DAE DG's call to increase food output further

Director General (DG) of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Manjurul Hannan has directed field-level officials to further increase food output by making the ongoing agricultural activities successful.

The DG made the directions while addressing different occasions arranged at various places in Kawnia, Sadar and Mitha-pukur upazilas of Rangpur during his two-day field level visits on Saturday and Sunday. 

Rangpur Regi-onal Additional Direc-tor of DAE Shah Alam, its Deputy Director for Rangpur SM Ashraf Ali, Regional Farm Broadc-asting Officer of Agriculture Information Service Abu Sayem, Upazila Agricu-lture Officers, accompanied the DG, reports BSS.

The DAE Chief talked to members of different farmers' groups, exchanged views on ensuring their nutrition and food security through integrated farm activities and visited their success on cultivation rice, wheat and vegetables during the two-day visits.

On the first day, the DG visited agriculture activities in char areas on the Teesta riverbed under Kawnia upazila where he also addressed a farmers' gathering styled 'Innovative Sandbar Cropping System' on Saturday. The DAE Chief expressed his satisfaction over successful cultivation of pumpkin, squash, wheat, maize, groundnut, mustard and many high-priced vegetables on the sandy char lands there like in the mainland areas.

He directed the officials concerned for turning vast tracts of char lands from the Teesta Barrage Project to Bangabandhu Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge points into arable and productive areas for cultivating various crops.

The DG addressed a views-sharing meeting with agriculture-related officials at conference room of the Rangpur Regional Additional Director of DAE here on the same day as the chief guest.

 In the meeting, the DG directed the officials concerned for making the government's special incentive program for 'Aus' cultivation successful and enquired about potato production and preservation and wheat farming situation in the region.

The DAE Chief formally inaugurated a training course on 'Bee farming' for the Gypsy community at the conference room of the Deputy Director of DAE in the city on Sunday morning.

He visited Pairaband Technology Village under Mithapukur upazila, exhibition of vermin-compost production, maize cultivation under the revenue sector, good agricultural practices and addressed a farmers' rally there this afternoon.

The DAE Chief launched eco-friendly fruit bag distribution programme for mango cultivation through videoconferencing from Pairaband for member- farmers of Moyenpur Agriculture Information and Commu-nication Centre (AICC) in the upazila.

President of Moyenpur AICC Shahinul Islam Bakul informed the DAE Chief through videoconferencing that the member farmers of the centre used 11,000 bags for bagging mango last year and they would use 40,000 bags for the purpose this year.