Experts at a training course have stressed for expanding cultivation of short duration mung bean as an additional cash crop to earn more profits, improve soil health and meet local pulse demand.RDRS Bangladesh organised the day-long farmers’ training course on the cultivation technologies of BARI Mug-6 at Barovita Union Federation under Kishoreganj upazila in Nilphamari district on Sunday.The training was arranged for disseminating farming technology of mung bean adopting new cropping pattern of ‘Short duration Amanrice-mustard/potato-mung bean- short duration Aus (pariza) rice’ to get four crops on same land annually.RDRS Bangladesh evolved the cropping pattern in 2011 under the ‘Validation and Scaling up of T-Aman Potato/Mustard-Mung bean- T.Aus Cropping System in Northern Districts of Bangladesh’ project with the assistance of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agriculture University and Krishi Gobeshona Foundation.The NGO has been providing training to 300 farmers on farming technologies of BARI Mug-6 in 10 batches from February 2 last to February 18 next at three union federation offices in Sadar and Kishoreganj upazilas of Nilphamari alone this season.Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension for Nilphamari Golam Md Idris attended the training course at Barovita Union Federation on Sunday as the chief guest.With Chairman of Barovita Union Federation Ganesh Chandra Roy in the chair, Nilphamari Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Samsuzzaman and Kishoreganj Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Rezaul Islam attended as special guests.Nilphamari District Coordinator of RDRS Bangladesh KM Rashedul Arefin and its Agriculture Officer Dilip Kumar Roy also addressed.Sub-assistant Agriculture Officers Rashidul Islam for Kundupukur Block, Bhuban Mohan Roy for Tupamari Block Abdul Rafik for Barovita Block, concerned federation chairmen, journalists and officials of RDRS Bangladesh were present.Dilip Kumar Roy narrated the new cropping pattern that substantially improves soil health, environment, ecology and livelihoods of the poor effectively through paving the way for getting four crops annually on the same land bringing more profits.Under the programme, RDRS Bangladesh provides training and 4 kg seeds of BARI Mug 6 to each of the 300 farmers for cultivation of the crop on 300-bigha land, with one bigha land by each farmer, in Nilphamari alone this season, he said.The experts said the farmers should complete sowing BARI Mug-6 seeds by February to harvest within 60-70 days by May and cultivate parija as Aus crop followed by farming of short duration Aman on the same land adopting the new cropping pattern.The farmers have been getting an average yield of 400 kg mung bean seeds per acre now to earn a net profit of Taka 27,000 per acre as its cultivation requires expenditure of only Taka 9,000 per acre, they said.The chief guest lauded efforts of RDRS Bangladesh in popularising mung bean cultivation as well as the newer cropping pattern and asked the farmers for expanded farming of the pulse to meet the local demand and earn more profits. -BSS, Rangpur
