RAJSHAHI, Mar 17 (BSS): Agricultural scientists and researchers urged the farmers to cultivate wheat by using seeder machine to boost yield to meet its gradually mounting demand.
They said the machine developed by the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) will also help lessening pressure on irrigation water for the wheat farming side by side with minimising the production cost in the vast Barind tract.
They revealed this while addressing two separate farmers' field day meetings on projection of the seeder machine at Dhamdhum Badhair and Bijoynagar Colonypara villages under Tanore and Godagari upazilas respectively in the district on Saturday.
Farm Machinery and Post-harvest Process Engineering (FMPE) Division and On-Farm Research Division (OFRD), Barind centre under BARI jointly organised the meetings in association with Krishi Gobeshona Foundation (KGF). More than 160 farmers both male and females joined the programmes.
Principal Investigator and Chief Scientific Officer of FMPE Dr Ayub Hossain and its Senior Scientific Officer Dr Arshadul Hoque addressed the meetings as focal persons while Upazila Agriculture Officer Saifullah Ahmmed spoke as the special guest with Senior Scientific Officer of OFRD (Barind Centre) Dr Shakhawat Hossain in the chair.
Dr Ayub Hossain opined that there is an enormous scope of increasing Rabi crop in the region with minimum tillage and seeding method using residual soil moisture. Thereby, pressure on groundwater can be reduced considerably if wheat is cultivated instead of only Boro rice.
He opined that substantial and sustainable expansion of wheat farming can mitigate the existing water-stress condition in the high Barind tract as wheat is environment friendly crop.
Time has come to enhance acreage of wheat farming instead of only depending on Irri-boro rice in the dried area to ensure food security amid the adverse impact of climate change.
It can also prepare seedbed in one pass and sow seeds in line and cover seeds at the same time. Planting cost of wheat, maize and rice is supposed to be reduced by 57 per cent to 78 per cent compare to the conventional method.
Dr Ayub says minimum tillage of soil emits 44 per cent less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which is also an environment friendly technology.
As a whole, adoption of BARI Seeder and its large scale use will ensure sustainable crop production and safe environment in Barind area.
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