Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) jointly with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has taken up a project aiming to adopt climate-friendly technologies for sustainable farming of the crop in the country.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been funding the project styled 'Climate-smart practices and varieties for intensive rice-based systems in Bangladesh.'
It was disclosed at a meeting on "adopting farm mechanisation and AWD (alternate wetting and drying irrigation technology) and required policy measures in eastern Bangladesh" organised by BRRI at Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) last week, said a press release.
BRRI and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) are jointly working for the adoption of climate-smart technologies for agriculture in Bangladesh through the project.
This project is being implemented at Muhuri Irrigation Project area in Feni district.
It also seeks to address limitations in technology and identify required policy measures for scaling the climate-smart agricultural technologies.
Dr Shahjahan Kabir, Director General of BRRI, chaired the meeting. Dr Md Abdur Rouf, Joint Secretary for Policy Planning of the Ministry of Agriculture, spoke as the chief guest.
The participants outlined next steps in promoting rice transplanting and harvesting machines, and AWD methods in eastern Bangladesh.
IRRI Senior Scientist Dr Arvind Kumar and ADB representative Dr Abul Basher provided an array of information about the new technologies.
Experts at the meeting observed that Bangladesh is prone to various natural disasters, such as severe flooding and pest attack that cause significant damage to rice-based systems.
The project's aim is to test, validate and out scale technologies and practices, such as the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation method, diversified rice-based cropping systems, and new rice varieties, to cope with the adverse effects of climate change in the country, they said.
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