Environment and agriculture experts yesterday said adverse impact of global climate change may severely affect crop production in the country as agriculture sector is already struggling to cope with erratic behavior of weather pattern.
Climate change impacts are visible in many aspects including erratic rainfall, sea level rise, extreme hot, flood and drought, which have negative impact on agriculture sector, they told a workshop on “Feasibility study of climate-Smart village in Bangladesh” at Spectra Convention Centre in the city. Centre for Environment and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) organized the workshop.
Water Resource Secretary Dr Zafar Ahmed Khan, Director General of Seed Wing of the Agriculture Ministry Anwar Faruque, Director of Agricultural Division of CEGIS Dr Md Golam Faruque, and Director of Climate Change and Disaster Management of CEGIS Malik Fida A Khan, among others, addressed the workshop with Executive Director of CEGIS Engr. Md Waji Ullah in the chair.
Officials, water experts, representatives of differeent government and non-government organizations participated in the open discussion.
While presenting his keynote paper, Dr Golam Faruque said cropping patterns will change as a result of climate change impact posing a threat to food security in the country. He suggested adaptation measures including developing stress tolerant varieties of seed and constructing physical structures to deal with climate change impact.
Other speakers said Bangladesh has already developed different stress tolerant varieties – salinity, drought and flood tolerant rice — to increase rice production in the country. They urged the government to focus on developing stress tolerant varieties of other crops to cope with the climate change impact. – BSS
