Boro paddy farming in the project command areas of Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) in the district has been progressing fastduring the current season.Office sources said the BMDA set a target to bring a total of 8,325 hectares of land under Boro cultivation this year with the production target of 49,950 tonnes of paddy providing irrigation facilities to the farmers at low cost. Now, the farmers of the district are so much busy to prepare the land and transplant seedlings following the suggestions of the field level DAE officials to get desired production. To ensure the supply of irrigation water to the paddy land smoothly, a total of 333 electricity run deep tube wells of the authority were kept fully functional in the command areas of the district. To save 17 per cent arable land for drainage system, UPVC pipes were installed under the ground to supply water from most of the deep tube wells to Boro land, said M Noor Islam, executive engineer of BMDA. Abdul Hai, a Boro paddy grower of Barobaldia village under Sadar upazila said, “Generally, farmers are to pay Taka 1,500-2,000 against a bigha of land to purchase irrigation water from the local providers who operate their power or diesel run shallow machines”. On the contrary, the farmers of BMDA command areas are to pay only Taka 600-800 to the authority on irrigation charge coupon system to get irrigation water for the same one bigha of land from the BMDA operated deep tube wells, he also said. All the farmers of BMDA command areas of seven upazilas in the district expressed their deep satisfaction over the irrigation activities being implemented by the authority since 2005 here. Talking to BSS acting project director of deep tube well installation project and superintending engineer of Rangpur circle M Habibur Rahman Khan said like Gaibandha, Boro cultivation had been progressing fast in Rangpur, Nilphamari, Kurigram and Lalmonirhat districts under the Rangpur Circle of the authority during the current season. In reply to a question, Habibur Rahman Khan said about 80 per cent Boro farming had already been completed in the districts. – BSS, Gaibandha
