RANGPUR, Oct 29: Experts at a farmers' field day have stressed for expanded cultivation of short duration BINA dhan7 to increasing rice output for ensuring food security amid adverse impacts of climate change and enhancing crop intensity.
Because of short life span between 110-115 days till completion of harvest, the rice variety, evolved by Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), paves the way for cultivation of early winter crops bringing more profits to the farmers, they said.
Maddhyakhamar Halokhana Farmers Field School (FFS) organised the field day with assistance of CARE Bangladesh and Eco Social Development Organisation (ESDO) in village Maddhyakhamar Halokhana under Sadar upazila of Kurigram on Tuesday afternoon.
The ESDO with the assistance of CARE Bangladesh has been popularising expanded cultivation of BINA dhan7 under newer cropping pattern to cope with climate change under the 'Where the Rain Falls' project being funded by The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.
Acting Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) for Kurigram Shawkat Ali attended the field day as the chief guest and formally inaugurated harvest of the short duration BINA dhan7.
Chief Programme Coordinator of ESDO KN Sarker presided over the function participated by over 350 male and female farmers, community people, civil society members, local elite, union parishad chairmen and members and representatives of different NGOs.
The speakers said CARE Bangladesh has introduced new cropping pattern and climatic vulnerability adaptive crop varieties having short life spans creating opportunities for the small and marginal farmers to cultivate three to four crops in a year.
They mentioned that the member farmers of the FFS farmers have cultivated this BINA dhan7 variety experimentally in the village where Rangpur Regional Station of BINA provided seed support and the DAE provided technical assistance.
Early completion of harvest of BINA dhan7 within October also creates a huge number of jobs for farm labourers during Aswin and Kartik months paving way for cultivation of early winter crops like vegetables, potato, mustard, wheat on the same land, they said.
After harvesting 40 days ahead of harvesting of the traditional Aman rice varieties, the farmers got 5.5 tonnes paddy yield of BINA dhan7 per hectare, almost double than the local varieties like Ganjia and Malshira rice. ?BSS