Humayun Kabir Surja, Kurigram

Mustard seed conservation initiatives are rising locally in Kurigram. Mustard has been cultivated on 25,635 hectares of land in the district this season. Farmers are benefiting by producing edible oil, vegetables and kheil from mustard. As a result, farmers are leaning towards mustard cultivation.

Agriculture Department sources said, the culture of leaving land fallow between Aman and Boro cultivation is being encouraged to encourage farmers to become economically profitable by cultivating three crops on the land.

According to a data from the Agriculture Department, mustard is the main edible oil crop in Bangladesh. Mustard is currently cultivated on about 3.5 lakh hectares of land in the country and about 2.5 lakh tons of oil is obtained from it.

Different varieties of mustard seeds contain about 40-44% oil. Kheil contains about 40% protein. Therefore, it is being used as a very nutritious food for cattle and buffaloes. Three types of mustard, Tori, White and Rai, are cultivated in the country. Mustard is planted after harvesting Aman paddy and Boro paddy is planted after cultivating this short-term crop.

The leaves of Bari mustard 7 varieties in the district are without buds and the bottom is smooth. The color of the flower petals is white. The number of fruits per tree is 90-125. Bari mustard -9 This variety gives 10-25 percent more yield than Tori-7. After harvesting Aman paddy and before cultivating Boro paddy. This short-term variety can be cultivated easily. The oil content in the seeds is 43-44 percent. It takes 80-85 days for the crop to ripen. With appropriate fertilizer and irrigation, a yield of 1.25 to 1.45 tons per hectare can be obtained. The Bari mustard-14 variety is harvested in 75 to 80 days. The average yield per hectare is 1.4 to 1.6 tons. After harvesting Aman rice, it can be cultivated as a short-term variety and then planted with Boro rice.

Bari-7, Bari-9, Bari-14 varieties of mustard are cultivated more. Among them, Bari-14 variety of mustard yields in less time and the yield is also good. Therefore, farmers are working on preserving mustard seeds themselves. To preserve the seeds, first after threshing, they are dried well in the sun. Then the seeds are cooled and kept in plastic containers, tins or drums with the mouth closed. So that air cannot enter the container. The container with the seeds maintains the germination capacity of the seeds for one to two years in a cool place in a room with low humidity. Lutfar Rahman, a farmer from Vishal Par village of Chinai union in Rajarharhat upazila, said, "We spent 5-6 thousand taka on mustard cultivation per bigha, including seeds, tillage, irrigation, medicine, and pruning. We got an average of 4-5 maunds of mustard.

He earns an additional 12 to 15 thousand taka per maund from the current 3 thousand taka market price. So, he has started saving seeds from Bari-14 variety mustard. In the future, he will cultivate and sell the seeds himself. Marjina Begum, a farmer from the same area, said, "Earlier, we used to cultivate Aman and Boro rice twice a year on our land. But this time, after Aman, we cultivated Bari-14 variety mustard with the help of RDRS Bangladesh. The yield has been good. Earlier, we had to cultivate Boro rice on credit. This time, we sold mustard and cultivated Boro instead of taking credit. The demand for mustard oil has increased due to the shortage of soybean oil. Poor farmers are using their cultivated mustard oil, vegetable food and mustard plants as fuel to reduce household expenses.

Female worker Mamata Begum said, earlier, work was available only during paddy cultivation. But now, due to mustard cultivation in the area, there is an opportunity for additional work. A daily wage of 300 taka is being received. This has alleviated some poverty in the family. Subal Kumar Pramanik, Regional Manager of RDRS Bangladesh, said, mustard has been cultivated on 100 acres of land under the agricultural unit implemented by RDRS Bangladesh with the financial support of the Rural Karma-Sahayak Foundation. Oilseed crops are playing a role in the agricultural economy of the district by creating employment through expansion, processing and marketing.

Rajarhat Upazila Agriculture Officer Saifunnahar Sathi said, training and assistance are being provided to farmers through government and private sectors to reduce dependence on oil imports.

Farmers are also being advised on mustard seed preservation.