Cultivation of potato has been getting momentum in five upazilas of the district during the current season amid much enthusiasm of the farmers after harvesting Aman Paddy.Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) sources said it has fixed a target to cultivate potato on 40,000 hectares of land during this season with the production target of 7.50 lakh tonnes of potato.35 hectares of land would be brought under high yielding variety (HYV) while local variety to be cultivated on five hectares of land, deputy director of DAE AZM Sabbir Ibne Jahan told BSS. Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) constantly monitoring the overall progress of potato farming and smooth supply of fertilizers, pesticides, HYV seeds and other necessary agri-inputs to the farmers, he added.He said the farmers are giving their full efforts to make the programme successful. Special initiatives have been taken for cultivating hybrid variety of potato aiming to produce a record quantity of potato this season in the district, Sabbir said.Different NGOs, government and private commercial banks including Rajshahi Krishi Unnayon Bank (RAKUB) have been disbursing loans among the potato farmers.
