Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) has suggested new technology to produce additional 73 lakh tonnes of rice output annually, study said.
The ‘Rice Yield Gap Minimization Project’ of BRRI on this occasion organised a seminar in its auditorium on Thursday in Gazipur.
Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture Anwar Faruque was the chief guest of the workshop while BRRI Director General Dr Jiban Krishna Biswas presided at the function. Paul Fox, Country representative of the International Rice Research Institute, and Dr Md Shahjahan Kabir, BRRI Director (Admin), were the special guests. Dr Md Humayun Kabir, Principal Scientific Officer of BRRI Adaptive Research Division and the Project Coordinator presented the keynote paper.
The yield gap study was conducted by a group of scientists, who had surveyed 75 upazilas in 25 districts during the transplant Aman 2011 to the Boro 2014 seasons.
It is observed that the yield gap between farmers’ own cultivation method and that of the researchers has been about 25.98 percent during the Aman season in 2011, 15.59 percent in 2012 and 11.23 percent in 2013. Similarly in 2011-12 Boro season, it was 15.23 percent, in 2012-13 it was 10.62 percent and in 2013-14 it was 9.98 percent. After conducting subsequent motivational activities among the farmers level over the years, the gap has been minimized on average 14.75 percent in Aman season and in the Boro season the minimization rate was 5.25 percent.
When yield gap is minimized, it is implied that the rice production has been enhanced. ‘Using BRRI technologies in the project areas, the ability to rice production has already been increased by about 28 lakh tons and if the gap could be minimized this way throughout the country the production in the aforesaid two seasons would be increased up to 73 lakh tons in a year,’ observed Dr Humayun Kabir.
It could be a significant progress in ensuring food security of the country, he added.
The organizers of workshop said that the issue of reducing yield gap deserved to be considered as one of the priority issues in our national life.
The sources said the yield gap between the research managed plots and the farmer’s fields was about one ton per hectare.
Using BRRI developed rice production technologies, this gap could be minimized. The Rice Yield Gap Minimization Project of BRRI has been working on this regard over the years. Recently some plots were cultivated following researchers’ and farmers’ management practices in the selected districts to find out the difference between them. It was observed that the plots that followed the management practices recommended by BRRI produced up to 20 percent higher yield than the as usual farmers managed plots.
BRRI’s recommendations include use of season-wise high yielding seeds, right planting times, seedling age, balanced fertilizers, appropriate water, weed and pest management techniques and harvesting of the crop at the right time etc. It was revealed that the farmers usually do not follow the recommended practices appropriately. And that is why they get less amount of rice yield. Work is in progress under the concerned project to motivate them to follow recommended practices so that they could be able to get higher rice yield.
