Aus growers to get Tk 57cr incentive

The government will provide an incentive of Tk 57.25 crore to farmers for Aus paddy cultivation, according to a press release from the agriculture ministry issued yesterday.

Under this incentive, 10 lakh small and marginal farmers across the country will get free seeds and fertilisers to cultivate Aus paddy, it said.

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This incentive package includes five kilogrammes of seed, 10 kilogrammes of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and 10 kilogrammes of Muriate of Potash (MOP).

With the support, farmers would be able to cultivate one bigha of land.

The ministry also said incentives are being provided from its regular budget for agricultural rehabilitation assistance and the seeds and seedlings sector to increase the production of Aus paddy.

This incentive will be distributed at the field level soon, it added.

Aus is the third largest rice crop and farmers with 30 lakh tonnes having been produced in fiscal year 2021-22. For the current fiscal year (2022-23), the agriculture ministry aims to increase Aus production to 36.90 lakh tonnes out of the 4.27 crore tonnes of food grain, according to official data.