Online Desk :

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdus Shahid, MP, has said India, China, Russia and Belarus are very much interested in importing mangoes produced in Rajshahi, including its vast Barind tract. He also said a Chinese team will see the Rajshahi’s mangoes very soon and asked some of his officials to fix proper prices of mangoes after dealing with the team accurately.

The minister revealed this while addressing a workshop titled “Water-efficient Futures: Scaling Agricultural Interventions in the Water-scares Barind Region” at Circuit House here today as the chief guest. With Additional Divisional Commissioner Imtiaz Hossain in the chair, the workshop was addressed, among others, by Programme Manager of World Bank Michael John Webster and Managing Director of the Coca-Cola Bangladesh Limited Ju-un Nahar Choudhury.

Later, the agriculture minister visited a mango orchard under Ultra High Density Mango Planting (UHDMP) method and also shared views with farmers and others concerned on the occasion at Kumorpur village under Godagari Upazila in the district. On behalf of their Water Efficient Technologies to Barind Tract (IWET) project, DASCOH Foundation and Syngenta Foundation are promoting UHDMP method with financial support of the Coca-Cola Foundation and World Bank benefiting 10,000 farmers directly, while 50,000 others indirectly since 2018.

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdus Shahid said mango production might decline this year. So, there is an apprehension of syndication centering the seasonal fruit. All concerned should remain alert in this regard so that the farmers can get their due price. “We don’t allow any syndicate,” he added. He urged the journalists to furnish media reports against the syndication so that they could be brought to book as early as possible.

Agriculture Minister Abdus Shahid also visited a Boro paddy field being cultivated through the irrigation technology of Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) method at Bijoy Nagar
village under the same upazila. The AWD has been reducing wastage of underground water coupled with boosting paddy yield making the marginalized farmers happy in the water-stressed Barind area.

DASCOH Foundation has also been promoting the AWD method through its Water Management Project (WMP) supported by the Coca-Cola Foundation aimed at promoting the water-saving technologies among the underprivileged farmers. Earlier, the disadvantaged and other marginalized farmers were imparted training on how to get additional yield in less water through using the technology. Salient features of the WMP are to enhance agro-water efficiency, reduce ground-water extraction and increase farmers’ income.