Khadija Akhter Leeta from Netrakona
Farmer-led field day of local rice variety research program was recently organized by Gachgariya Youth and Farmers Organization at Bishwanathpur village in Amtala Union of Netrokona district. Farmers of Biswanathpur, Gachgaria and Panchkahaniya villages, Assistant Agricultural Officer of Amtala Union Asit Kumar and BARCIK’s official participated in the field day.
At the beginning of the field day, a discussion meeting was organized on the importance of research on rice varieties to protect and conserve agricultural biodiversity. At the beginning of the discussion, the chairman of the meeting of the ‘Effective Committee for Breeding and Research, Md. Abdul Quader, discussed the purpose of research. He said, “We are carrying out variety research program based on our need so that we can get varieties of rice that are suitable for the soil of our area, have good yield, less susceptible to insects, adaptable to local climate as well as are good for consumption. ”
Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer said in his speech, “Our land is limited, the demand of people is increasing but the amount of land is not increasing, therefore we have to survive by exploiting the limited resources we have. He went on saying, ‘we have to make the proper use of each inch of lands by cultivating diverse crops. He further said, “Seeds of every variety saved from breeding should be collected.” He assured to support in all ways to increase the agricultural diversity of the area.
BARCIK officiallr Shankar Mrong said, “As fertilizer application is necessary to keep the land in good condition, attention should be paid to ensure that sunlight and water can move properly in the paddy field. Because trees collect food from the sun.” He thanked the members of the Youth and Farmers Organizations for their initiatives to conduct trials aiming at selecting quality and adaptable varieties.
After the discussion, the harvest of rice which have been planted as part of the research started. Youths, senior farmers and farmers participated in the harvest forgetting the age gap! The ten varieties of paddy cultivated this year include: Guti Swarna, Ramhan Iri, Rahmat, Swarna, Khekshial, Subash, Lalbiri, Khate Bari.DS-06, Ritu Paijam etc. Out of this, the farmers selected 3 paddy (Guti Swarna, Ramhan Iri, Rahmat) and said that they will cultivate it in the next season.