About 3.38 crore tonnes of rice were produced in the country this year against the government target of 3.44 crore tonnes for the 2012-13 crop year that ended in June.
The target of production of aus, aman and boro rice could not be achieved mainly due to less acreage of cultivation and less production of Aus this year compared with the last year’s production, officials said
Although production of boro is almost the same this year meeting the government target, production of aus and aman fell short of the target.
According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and Department of Agriculture Extension, boro, the main rice crop in Bangladesh in respect of volume of production, yielded 187.78 lakh tonnes in 2012-13 years.
Production of aman, the second important rice crop, was 128.97 lakh tonnes although target was set for 133 lakh tonnes this year.
Production of aus was 21.58 lakh tonnes although target was 23.70 lakh tonnes showing 2.12 lakh tonnes less than the target, according to BBS and DAE.
When asked, agriculture economist of the ministry of agriculture, Sheikh Badiul Alam, told New Age that the productivity of food crops has been increasing day by day due to proper care by the government despite some natural disasters including flood, flash flood and cyclones.
‘There was no shortage of food crop,’ he said, adding that if there was any shortage of food crop, price of rice would have been increased in the market.
Latiful Haider, national consultant of disaster and climate risk management in agriculture project at DAE told New Age that due to climate change, Bangladesh has been experiencing frequent floods, flash floods, droughts and salinity.
Natural disasters reduced the production of agricultural crops and also indicated a ‘threat to the food security’, he said.
Latiful said floods and flash floods are damaging standing crops including Aus and seedbeds of aman.
So the farmers were encouraged to cultivate short-term crops BRRI Dhan -45 and 28 as well as submergence tolerance verities of BRRI Dhan-51 and 52 which can survive two weeks under water, he added.
As there is no drought tolerance rice crop for the drought prone areas and farmers were advised to cultivate mug bean, wheat and some vegetables.
Farmers in salinity-hit areas were motivated to cultivate watermelon, seed oil, beans, sunflowers, palm, coconut and plum, Lutiful said.