Synchronised cultivation reduces rice yield costs: Agriculture minister
He also expressed his hope that in the next four to five years, no farmers will plant rice seeds manually
In bid to mechanise agriculture, the government has introduced the synchronised cultivation system to help farmers cultivate rice crops at low costs.
Under this system, rice seeds can be sowed on one acre of land in an hour, – using a rice transplanter machine – reducing the cost of rice production by Tk4,500 per acre.
According to the agriculture ministry, synchronised cultivation is going on in 61 districts of the country under the government's farming incentives programme this fiscal year.
Agriculture Minister Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, on Saturday, launched the rice cultivation programme on 50 acres of land under the synchronised cultivation system in Kendua village, under Dhanbari upazila of Tangail district.
"We are moving towards mechanisation in agriculture. Though it is difficult to use machines on our farming land due to some limitations, the use of machines is easier in the synchronised cultivation system," Abdur Razzaque said.
"This system of cultivation has exponentially reduced the costs of rice cultivation," the minister added.
Emphasising the prospects of the synchronised cultivation system, the minister said, "We have to spread this system across the country. I hope no farmers will plant rice seeds manually after four or five years."
Synchronised cultivation is a cultivation process under which all farmers in an area have to sow the same kind of rice seeds on their land at a time, by machine.
Under this system, from preparing the farming land to ripening the crops, all is done using machines.
Under the government's incentives programme, the agriculture department is providing farmers with hybrid Boro seeds, fertiliser and other farming facilities to cultivate rice on their land this season.
Shah Ali, a farmer in Kendua village said using the rice transplanter, he sowed rice seeds on his land and the cost was less than Tk1,500 per Bigha than with the conventional cultivation process.
"I am receiving all the assistance from the agriculture department to continue this cultivation," he said.
