BSS, Rangpur :
Director General of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Abu Hanif Mian has stressed for attaining self- reliance on seed technology for production, preservation, distribution and management of quality seeds.
He called upon the field level officials concerned and experts on disseminating the latest seed technology among the farmers to make them properly educated for increasing crop production to attain sustainable national food security.
He was addressing a training course on ‘Production of Quality Seeds’ organised for beneficiary farmers of seed villages under the Integrated Agriculture Productivity Project (IAPP) at Sadar upazila parishad hall room on Monday as the chief guest.
Rangpur Regional Additional Director of the DAE Sikander Ali presided over the training course participated by fifty IAPP beneficiary farmers of the seed villages.
Deputy Director of the DAE, Rangpur, Feroz Ahmed, its District Training Officer Ali Azam and Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer Afzal Hossain attended the occasion as the special guest.
Crop Production Specialist of the DAE Shawkat Ali Sarker, its Plant Protection Specialist AKM Ruhul Amin, Horticulture Specialist MA Wajed and Agriculture Extension Officer Mrs. Sifat Zahan Safin also addressed.
The speakers discussed importance of producing, preserving, distribution and management of quality seeds for all crops including tuber crops like potato, sweet potato, arum, tree potato, casaba and others to increase crop productions by 20 to 25 percent.
They asked the agri-researchers and scientists for developing technologies for production, preservation and management of quality seeds to increase crop production for ensuring national food security under the changing climatic conditions.
Yield rates of most crops are lower in Bangladesh than the technologically advanced countries and achieving self-reliance on production of quality seeds and utilisation of latest agri-technologies has become a must for enhancing crop production, they said.
Terming agriculture and quality seeds as the most important global issues, they said no initiative and system would work properly anywhere in the world unless food security is ensured for the whole global population amid climate change impacts.
The chief guest stressed for conducting more research on innovation of time-befitting seed and agriculture technologies and proper dissemination of those among the farmers to keep agriculture production increasing consistently to ensure food security.
