News Flash
RANGPUR, July 7, 2025 (BSS) - As harvesting is now in full swing and the maize yield rate in the current Kharif-1 season is satisfactory, there is a possibility of a bumper maize output in the Rangpur agricultural region.
Officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and market sources said farmers are happy, getting excellent prices between Taka 900 and Taka 950 per maund (every 40 kg) for their newly-harvested maize.
Earlier, the DAE had fixed a target of producing 2,10,629 tonnes of maize from 21,903 hectares of land in Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Nilphamari, and Lalmonirhat districts during this Kharif-1 season.
"Farmers have finally cultivated maize on 20,592 hectares of land, which is 94.01 percent of the fixed farming target for this Kharif-1 season," Additional Director of the DAE for Rangpur region Md Shafiqul Islam told BSS today.
Tender maize plants have grown magnificently in the favorable climate, indicating better production of this low-irrigation grain crop during the Kharif-1 season.
Till Sunday, farmers had harvested maize on 10,530 hectares of land - 51.14 percent of the cultivated area - and produced 1,03,135 tonnes of the crop at an average yield rate of 9.79 tonnes per hectare.
To further increase maize cultivation during this Kharif-1 season, the interim government has provided special incentives, high-yielding seed varieties, and fertilizers to landless, small, marginal, and flood-affected farmers in the region.
"Farmers and DAE officials are expecting a bumper maize production despite a slight shortfall in achieving the farming target due to crop diversification during this Kharif-1 season," Islam said.
"During the just-ended Rabi season, farmers produced an all-time record of 14,25,001 tonnes of maize from 1,27,251 hectares of land in all five districts of the Rangpur agricultural region," Shafiqul Islam added.
Talking to BSS, Deputy Director of the DAE for Rangpur, agriculturist Md Sirajul Islam, said maize cultivation has become popular among farmers in the mainland and riverine char areas over the past thirteen years.
Maize cultivation is more profitable than many other crops and helps alleviate poverty and improve the quality of life for small and marginal farmers, the landless, and riverine communities.
Hundreds of char and riverine people have been cultivating maize on the vast char lands of the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla, Jamuna, Kartoa, Bangalee, Dudhkumar, Ghaghot, and Jamuneswari rivers and other riverine areas of the region every year.
"By receiving incentives and necessary support from the DAE, farmers are showing more interest in maize cultivation using the latest agricultural technologies to achieve better production and secure profitable market prices every year," he added.
Talking to BSS, farmers Abu Taleb, Afzal Hossain, Jiban Kumar Roy, Ahsan Habib, Nur Islam, and Golam Rabbani of different villages in Rangpur said they have achieved excellent maize output with high yield rates during this Kharif-1 season.
They expressed satisfaction with the current market price of maize, which is in high demand across the country in the livestock, poultry, fisheries, and food industry sectors.
