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RANGPUR, Dec 6: Sweet fragrance of Aman paddy pervades the air as harvest of the crop is going on in full swing across Rangpur division.
The cultivators of the region are delighted due to satisfactory yield and good price of their produce this year, sources said.
A festive atmosphere has been prevailing in the region which began since beginning of the harvest of the crop. Families of peasants are now celebrating "Nabanna Utsab" that is arranged after bringing the new Aman paddy home from fields after harvesting. It is usually held from last week of Bangla month Agrahayan and continues till Poush (December).
During the time different kinds of cakes, milk rice etc are prepared with new paddy.
The poor and marginal families also try to share the joy of festivity but with a difference. Children of the marginal families collect the scattered paddy from fields to arrange the Nabanna Utsab at their houses.
A good number of poor children like Rabiul, Maminul, Rubel and Rani of Nabdiganj village under Pirgachha upazila in Rangpur district told this correspondent that they will arrange 'Nabanna Utsab'. They said they get around 30 to 35 kgs of paddy each throughout the season. They sell a portion of the collected paddy to buy other ingredients to prepare cakes.
Expressing satisfaction over the expected yield and good price, Nazrul Mia, a paddy cultivator of Char Nazirdaho village of Kawnia upazila in Rangpur told The Financial Express that he has cultivated the crop on 2 acres of land this season and already completed harvesting of 80 percent of lands. As present market rate of the crop is good and he is optimistic of making good profit from its sale, he added.
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) official sources said Aman paddy was cultivated on some 9,89,308 hectares of land this year in eight districts under the division. The districts are Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Gaibandha, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh.
Presently, per maund (40 Kg) paddy is being sold at Tk 980 to Tk 1020 in local markets which is expected to increase further, sources said.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Rangpur official sources said adequate measures were taken to ensure smooth cultivation of the crop this year including timely supply of agri-inputs as well as proper use of pesticides. The peasants also adopted some eco-friendly methods introduced by DAE such as 'Perching method' and 'Light trap method' to protect their paddy fields from pest attack and eventually witnessed significant success, resulting in excellent yield, sources added.