims at creating employment opportunities for 27.5 lakh farm labourers and helping 8.5 lakh farmers in the five Monga-hit districts increase production, agriculture experts said.

Mazid, who also heads the BRRI Dhan-33 and Monga mitigation programme, said after harvesting the new variety, farmers can go for early cultivation of Rabi crops like potato, which will also create employment for farm workers. Early cultivation of potato yields higher output, he noted.

Traditionally, small and marginal farmers are forced to sell their produce in advance to millers or hoarders, while labourers sell labour in advance, Mazid said. These practices add to their miseries during or after Monga.

“We hope that when rice will be available in market, and farm workers get jobs due to early harvest of BRRI Dhan-33, the curse of Monga will be over,” the agriculture expert said.

After harvesting potato and other Rabi crops, farmers can also cultivate other crops including maize and oil seeds sesame seeds to have three crops a year from their land, he added.

“Our target is cultivation of the new variety of rice in 1.07 lakh hectares of not so high and high land owned by marginal farmers in the five Monga-hit districts by 2010.”

After the invention and validation of the variety in 2004-05, it was cultivated on an experimental basis in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture Extension and some NGOs working in the northern region.

Output of this variety per hectare is 4- 4.5 tonnes, which is slightly less than that of BR-11. But considering the short duration of production period, it is much more profitable. This also makes it possible for the land to be three-cropped one, the agriculture expert said.

Bringing 40,000 hectares of land under BRRI Dhan-33 cultivation requires 1,600 tonnes of seed. The authorities have already started registering farmers who can cultivate this variety in the Aman season, and depending on that seeds will be supplied.

Mazid mentioned that BRRI has already collected 501 tonnes of seeds from farmers, BRAC has 80 tonnes and RDRS (Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Services) has 50 tonnes. Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation will supply other seeds if there is any shortage of it.

The government will supply other farm inputs in time so that the marginal farmers do not find it difficult to cultivate this variety.

Implementation of the programme is being monitored by the agriculture ministry, Mazid said. “We are trying to mitigate a social problem through biological science. We believe we shall succeed.”