UNB, Dhaka :Agronomists at a conference here on Saturday stressed the need for developing the country’s char areas to introduce agriculture there and thus give a boost to farm output.”The country’s char areas is expanding every year and will continue to do so as silts are being deposited on riverbeds,” president of Bangladesh Society of Agronomy (BSA) Prof Abdul Karim told the conference.He said, about 2.5 billion tonnes of sediment flow through three mighty rivers-Padma, Brahmaputra and Meghna-each year and deposit on the riverbeds. As a result, many new shoals are emerging in the country.Prof Karim said, if the Himalayan glacier exists, the country’s char areas will increase as silt will continue to come from the Himalaya.Bangladesh Society of Agronomy organised its 14th conference focusing on ‘Agronomic Challenges for Climate Smart Agriculture’ at the auditorium of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) in the capital.Science and Technology Minister Architect Yeafesh Osman, BARC executive chairman Dr Abul Kalam Azad, director general of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) Dr Rafiqul Islam Mondal and BSA general secretary Prof AKM Ruhul Aminamong others, spoke at the conference.In his power-point presentation, the BSA president said flood in the country is not a disaster at all, but it should be considered as a blessing since it helps revive the soil fertility, increase char areas and boost crop production.He said, agronomists should come forward with their innovative plans to develop char lands to introduce crop farming there as crop production in char land is similar to the plain land one.
