BSS, Lalmonirhat :
Expanded farming of flood tolerant rice varieties could increase rice production substantially and ensure national food security despite adverse impacts of climate change, speakers said at a workshop on Wednesday afternoon.
Agriculture and Environment Unit of RDRS Bangladesh organised the workshop on ‘Climate Change and Cultivation of Flood Tolerant Rice for Food Security’ at its Lalmonirhat unit hall room in Lalmonirhat district town.
Superintendent of Police of Lalmonirhat TM Mozahedul Islam attended the daylong workshop as the chief guest with Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) for Lalmonirhat Shafayet Hossain in the chair.
Vice-chairman of Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila Anjuman Ara Shapla attended the workshop as the special guest while Programme Manager (Filed Coordination) of RDRS Bangladesh Abu Sadat Mohammad Maidul Islam delivered the welcome speech.
Agriculture Officer of the reputed NGO Dilip Kumar Roy delivered the keynote presentation in the workshop also attended by Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer (UAO) Hamidur Rahman and Aditmari UAO Mohammad Nuruzzaman.
Thirty participants including member-farmers of different Farmers’ Filed Schools involved with farming of different flood tolerant rice varieties, DAE officials, chairmen of different union federations of RDRS Bangladesh and local journalists took part.
The speakers said farmers of Lalmonirhat have been successfully cultivating flood-tolerant rice with assistance of the Stress Tolerant Rice for Poor Farmers in Africa and South Asia (STRASA-IRRI) Project to get excellent production even after submergence under flood water in recent years.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has been financing the project through the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) for increasing rice production in Bangladesh under adverse situations with GO-NGO collaboration, they said.
A number of farmers narrated as how their growing plants of flood tolerant rice like BRRI dhan51, BRRI dhan52, BINA dhan11 and BINA dhan12 sustained submergence for 14-17 during the very recent floods to grow again after recession of floodwater.
The participating farmers also informed that they got bumper yield of these flood-tolerant rice varieties between 4.5 to 5 tonnes paddy per hectare last season despite submergence under floodwaters for up to 15-18 days at a stretch.
The chief guest called upon all concerned for enhanced cultivation of flood tolerant rice and dissemination of the latest farming technologies, agronomical managements and process for seed preservation to further expand its cultivation during the next season.
