Advanced technology with disaster-tolerant high-yielding seed varieties should be adopted in farming due to gradually shrinking farm land in the country, experts said at a workshop on Saturday.
They said that there is no option but to increase food production notably for ensuring food security and sustainable development.
The comments were made at the inauguration of a three-day "Research Review and Programme Formulation Workshop 2019" organised by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) at its head office in Gazipur, said a press release.
Agriculture minister Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque said that agriculture contributed the most to poverty alleviation, food security and sustainable development of the country.
He said the success of agriculture has been possible due to the hard works of the farmers and the innovations of agricultural scientists.
Advanced knowledge based on scientific research has enriched the country's agriculture by boosting production by two to six times, he said, adding that incorporation of high-yielding seed varieties and modern technology helped the country meeting its need for necessary food and nutrition.
"To meet the challenge of the declining agricultural lands with growing population, new advanced crop varieties and technologies must reach the farmers' doorsteps," he said.
BARI director general Md. Abul Kalam Azad delivered a synopsis of achievements of his organisation so far.
He said the institute has developed 558 kinds of high-yielding seed varieties, most of which are of vegetables, fruits, pulses, oil seeds and potatoes. It has also developed 35 hybrid varieties of seeds.
The organisation has so far developed 250 kinds of farming technology and 233 farm machinery.
More than 80 per cent of agro machinery used by the country's farmers is developed by BARI.
BARI has transferred all its technologies to the country's private sector, facilitating development of a vibrant agro machinery industry, he said.
Agriculture secretary Mohammad Nasiruzzaman said that attention should also be given to the conservation of soil while using high-yielding varieties for ensuring sustainability.
"We must move forward to achieve nutrition security and to produce poison free foods," he said.
The secretary also put emphasis on exports after meeting the domestic demand for bringing dynamism in the farm economy.
He said BARI has made significant contributions to the country's agriculture and it has potential to deliver more.
Scientists will have to work from now to develop climate-friendly seed varieties and farming technology to meet the challenges of the climate change, he added.
The three-day workshop was designed to analyse last year's research activities and formulate the next year's tasks.
Member of parliamentary standing committee on agriculture ministry Abdul Mannan chaired the meeting while director (research) of BARI Dr Md Abdul Bahar presented the content of the research review.
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