Rangpur
Conservation agro-technologies increase crop production
BSS
Adoption of the conservation agriculture (CA)-based technologies has started increasing crop production at reduced costs bringing more profits to the farmers along with ensuring food security amid changing climate, reports BSS. Adoption of CA-based technologies also improves environment, ecology, bio-diversity, soil health and fertility making farm activities more profitable, said former Chief Scientific Officer of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute Dr MA Mazid.
Expanded adoption of CA-based technologies at farmers level already became imperative to increase crop production at reduced costs saving water, facilitating crop intensification and remunerative markets for produce, he added. Talking to BSS, Extension Agronomist Anarul Haque at Dinajpur Hub of International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center narrated enormous benefits and brighter prospect of CA-based technologies to increase crop production at reduced costs.
He stressed on quicker dissemination and popularisation of CA-based technologies among farmers with providing subsidies for easier procurement of necessary machineries, inputs, spares and other materials to facilitate the process.
The farmers are already being benefited using CA-based minimum tillage or strip tillage with power-tiller operated seeder machines, direct seeded rice, Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) irrigation method and bed-planting in light texture soil, he added.
Agriculture and Environment Coordinator of RDRS Bangladesh Mamunur Rashid said adoption of CA-based technologies like AWD irrigation method through public- private and GO-NGO collaboration already started expanding fast in the northern region.
He also suggested for adoption of the crop rotation technology in which seed could be sowed in minimum, strip or reduced tillage with crop residue retention on soil surface for better germination with residual moistures to reduce unproductive water loss.
Horticulture Specialist Khondker Md Mesbahul Islam of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) here said, The CA-based technologies substantially reduce costs for labour, fuel and irrigation, crop duration and improve fertiliser management.
The farmers would bring one lakh hectares of land out of the total targeted 5.02 lakh hectares of land under AWD irrigation coverage under Rangpur agriculture region alone to save huge underground water during this Boro season, he added.
Farmer Probhash Chandra of village Nashrartpur under Chirirbandar upazila in Dinajpur said strip tillage allowed him sowing wheat seed in six lines at a time this time with narrow ploughing keeping soil moisture intact for using by crop plants to become healthy.
The strip tillage method reduces soil erosion, water requirement for irrigation compared to the full tillage wheat plots along with saving time, fuel, money, energy and labour costs and 50 kg wheat seed per hectare, he added.
Rangpur Regional Additional Director of the DAE Shah Alam said adoption of CA-based technologies started making farm activities more profitable increasing crop output side by side with improving soil health, ecology and environment in the northern region.
