Agriculture experts have stressed for expanded cultivation of short duration BINA dhan7 to increase rice output and attain food security through enhancing crop intensity and combating seasonal lean period.
They were addressing a workshop on ‘Expanded cultivation of short duration BINA dhan7’ organised by Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture and Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) at BADC Training Centre in Thakurgaon yesterday. Officials, experts and executives of DAE, Bangladesh Agriculture Development Cooptation (BADC) and different NGOs, seed dealers and traders and media workers participated in the workshop funded by the
Climate Change Trust Fund. Director (Administration) of BINA from Mymensingh Dr Azgar Ali Sarker attended the workshop as the chief guest with Deputy Director of Thakurgaon DAE Belayet Hossain in the chair.Principal Scientific Officer of BINA from Mymensingh Dr Abul Kalam Azad and agriculture experts Nazrul Islam and Abul Kalam Azad also addressed. Dr Azgar said early harvest of BINA dhan7, evolved by Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), within short life span between 110-115 days paves the way for cultivation of early winter crops to make agriculture more profitable for the farmers. Narrating the cultivation technology, he said farming of BINA dhan7 has already become popular among farmers after its repeated bumper production during the seasonal lean period since 2007 in Rangpur region. The farmer are generally getting 49 maunds (every 40 kg a maund) BINA dhan7 paddy yield per hectare on an average and its fine variety rice is longer in size and very much tasty, he said. Expanded cultivation of the paddy has been playing vital role in eradicating abject poverty through creating huge jobs for farm
labourers and poor as its harvest continues during the lean periods of Aswin an Kartik months, he said. “Early completion of harvest of BINA dhan7 within October also paves the way for cultivation of early winter crops like vegetables, potato, mustard, wheat etc in the same land to bring more profits to the farmers,” he elaborated. The speakers said yield rate of BINA dhan7 might be up to 6.5 to 7 tonne per hectare through ensuring proper agronomical management and
its cultivation cost is less than other Aman variety paddies as it requires little irrigation during cultivation. They asked the participants for disseminating the farming technology among the farmer sand encouraging them for expanding cultivation of BINA dhan7 to increase rice production for ensuring national food security amid adverse climate change impacts. -BSS, Rangpur
