BSS, Rangpur :
Experts at the concluding session of a two-day country planning workshop on Saturday afternoon stressed for popularising conservation agriculture (CA)-based technologies to boost cereal crop output at reduced costs.
The workshop was arranged under the Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification (SRFSI) project at RDRS conference room for the project implementing organizations to set project activities during the summer (Kharif) season in Bangladesh.
RDRS Bangladesh, Wheat Research Center (WRC), On-Farm Research Division of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) and Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) have been jointly implementing the project in Rangpur, Dinajpur, Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj.
The four-year term regional project is being implemented in Bangladesh, Nepal and India with the assistance of International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).
The project aims at improving productivity, profitability, sustainability of smallholder agriculture and poverty reduction by facilitating adoption of practices those optimize productive use of water, inputs and labour to safeguard soil resources reducing climate-and market-based risks.
Agriculture and Environment Coordinator of RDRS Bangladesh Mamunur Rashid delivered welcome speech in the workshop with Head of Programme Coordination of RDRS Bangladesh Monjusree Saha was in the chair.
Project Leader and Scientist to Cropping System Agronomist of CIMMYT-Bangladesh Dr Mahesh Kumar Gathala presented the project overview narrating various activities being implemented in Bangladesh.
Experts from Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Dr Peter Robert Brown and Consultant from Development of Sustainable Agricultural System (DSAS) Dr Patrick Wall discussed technical aspects of the project for the implementing partners in Bangladesh.
Sixteen scientists, researchers, experts and officials of different project implementing organizations like DAE, WRC, OFRD, BARI and RDRS Bangladesh participated in this workshop.
Deputy Director of the DAE for Rangpur Firoz Ahmed, Principal Scientific Officer of the OFRD at Rangpur Mazharul Anwar, Senior Scientific Officer of Dinajpur WRC Dr Akbar Hossain, Chief Scientific Officer of Rajshahi WRC Dr Israil Hossain, Deputy Director of DAE for Rajshahi Abul Kalam Azad addressed.
