Bangladesh to help double rice production up in Himalayas

On March 26, the Red Green Flag of Bangladesh flew in the backdrop of Himalaya to mark the Independence Day of Bangladesh. Bishnu Roy Choudhury, the Bangladesh Ambassador in Bhutan gratefully remembered Bhutan as the first country that recognised independence of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is one of the few countries that have diplomatic representation in the Bhutanese capital Thimphu. The Bangladeshi community in Bhutan which is not very small had assembled in their embassy to celebrate the day.
The Bangladesh Ambassador who is just in his job for sixty-three days, had a striking news. Bangladesh would provide hybrid seed to double Bhutan's rice production. Now maize is the major food crop of Bhutan. Rice is generally imported from India. Bangladesh's rice research institute is in the forefront of developing hybrid rice in the world. It has tripled the production of rice in the country since the independence. Bangladesh is providing drought-resistant rice seeds to the sub-Saharan region of Africa.
Bhutan's topography is like Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. A new kind of rice to be cultivated in the hill slopes similar to CHT will be provided. High altitude agricultural research centre at Khagrachhari, has developed this variety of rice along with research centre at Joydevpur.
Bhutan has a land area of 16,000 squire miles. It has a population of 670,000. Switzerland has a population of 6.7 millions. There are some Bangladeshis in Bhutan. They have migrated to that country a few generations ago. Most of them are from Rangpur and Mymensingh. They migrated via Assam. Then it was United India. According to the Statesman year book five per cent people of Bhutan are Muslims, one-third are Hindus (mostly Nepalese) while the rest are Buddhists. Buddhism is the state religion of Bhutan.
During the brutal aggression by Pakistan Army, many Bangladeshis fled to Bhutan as they did to India and Myanmar. It was the worst humanitarian crisis in global history. When we celebrate our independence, we also remember our martyrs and the uprooted masses. It is now for a new generation to remember them. They will remember them for thousands of years. If any one was greatest among us it was them, the martyrs. Their head is as high as the Himalaya.
Recently I was talking to the Secretary General of Bangladesh Bhutan Friendship Society.
He is from Bhaluka in Mymensingh. Rangpur, Goalpara and Mymensingh were part of the Kingdom of Bhati that once bordered with Bhutan. Bhati means low land down the river and Bhutan means high land up the river. The British grabbed two-thirds of Bhutan. It was the Bhutanese archery that saved the rest of the land. Archery is still the national sport of Bhutan. The Secretary General Mr Lutfar Choudhury is a writer, poet and artist. He had travelled to Bhutan with a cultural delegation from Mymensingh. He felt Mymensingh has a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural identity like Bhutan. Garo, Hajang and Cooch of Mongoloid origin live in greater Mymensingh. In fact their number is quite numerous. Chittagong Hill Tracts' Buddhist population is equal to that of Bhutan.
It is the scarcity of food in the high mountains that had daunted Bhutan's population growth. People of the high mountain region who constitute fifteen per cent of the total, still live in the hunter gatherer stage of civilization. If rice could be grown in the mountain slopes, these people could be brought into the mainstream of civilization.
Animal husbandry is highly developed in Bhutan. We can have fruitful co-operation in this field. Every year short-legged Bhutatanese cattle are brought via Rangpur for sacrifice in Eid Festival. They are called Rangpur cattle. This could be done legally and add government revenue.
Bangladesh could also help Bhutan to tea production. Our tea gardens are turning unproductive because of the erosion of top soil.
Bhutanese soil is ideal for tea production. The British developed tea industry with the Duar land grabbed from Bhutan in Darjeeling.
Bhutan imports garments and ceramics from Bangladesh. Bangladesh can help them in developing these industries. His Excellency the Ambassador Choudhury during his visit to Sarpang region gave the most courageous incentive that Bangladesh could help Bhutan to double its rice production.