Home ›› 19 Feb 2023 ›› Nation
Substantial and sustainable expansion of wheat farming can mitigate the existing water-stress condition in Rajshahi region, particularly the high Barind tract, as wheat is an environmentally friendly and less-irrigation crop.
Researchers and scientists related to agriculture, viewed time has come to enhance acreage of wheat farming instead of depending on only Irri-boro rice in the dried area to ensure food security amid the adverse impact of climate change, reports BSS.
They put emphasis on improving crop and soil productivity with saving Inputs through conservation agriculture.
Dr Israil Hossain, former Director General of Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute (BWMRI), mentioned seven to eight bighas of wheat could be cultivated with the irrigated water of only one bigha of boro rice through soil moisture utilization and the best uses of the modern technologies.
Under the conventional system, the single largest constraint requires planting of wheat in the region late in winter, leading to a poor yield. Sowing bed could be a good alternative to the region’s dominant wet culture, he said.
Dr Hossain suggested development and dissemination of appropriate farm machinery like power tiller operated seeder, strip till and zero till, bed planter, reaper and thresher to enhance the farm production especially wheat.
Promotion of modern technologies in wheat farming could be the effective means of boosting wheat yield as a whole. More emphasis should be given on expansion of short duration and high-yielding wheat varieties. Seed preservation and production training need to be strengthened.