Home ›› 03 Aug 2022 ›› News
The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday approved a Tk 164 crore project to expedite the research of Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) to boost the crop production in the country.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the meeting instructed the authorities concerned to cultivate more mustard and sesame in the country.
She also instructed BINA to carry out more research for new varieties of crops to boost the production in the country.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina joined the meeting through a virtual platform from her official residence Ganobhaban.
Quoting the Prime Minister, Planning Minister MA Mannan after the ECNEC meeting held in the National Economic Council (NEC) conference room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar told reporters that the PM stressed conducting more researches in different sectors.
The ECNEC also approved seven development projects involving an estimated cost of Tk 2,007.57 crore, he said, adding that out of the approved 7 projects, four were new while three were revised projects.
For the implementation of the projects Tk1,831.41 crore will come from the government exchequer while Tk53.41 crore from the organization’s own fund and Tk122.76 crore from foreign assistance, the minister said.
Mannan said a number of modern equipment would be added to BINA’s laboratory with an aim to introduce 25 environment-friendly high-yield crop varieties and 15 technologies to boost the crops production in the country.
The project also aims to accelerate the use of nuclear, molecular and modern techniques in agriculture and popularize innovative varieties, technologies and good agricultural practices among farmers, the minister said.
The project, scheduled to end by December 2026, will be implemented through 15 centres of BINA across the country, he added.
The main components of the project are production, purchase, storage and distribution of 3500 metric tonnes of breeding and quality seeds at the farmer level and establishment of 14 ‘BINA Krishi Villages’ in various agricultural regions of the country.
A number of 2000 field-level agricultural officers, 1500 assistant agricultural officers and 15,000 farmers will get training under the project.
Moreover, 15 scientists will obtain their PhD degrees in the country while 60 scientists will get overseas training and 150 scientists and 280 officers local training under the project.
The other projects approved at the meeting included Rehabilitation of Polders (67/A, 67, 67/B and 68) along the Naf River under Teknaf and Ukhia Upazila to Improve Border Security along Bangladesh-Myanmar Frontier in Cox’s Bazar (1st revised) with an additional cost of Tk 227.02 crore.
