Photo: Collected
In a meeting last Tuesday (October 11, 2022), experts said demand for zinc-rich BRRI Dhan74 rice seeds in the Rangpur region is increasing exponentially due to high disease resistance, good yield, good market value and taste.
They put particular emphasis on
enhancing the production and marketing of bio-fortified zinc rice seeds to enhance
its farming, production and consumption for the nourishment of common people.
RDRS Bangladesh organized the
"Zinc rice seed value chain actors' meeting" at its training centre
with the assistance of HarvestPlus under its Commercialisation of Biofortified
Crops (CBC) Programme.
Forty producers, seed company
owners, seed dealers, retailers, NGO representatives, BADC officials and zinc
rice commercial producers of the Rangpur region participated in the event.
Deputy Director (Seed Marketing) of Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) Md. Asaduzzaman attended the event as chief guest with the Head of Admin and General Service of RDRS Bangladesh Md. Nazrul Gani is in the chair.
Additional Deputy Director of the
Department of Agricultural Extension Md. Shamimur Rahman, Project Coordinator
of HarvestPlus CBC Programme Syed Md. Abu Hanifa and Project Officer of
HarvestPlus CBC Programme Md. Ruhul Quddus were present as special guests.
Project Officer of RDRS
Bangladesh Shahinur Islam delivered a welcome speech narrating the goals of the CBC
Programme being implemented in the Rangpur region.
After discussions, the
participants agreed to work together for the expansion of cultivation, production
and commercialization of biofortified zinc rice in the region.
They hoped that the meeting would
contribute a lot to ensuring the commercial production and marketing of zinc rice
immensely and help mitigate the deficiency of common people's zinc micronutrients.
The chief guest said farmers of the Rangpur region are becoming more inclined towards farming zinc-enriched BRRI
dhan74 rice during the Boro season due to its high disease resistance capacity
alongside excellent yield and high market price.
"Even a few years ago, it was
challenging to sell 100 tonnes of zinc rice seeds. But now, demand for zinc
rice seeds is increasing exponentially," he said.
There is a demand for over 1,500
tonnes of BRRI dhan74 rice seeds in the region during the 2022-23 Boro season.
"We will provide 500 tonnes
of zinc rice seeds from BADC and hope the rest can be met from private seed
companies," he said.
He thanked HarvestPlus and CBC Project for diligently working with BADC in the dissemination and commercialization of zinc rice.
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