Agriculturist urged to cope with natural disasters

RANGPUR, Sept 12 (BSS): Director General of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) Mohammad Hamidur Rahman has urged agriculturists to familiarise themselves with techniques to cope with natural disasters to protect yields considering natural calamities as regular phenomenon.

"We have to accept the reality that there will be natural disasters all the time," he told a opinion-exchange meeting with agriculture officials and experts at DAE's regional office at this northwestern city.

He added, "So we will have to recoup the crop losses to be caused by calamities like flood adopting effective technologies and techniques."

The district and upazila level DAE officials of Rangpur, Gaibandha and Kurigram alongside other agriculturists and experts from Horticulture Centre, Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC), Agriculture Information Service Office and Seed Certification Agency took part at the conference.

The DAE chief's comments came after he visited the deluged T-Aman crop fields at different areas of the region where the yields were affected by flood waters.

He exchanged views with the affected farmers and distributed among them the 'Gainja' variety of Aman seedlings while he was accompanied by DAE's additional director for Rangpur region Mohammad Mohsin and other concerned officials.

Rahman directed the DAE's field level officials and other agriculture-related organisations to find ways to recoup the yield losses caused by the deluge in consultation with the affected farmers and offer them all required assistance.

He asked DAE officials to procure Aman seeds of local variety from BADC and develop a buffer stock of T-Aman seedlings, produced in different Agriculture Training Institutes for distribution among the affected farmers.

The DAE DG also urged concerned agriculture organisations to ensure smooth delivery of Early Variety Rabi crop seeds in the flood-hit areas alongside ensuring agriculture loans at the lowest interest rates to help farmers recoup the crop losses and advised farmers to transplant seedlings of late variety Aman or 'Kuhshi' from the growing T-Aman fields on high lands anew after recession of floodwaters.