Studies on Policy Option for Quality Seed Production and ... - NFPCSP

last ploughing. After 1 st irrigation (18-22 days after sowing) 115 kg/ha urea are applied as top-dressing.Previously, farmers did not control weed neither by mechanical weeding or using weedicide. From thelast year (2007) some farmers are using weedicide (Affinity) to control weed. It is applied once in afield.Disease and pest management: There are few insects that attack wheat. Sometimes, termite attacks inthe seedling stage, which is controlled by insecticides (e.g. Darsbern or Briefer 5G). Aphid and stemborer may attack but application of insecticide is not economic. Only Kanchan variety was to found beaffected by Bipolarise Leaf Blight (BpLB) and this variety was later replaced.Irrigation and water management: All the farmers irrigate at least once and it is made 18-21 daysafter sowing. Some farmers apply water once more, which is at 45-60 days after sowing. From recentpassed time, farmers have been using plastic hosepipe for irrigation. Some are irrigating their crop byflood irrigation system.Rouging: Farmers generally cultivate grain crops andsome portion of which they keep as seed. Majority ofthe farmers do not isolate seed plots, do not do rouging,and are not careful about seed admixture in threshingand drying. Farmers are not aware of it. A negligiblenumber of farmers do rouging.Harvesting and post-harvest management: Farmersharvest their wheat crop manually and thresh bythresher on the day of harvesting or 1-2 days afterharvest. Depending on grain moisture, they dry thePlate 4.2.6 Varietal admixture in wheat fieldgrains in sun for 2-5 days. They clean the grains andgrade by using Kula. They become sure about the moisture content by chewing the grain. After sundrythey keep the grain in shade for cooling. Then they keep the seed in drum or in polyethylene bag.Seed storage: About 60% of the farmers store seeds in their houses for own use and some of themstore for sale. They keep their own seeds in drum lined with polyethylene bag and then put it on a layerof bricks on the floor of the house. After properly drying (2-3 sun dry), they clean the seeds throughhand winnowing and keep it within poly bags with jute sack cover. Some of the farmers keep seeds inmetal/plastic drum. Majority of the farmers do not do germination test properly. They detect good seedsby observing physical appearance like boldness, shining color, insect presence etc.Cost and return of wheat cultivation: Human labour was 80 man-days and cost was Tk. 9,600/ha(Table 4.2.28). Most of the farmers used herbicide for controlling weeds as it reduces human labor usecompared to the traditional practice of manual weeding. Land preparation cost was Tk. 2,161/ha. In thereporting season, about 80% farmers used new variety Prodip and Bijoy seeds, and most of the farmerspurchased the seeds from others. Seed rate was 148 kg/ha and cost for that was Tk. 5920/ha,72