Scientists for more lentil farming in Barind region

RAJSHAHI, Mar 07 (BSS): Agricultural scientists and researchers urged the grassroots farmers to bring more lands under lentil farming in Barind area after the best uses of its existing natural resources to fulfill the gradually increasing demand.

They mentioned the agricultural research entities concerned innovated and developed high yielding varieties and modern technologies and urged the growers to adopt those to boost the lentil yield.

They made this observation while addressing two separate farmers field day meeting at Kakonhat under Godagari and Alimgonj under Paba upazilas in the district yesterday.

Pulse Research Centre (PRC), Ishwardi of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) organized the meetings where more than 2,000 farmers attended. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) financially supported the programmes.

Director of PRC Dr Muhammad Hossain, its Principal Scientific Officer Dr Altaf Hossain, Senior Scientific Officer Akter-Uz-Zaman and Senior Scientific Officer of OFRD-BARI Dr Shakhawat Hossain addressed the meetings as focal persons.

Referring to the immense prospect of the crops, Dr Muhammad Hossain said that if the yield could be enhanced to the expected level through successful expansion of the modern cultivation method among the growers, country's hard-earned foreign currencies would be saved.

The country has to import huge quantity of pulses especially lentil to meet its domestic demand. Since there is a bright prospect of increasing its acreage, lentil could be produced in larger amount with less production cost and the yield will no doubt lessen pressure on import.

Around 80,000 hectares of land remain fallow for more than three months after the harvest of transplanted Aman paddy every year.

There has been bright scope of bringing the huge land under the pulse farming in order to best uses of those alongside increasing cropping intensity amidst the current water-stressed condition.