Dhaka, Jul 1 (UNB)- As a result of the Agriculture Ministry’s timely initiative, the country has seen record cultivation of Aush paddy in 1,336,566 hectares of land in the current fiscal year exceeding the targeted amount of land.

This year, the target was to cultivate Aush paddy in 1,329,600 hectares hence more than two lakh hectares of land has increased as compared to last year.

In the last 2019-20 financial year, Aush was cultivated in 1,134,000 hectares of land resulting in total production of 3,012,000 tons. It is expected that the production will increase by several lakh tonnes this time compared to the last financial year, said a press release from the Ministry.

The release further said that this year's production target for rice from Aush paddy has been set at 3,644,800 tons.

In order to increase the cultivation, 383,434 farmers have been provided with seeds and fertilisers while 82,400 have been handed out agricultural equipment under incentives. In total, 465,834 farmers have been provided with government assistance.

The proposed target for Aman paddy cultivation in the fiscal year 2020-21 is about 5,900,000 hectares while the production target is 15,600,000 tons.

In order to achieve these targets, the ministry is planning to reduce the cultivation of low yielding varieties and expand the cultivation of modern and hybrid varieties of paddy.

For the first time, the government has provided Tk 20 crore subsidy to BADC for the sale of 19,500 tons of seeds to farmers. BADC has charged Tk 10 less for per kg Ufshi Aman rice seeds and Tk 50 less for per kg Hybrid seeds.

Also read: Keep rice market stable: Food Minister to mill owners