Paddy production can be increased

Staff Reporter :
Paddy production can be increased by 3.2 million tonnes within the financial year of 2024-25 (FY’25) through the replacement of traditional varieties with high-yielding new varieties.
Increasing the cultivation of high-yielding and hybrid varieties by replacing conventional varieties of Aush cultivation including Boro season BRRI dhan 28, 29, in Aman BRRI-49, BR-11, it is possible to increase the production of rice by 32.36 lakh tonnes by 2024-25.
These data were presented at a workshop on ‘Inclusion of oilseeds in conventional cropping systems and increasing production of high-yielding varieties of rice crops’ at the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh (KIB) auditorium in the capital on Thursday. The event was organized by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) in association with the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
 Habibur Rahman Chowdhury, director of DAE, presented a paper on behalf of DAE at the event.
 It said that the cultivation of various high-yielding varieties including BRRI-89, 92, BRRI Hybrid 5 to replace the BRRI 28, and BRRI-29 varieties which have been cultivated for more than two generations if carried out as per the expansion plan, the productivity per hectare by FY 2024-25 would be4.60 per tonne from 4.00 per tonne now.
 As a result, the total production of Boro can be increased to 1.438 million tonnes during this period.Similarly, the productivity of Aman per hectare could be increased from 2.95 tonnes to 3.44 tonnes by changing varieties.
Aman production will increase by 1.46 million tonnes.
By doing the same in Aush season, the production can be increased by 0.362 million tonnes.
BRRI principal scientific officer Dr Md Ibrahim said productivity must first be increased through varietal development, enhancement in the production system, bringing unused land under cultivation, and changing the conventional cropping system.
 He said, by reducing the life scale of crops through research, of which crops can be cultivated in between two crops and this method should be spread among the farmers across the country.
Besides paddy, the program focuses on increasing the production of various oil crops including mustard, groundnut, sunflower, sesame, and soybean.
Minister of Agriculture Dr Md Abdur Razzaque said, we have to spend two billion dollars every year just for the import of edible oil. But we have good varieties of mustard.
But it takes 7-10 years to popularize each variety in the field. You have to get out of this situation.
Improved varieties should reach the field quickly.He said that 90% of the demand for edible oil has to be imported at present. We want to bring it down to 40 to 50 per cent.
The agriculture minister also said that the price of rice in the country has definitely increased.
When the price of wheat increases, people eat more rice As a result, the price of rice increases. Besides, the Rohingyas also have to feed the country’s rice.
COVID and Russia-Ukraine War also put pressure on the economy.
Due to the increase in the price of rice, people are suffering But there is no shortage of food in the country.
Despite all odds, none in the country is starving amid a necessary supply and safety-net initiatives of the government, he said. He expressed his optimism that apart from raising rice production, new cropping methods could help the country to produce above 3.0 million tonnes of oil seed with in FY’25. However,the BRRI paper also said that the inclusion of developed rice varieties could help the country to be a surplus of 6.5 million tonnes by 2050 when overall production reaches 60.9 million tonnes.