Himu's Window

Bumper boro harvest on horizon   This boro season is expected to see a bumper harvest of the rice variety with a possibility of surpassing the Department of Agricultural Extension's (DAE) yield projection of 1.75 crore metric tons (MT). DAE officials, however, said bacterial leaf streak (BLS) and bacterial leaf blight (BLB) infested about 26,000 to 27,000 hectares of boro fields in 32 south and south-western districts where the crop is standing on 26 lakh hectares of land. "This is negligible. The infected fields hold less than one percent of the total production. Besides, a massive awareness campaign has already been launched to check the spread of the bacterial infections," said DAE Acting Director General Dr Shahidul Islam. DAE officials nonetheless cautioned that the outbreak might spread if strong nor'westers with heavy rain hit the country before the harvest starts by the end of this month. Meteorologist Ayesha Khatun said quoting from an expert

Commercial cultivation of strawberry promises hefty gains for farmers Anwar Ali, Rajshahi   Quamruzzaman's (inset) strawberry field at Harishpur in Natore left,and Dr. Manjur Hossain with plucked fruits in Rajshahi city. Photo: STAR     Farmers will soon get a new highly value added fruit for commercial cultivation, thanks to years of tireless efforts by two persons. Rajshahi University Botany teacher Dr Manjur Hossain evolved a variety of strawberry suitable for cultivation in Bangladesh's climate. Horticulturist Quamruzzaman of Natore commercially cultivated the variety on 1.5 bighas of land this year. The red juicy and nutritious fruit produced by them was supplied to posh markets in Dhaka recently. With farmer-level price of around Tk 300 per kg, the commercially viable fruit has great export potential and will benefit farmers enormously, the pioneers said while talking to this correspondent at their fields recently. It can be harvested within two and a

Growers to face Tk 300 crore loss from potato damage Anwar Ali, Rajshahi   Sacks of potato are piled up on the premises of Rahman Cold Storage at Nawhata Madhusudhanpur in Paba upazila while the authorities have hung a notice announcing closure of receiving potato. Photo: STAR   About 3.20 lakh tonnes of potatoes worth around Tk 300 crore is facing damage as growers in 16 districts of Rajshahi division are compelled to preserve the perishable winter crop in traditional way. The situation has arisen as growers have failed to preserve it in cold storages due to lack of accommodation. A prolonged winter this year helped yield around 58 lakh tonnes of potatoes from over 3.50 lakh hectares of land in northern districts and a total of 130 cold storages in the region could accommodate only 10 lakh tonnes. Of the remaining 48 lakh tonnes, about two-thirds 32 lakh tonnes are expected to be sold in local markets and other parts of country while the remaining amount will have

Published On: 2008-03-23 Business Bumper potato output puts Rajshahi growers in peril Anwar Ali, Rajshahi   Potato sacks are stockpiled on the premises of Rahman Cold Storage at Nawhata in Rajshahi as authorities put up a sign saying they have stopped receiving potatoes for storage.   Potato growers in 16 districts of Rajshahi division are in great trouble due to lack of storage facility following a bumper production of the crop. The farmers have harvested around 58 lakh metric tones of potato in the region but there have been only 130 cold storage, which can preserve only 10 lakh tonnes, agriculture department sources said. Of the remaining 48 lakh tones, some 32 lakh tonnes will be sold in local markets, the sources said. And the rest of 16 lakh tonnes will be preserved traditionally at houses due to lack of storage facility. But agricultural department officials fear some 20 percent of