97pc boro paddy harvested in Haor areas: Agri Ministry

Ninety seven per cent of the Boro paddy in haor areas have been harvested, said the Agriculture Ministry on Sunday.

This year, a total of 4,53,400 hectares of land in seven haor districts -Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Sunamganj, Kishoreganj, Netrakona and Brahmanbaria- were brought under Boro cultivation and so far body paddy on 0.438 million hectares land have been harvested while only 33 per cent Boro paddy harvested across the country, according to a release of the ministry.

The government is working to make haor crops risk-free and that’s why the government has been providing combine harvesters, and reapers to the haor farmers at 70 per cent subsidy, so that ripe paddy can be harvested in a short time, said the release.

This year, a total of 5.058 million hectares of land have been brought under boro cultivation across the country, which is over 20,000 hectares more land than the previous year.

The ministry also set a target to produce 22.2 million tonnes of paddy this year.

During a visit to Srimangal of Moulvibazar district recently, Agriculture Minister Dr Md. Abdus Shahid said Boro paddy supplies more than half of our total rice production throughout the year and that’s why the government puts importance on Boro cultivation.

To raise the Boro cultivation, the government has provided seeds and fertilizers worth Tk 2.15 billion at free of cost, he said.