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Wheat raises hope for bumper harvest

KONGKON KARMAKER, Dinajpur
The country is expected to have a bumper production of wheat this year that might help ease the current food shortage caused by last year's floods and Cyclone Sidr.
Experts said favourable weather, good irrigation facilities, and adequate supply of fertiliser and seeds will help the farmers secure a bumper harvest of wheat this year.
This year's production target of wheat has been set at 14-15 lakh tonnes against last year's eight lakh tonnes. About 4.25 lakh hectares of land have been brought under wheat cultivation this year, said Wheat Research Centre (WRC) in Dinajpur.
The WRC also hopes that wheat production will exceed the target this year.
The last bumper production of wheat recorded in the country was in 1999, when about 19.08 lakh tonnes of wheat were harvested from 8.83 lakh hectares of land.
The farmers of Dinajpur. Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and loypurhat have cultivated wheat on about 82,905 hectares of land this year with a production target of 248.715 tonnes.
Of those. 21,500 hectares of land were cultivated in Dinajpur. 48,800 hectares in Thakurgaon, 12.830 hectares in Panchagarh and 1,275 hectares in Joypurhat.
WRC officials also said lands in Rangpur, Nilphaniari, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram. Kushtia, Jessore. Faridpur, Madaripur, Jamalpur, Pabnaand the districts in greater Rajshahi have been brought under wheat cultivation.
If bumper production of wheat is secured this year, it will help reduce the country’s dependency on imported food grains, added WRC officials
A large number of fanners in tlie district said favourable weather, adequate irrigation and training on wheat cultivation organised by the WRC in Dinajpur would help them achieve bumper production of wheat this season
Farmers are becoming interested in wheat cultivation as both demand and pnee of the food grain have increased considerably, said WRC officials.
Ajay Kumar Sarkar, a fanner of Bhochaganj upazila in Dinajpur told The Daily Star that he started cultivating wheat following growing demand and high price of the crop in the market.
“Besides, wheat cultivation requires less irrigation,” he added.
At least 2,000 wheat cultivators across the country were given training by the WRC in a bid to boost wheat production this year.
Farmers are expecting to harvest about four to five tonnes of wheat per hectare of land against three tonnes per hectare the previous year. The harvest time begins by the end of this month. Different vaneties of wheat including Shatabdi, Prodeep, Shourav and Bijoy have been cultivated tins year.
WRC officials said the country's yearly demand for wheat is about 35 to 40 lakh tonnes while its domestic production stands at about six to eight lakh tonnes a year.
Dr Khirodh Candra Roy, Director ofWRC in Dinajpur, said the country is likely to attain a bumper production of wheat this year and they have been working hard to help the farmers in even’ possible way.