(BSS) - With multifaceted support from the interim government, farmers have produced an all-time record 23,02,272 tonnes of clean Boro rice (34,53,408 tonnes in terms of paddy) in Rangpur agricultural region.

The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) officials said farmers have exceeded the fixed production target of 22,94,195 tonnes of clean Boro rice by 8,077 tonnes this season.

"The record Boro rice production has been achieved as a result of various practical measures taken by the interim government to ensure national food security," said Additional Director of the DAE for Rangpur region Agriculturist Md Shafikul Islam.

These measures included providing special incentives, encouraging farmers to increase cultivation of high-yielding and hybrid varieties of Boro rice, ensuring proper supply of fertilizers and electricity for irrigation, using of latest technology, and proper agricultural management.

Earlier, the interim government through the DAE had fixed a target of producing 22,94,195 tonnes of clean Boro rice (34,41,292 tonnes of paddy) from 5,08,978 hectares of land for all five districts in Rangpur agricultural region.

"Getting necessary support from the interim government, farmers finally transplanted Boro rice seedlings on 5,09,056 hectares of land exceeding the fixed farming target by 0.02 percent in the region this time," Shafikul Islam said.

Farmers had brought more land under cultivation of high-yielding and hybrid varieties of Boro rice both in the mainland and low-lying char areas, resulting in bumper production of the staple food grain.

Besides, farmers have adopted the latest conservation agriculture (CA)-based technologies such as alternative wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation methods and organic pest management, resulting in increased rice production at lower costs.

After completing harvest earlier this week, farmers finally produced 23,02,272 tonnes of clean Boro rice at an average yield rate of 4.52 tonnes per hectare of land this season.

"Although the arable land area has been decreasing in recent years, the production of rice, including Boro rice, continues increasing in the region as a result of the government`s pragmatic steps to address the adverse effects of climate change," Shafiqul Islam added.

Earlier, farmers produced 22,83,459 tonnes of clean Boro rice in 2024 and 22, 40,429 tonnes in 2023 and 21,93,000 tonnes of clean Boro rice in 2022 in Rangpur agricultural region.

Independence Award 2018 Medal (food security) awardee Agriculturist Dr Md Abdul Mazid said well-timed transplantation of seedlings and providing necessary assistance by the interim government to farmers contributed to bumper Boro rice yields this season.

"The expanded adoption of CA-based technologies has increased Boro rice production in the region despite relatively low rainfall," said Dr Mazid, also a former chief scientific officer of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI).

Talking to BSS, farmers Ariful Haque Batul, Mostafizur Rahman, Mominul Haque and Solaiman Ali of different villages in Rangpur said they had cultivated Boro rice on one to five acres of land each and got a super bumper output this season.

They thanked the interim government for procuring Boro rice directly from farmers at a fair price in this region, as in other regions of the country.

"We are getting comparatively better market prices of Boro paddy at rates between Taka 1,200 and 1,300 per mound (every 40 kgs) in local markets," said farmer Mofizar Rahman of Dolapara village in Taraganj upazila of Rangpur district.