Prospects of 3 drought-tolerant paddy varieties in Barind bright

RAJSHAHI, Nov 28 (BSS): A group of farmers have selected three new paddy varieties as promising drought-tolerant for drought-prone rain-fed environment in Barind. The selection process has been done in a crop-cutting ceremony styled "Drought tolerant rice variety evaluation through participatory variety selection" organized by Rajshahi Regional Station of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) at Alimganj area under Paba Upazila of Rajshahi district recently. After a long journey of research, the regional station has developed the paddy varieties- IR82635-B-B-145-1, IR82635-B-B-75-2 and IR83377-B-B-93-3- for the farmers of the region's drought-prone area for the first time in the county. BRRI's senior scientific officer and principal investigator of the research programme Bishwajit Karmaker revealed the success at the crop-cutting ceremony. He said the varieties would give satisfactory yield with scanty rainfall without any irrigation during the rain-fed transplanted Aman season in the area. Disseminating his expertise he said the declining rainfall coupled with the enhanced temperature due to adverse impact of the climate change has put the agriculture sector at a vulnerable condition. To face the degradable position, BRRI with assistance from IRRI has been conducting a field level research in the Barind area for the last four years and finally developed the three drought tolerant and short duration varieties. Additional Director of Department of Agriculture Extension Saidur Rahman and its Deputy Director Nurul Amin and BRRI's Regional Head Dr Tahmid Hossain Ansari were, among others, present on the occasion. Tribute paid to Dr Milon Speakers at a commemoration meeting has termed the bloodshed of Dr Shamsul Haque Khan Milon as a disgraceful incident for the nation. Besides, they viewed that the killing was the turning point of ending the 90's anti-autocratic movement which helped establishing democracy. Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA), local unit, organized the meeting Sunday on its office premises marking the observance of 21st Dr Milon Day. Rajshahi Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, who addressed the discussion as the chief guest, said the entire nation was misled repeatedly due to military and autocratic rules. The autocratic regimes had drastically demolished the democratic institutions and other norms and values and that was the detrimental to the national progress and prosperous, he added. Mayor Liton said the supreme sacrifice of Dr Milon will inspire us to fight against all sorts of undemocratic Activities. "We lagged behind time and again due to the hampering of democratic process. This is high time to go forward keeping pace with the developed nations," he added. With local unit BMA President Prof Dr Dayem Uddin in the chair, general secretary Dr Khalilur Rahman and central BMA Member Dr Tabibur Rahman Sheikh also spoke.