BSS, Rangpur :
Large-scale adoption of Conservation Agriculture (CA)-based technologies could increase cereal crop output at reduced cost to ensure food security under adverse climate, experts at a farmers’ field day said.
RDRS Bangladesh organised the occasion in village Chandni Chandpur under Mithapukur upazila here for exhibiting benefits of CA-based technologies while cultivating cereal crops like wheat, rice and maize on Wednesday afternoon.
The NGO organised the field day for demonstrating the CA-based technologies among farmers to inspire them for mechanisation of agriculture under its Sustainable & Resilient Farming System Intensification (SRFSI) Project to enhance cereal crop production.
The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has been extending financial assistances and International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) technical cooperation in implementing the project.
Mithapukur Upazila Agriculture Officer Dr Sarwarul Haque attended the occasion as the chief guest with farmer Raja Mian in the chair.
Senior Agriculture Officer of the SRFSI Project Anup Kumar Ghosh, Programme Officer (Field Coordination) of RDRS Bangladesh Merina Ahmed, Sub-assistant Agriculture Officer Nuruzzman Main, Filed Assistants Shahinul Islam and Raju Chandra Das, farmers Abdur Rashid, Abul Hassan, Aiyub Ali and Lipi Begum, addressed.
The farmers narrated as how they have cultivated wheat, maize and rice adopting the latest CA-based technologies like bed planting, strip tillage and reduced tillage methods using two-wheel power tiller operated seeder machines and bed planters.
The speakers stressed for priority on helping farmers in getting maximum benefits by reducing production cost and increasing crop intensification through adopting the proven CA-based and resource conservation technologies, machineries and devices.
Adoption of the technologies increase wheat, rice and maize yield at reduced costs saving water, fuel, facilitate crop intensification, quality seed and better germination with residual moistures, planting machine prototypes, inputs and remunerative markets, they said.
Later, the farmers visited the wheat, maize and rice fields cultivated using the latest CA-based technologies and mechanised methods by the farmers of the area and relay method of intercropping to boost agriculture production.
The farmers narrated as how they got bumper production of high yielding variety BARI Gom 26 through directly sowing seeds using bed planters and power tiller operated seeder machines with no tillage or single tillage this season.
