BSS, Rangpur :
Experts at a workshop have stressed for well- coordinated GO-NGO efforts to enhance cultivation of flood tolerant rice for increasing rice production to ensure national food security amid adverse impacts of climate change.
They put emphasis on making seed of flood rice varieties available through ensuring supply among the farmers to explore tremendous potential of increasing rice production in the country avoiding huge crop damages being caused by the floods annually.
RDRS Bangladesh organised the workshop on ‘Experience of RDRS Bangladesh on submergence tolerant rice cultivation’ with assistance of the STRASA Project at its Training Centre in Kurigram Office in Kurigram district town on Thursday.
The Stress Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) Project, being funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, extends assistance for cultivation of stress tolerant rice with GO-NGO collaboration through International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).
With Programme Coordinator of RDRS Bangladesh for Kurigram Shariful Islam Khan in the chair, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) for Kurigram Shawkat Ali Sarker attended the workshop as the chief guest.
District Training Officer of DAE for Kurigram Bidhu Bhushan Roy and its Additional Deputy Director (Horticulture) Mohammad Abdul Matin addressed as the special guests.
Senior Agriculture Officer of RDRS Bangladesh Rabiul Islam delivered keynote paper on ‘Experience of RDRS Bangladesh on submergence tolerant rice cultivation’ in the workshop narrating the farming technologies and success achieved.
Thirty participants, including the Upazila Agriculture Officers, Sub-assistant Agriculture Officers, union parishad chairmen, leaders of different Union Federations of RDRS Bangladesh, farmers and local journalists took part.
The participating farmers narrated as how growing plants of flood tolerant BRRI dhan51, BRRI dhan52, BINA dhan11 and BINA dhan12 rice resumed normal growth after submergence for two weeks or even more period this year.
They said they got 3.5 to 4.5 tonne paddy yield per hectare of these rice varieties even after submergence for two weeks or even more period during Aman season when the growing traditional Aman rice varieties were totally damaged in surrounding areas.
The agriculture experts discussed types of genes introduced in mega rice varieties ultimately evolving newer flood-, drought- and saline- tolerant rice varieties to get better output under different stresses like submergence, droughts and salinity.
The chief guest stressed for comprehensive GO-NGO efforts in reaching farming technologies, agronomic management methods and seed of flood tolerant rice to the farmers for increasing rice production under adverse climate to attain food security.
