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Boro output crosses target

Sohel Parvez
The boro rice output has reached about 1.9 crore tonnes this year, driven by a rise in acreage, according to a preliminary estimate by the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
However, yield per hectare remains almost the same as in the previous year, thwarting the objective of raising output vertically because of declining cultivable land, officials said.
“Boro rice production has exceeded our target of 1.8 crore tonnes. Our preliminary estimate shows that total output has reached about 1.9 crore tonnes this year," Md Sayeed Ali, director general of DAE, told The Daily Star, yesterday.
DAE's output estimate comes at a time when tens of
thousands of farmers are receiving low prices for their produce stemming from an increased supply of rice to the market.
Analysts fear the low prices of rice might dampen farmers' spirits and affect production and acreage next year.
Last year, DAE estimated boro output at 1.8 crore tonnes, although the data differed with the estimates of state statistical agency Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), which recorded 1.77 crore tonnes ofboro output last year.
BBS is yet to finalise the boro production data for the recently ended boro harvesting period. DAE expects that rice production would not go below its targeted level as acreage has increased.
“Last year's high price of rice has encouraged many sohel@thedailystar.net
farmers to allocate more lands for rice farming resulting in an increase in acreage,” Ali said.
According to Ali, acreage in rice production increased 4.81 percent or 225,000 hectares to 4900,000 hectares this year from 467,5000 hectares in the previous boro season.
Low price of maize has also helped increase boro rice acreage as many farmers, depressed by the low price of maize in tire second half of last year, marked their lands for boro plantation.
Yield per unit of land however remains almost the same with the previous year.
According to DAE, average yield of high yielding variety (HYV) rice (husked), which accounts for bulk of cultivation, stood at 3.8 tonnes per hectare last year. On the other hand, hybrid
rice yield touched 4.7 tonnes per hectare the same year.
Sayeed blamed high prices of non-urea fertiliser such as TSE MOP and DAP during the early days of boro cultivation for sluggish yield of rice. Many farmers, who went for early plantation, fail to make a balanced use of fertiliser due to high price," he said.
Subash Dasgupta, assistant representative of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Bangladesh, also observed that productivity might go down this year as farmers encountered different types of localised difficulties such as pest and disease attacks, low rainfall and late sowing.
He however said boro output might exceed the target this year due to an increase in acreage.