The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Sunday set up a greenhouse at the Dhaka University campus to produce climate tolerant crops.
Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Md. Shahab Uddin inaugurated the greenhouse at the Curzon Hall Botanical Garden of the university campus under a project funded by the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund.
Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Akhtaruzzaman presided over the meeting.
Among others, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Administration) Prof. Muhammad Samad, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) Professor ASM Maksud Kamal, Project Director and Vice-Chancellor of Jagannath University Professor Md. Imdadul Haque, Managing Director of Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Dr Md. Rezaul Haque and Dean of the Faculty of Biology Prof. Mihir Lal Saha were present as special guests at the inauguration ceremony.
Speaking as the chief guest, the environment minister said that by applying biotechnology, it will be possible to carry out preliminary research on the development of climate tolerant and disease-resistant crops and to observe and test in this greenhouse till the field level is cleared.
Inside the glasshouse of the greenhouse, it is possible to control all the elements required for crop production, including temperature, humidity and light.
In the controlled environment of the greenhouse, any seedling can be produced at any time of the year, without having to wait for the season, which is very important for crop innovation through biotechnology, he added.
This will enable year-round crop production as well as scientific observation of improved quality crops.
The impact of climate change has been felt most in the agriculture sector, and in order to reduce the risk in agriculture by adapting to this adverse situation, various adaptive techniques need to be adopted, he added.
Using biotechnology, it is possible to develop high quality, more drought and flood-tolerant crops. The implementation of greenhouse projects will enable the development of high yielding crops to cope with future disasters as well as provide food for the growing population, he continued.
