Govt for conserving rain, surface water for agri production: Motia

The government has laid emphasis on conserving rain and surface waters and reducing dependency on underground water for agricultural production. Agriculture Minister Motia Chowdhury said this in parliament in the city Tuesday, reports BSS. Replying to a supplementary from treasury bench member Benzir Ahmed, the agriculture minister said the government has taken steps to raise the country's rice production through cultivating stress-tolerant varieties in the country's southern part. The minister said it is likely to be impossible to save cultivable land in northern Bangladesh after introduction of Trans Asian Connectivity and these areas will be turned into an industrial zone with increasing power production in future. Under this situation, she said the government is thinking about putting emphasis on the southern region for rice production through cultivating stress-tolerant varieties. "Hundreds of acres of cultivable land in the southern belt remained uncultivable especially in the winter season due to salinity. So we have to cultivate salinity tolerant variety of seeds in those lands to increase rice production," she added.