Bangladeshi rice fields can fetch carbon credit by reducing emission of greenhouse gases in the fields through modern farm technologies like UDP and AWD, experts at a workshop Tuesday said.
The International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) under the Accelerating Agriculture Productivity Improvement (AAPI) project of the USAID, in collaboration with the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) organised the two-day national level workshop titled 'Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions from Rice Field: Finding Mitigation through Urea Deep Placement (UDP) and Alternative Wetting and Drying (AWD) Technology'.
The inaugural session of the workshop was held at the Milky auditorium in the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) in the city. The workshop will end today with a field visit to the BRRI's GHG Laboratory in Gazipur.
Methane (CH4) is one of the key greenhouse gases (GHG).
Scientists, related to the AAPI's project, which will conduct feasibility study on measuring GHG emission in rice fields, pleaded for adapting UDP and AWD as these technologies could help Bangladeshi rice fields reduce methane emission by 43 per cent. This reduction in emission can be sold as carbon credit in the international market, they said.
Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury, while speaking as the chief guest, said UDP is a win-win technology that reduces urea use by one-third while increase rice yield up to 15 per cent.
"If the technology is widely adopted, there would be huge savings of urea fertiliser in the country," she said.
She said: "To promote the UDP technology, the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) is working together with the IFDC."
She also said significant achievement has been made in some districts in respect of area coverage under the UDP technology in rice cultivation.
Dr. Reiner Wassmann, Senior Scientist and Coordinator of Rice and Climate Change Consortium, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Philippines, presented the keynote paper styled 'Assessing the Suitability of Mitigation Options in Rice Production Derived from Bio-physical Considerations and Stakeholders' Perceptions'.
The paper said the AWD has CH4 mitigation potential of about 43 per cent.
The adoption rate as well as the actual mitigation effect of the AWD is strongly dependent on the incentives and constraints of the farmers, the paper said.
"Thus, it is imperative to know how stakeholders' perceptions and attitude are towards technologies like AWD or UDP," according to the paper.
Talking to the FE, Mr Wassman said the positive experiences of the Philippines can be applied in Bangladesh.
He said the chances of uptake of mitigation technologies could greatly be enhanced if farmers could be compensated for changes in farming practices.
The IRRI scientist said in most irrigation schemes, farmers have no immediate revenue from lower water consumption or using climate smart technologies. So, additional incentives from carbon credits could be a pivotal step for large-scale implementation.
Agriculture Secretary Dr SM Najmul Islam, BRRI Director General Dr Jiban Krishna Biswas, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) Director General Dr Md Rafiqul Islam Mondal, USAID Mission Director Janina Jaruzelsky, Resident Representative of IFDC Ishrat Jahan, AAPI Deputy Chief of Party Dr Yam Kanta Gaihre among others spoke while Executive Chairman of BARC Dr Md Kamal Uddin chaired the programme.
