Sr. Staff Reporter, Rangpur :
The field day of Bina Paddy-17, a high-yielding and short-duration variety developed by Bina, was held in Rangpur. Monday afternoon, Bina organised a field day at Balarhat in Mithapukur Upazila of the district with the support of the Department of Agricultural Extension and funding from the Bina Research Programme Strengthening Project.
The chief guest was Dr Palash Sarkar, Seed Certification Officer of Rangpur Region; Dr Rafiqul Islam, Chief Scientific Officer of Bina and Officer-in-Charge of Bina Sub-Centre; Bina Chief Scientific Officer and Project Director Dr Mohammad Mahbub Alam Tarafdar; Chief Scientific Officer and Deputy Project Director Dr Md Ashikur Rahman; and Mithapukur Upazila Agriculture Officer, Agriculturist Md Lokman Hekim, presided over the event.
Bina Scientific Officer Motabber Hossain and farmer Shah Alam also attended, among others.
Bina Rangpur Centre Officer-in-Charge Dr Rafiqul Islam, an agriculturist, said that about 17 tonnes of high-yielding and short-duration rice seeds have been distributed to farmers this season, benefiting around 6,000 farmers.
He said that as a result of cultivating short-duration varieties, Rabi crops can be grown after harvesting the Aman crop, which will increase crop density. Even if submerged in water for 25 days, this rice will not be damaged.
He also said that the average yield of Bina-7 and other Bina varieties ranges from 5 to 7.5 tonnes per hectare.
In addition, Bina varieties are less susceptible to insect attacks than other types of rice.Later, the guests harvested two bighas of paddy from farmer Shah Alam.
