Govt to produce 69,000 tonnes of quality seed

The government has taken initiative to produce 69,000 tonnes of high-yielding and hybrid seeds of different crops including rice, wheat, pulse, oil and vegetables to maintain sustainable food security, reports BSS. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the project for production and increasing the supply of quality seeds on March 8. The project is estimated to cost over Tk 2.95 billion of which Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will provide Tk 2.37 billion and the rest Tk 571.9 million would come from the government exchequer. Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Director General (DG) of its seed wing Anwar Faruque said: "There is no alternative to quality seed for producing more crops. The government can supply only 24 per cent quality seeds against the net demand. The BADC is implementing the project in 28 upazilas of 22 districts, BARI in 16 upazilas of 14 districts and BRRI in nine upazilas of nine districts. Apart from seeds, 4,000 tonnes storage capacity godowns, cold storage with 8,000 tonnes capacity and 4000 tonnes capacity de-humidified godowns would be built under the project. The development of high-yielding varieties of rice and wheat, improving field level monitoring during the trial production of new crops, modernisation of genetic seed development laboratory, screen house, green house and filtering facilities would also be brought under the project. The country's total food production would increase by 20 per cent if the required supply of quality seeds can be ensured, Mr Faruque said.