By Xinhua,
Dhaka : Experts at a seminar in Dhaka said on Monday that Bangladesh needs to set a target to produce some 32 billion tons of rice for fiscal year 2008-09 (July 2008-June 2009) to ensure its food security.
Addressing the seminar, Food Adviser AMM Shawkat Ali and Agriculture Adviser Dr CS Karim of the caretaker government said it was possible to achieve such a target though it is a bit ambitious, private news agency UNB reported.
“Thousands of hectares of land in unfavorable areas can be used for paddy cultivation. And the production can be boosted by using hybrid seeds. So it’s not impossible to produce 32 million tons of rice,” said Dr CS Karim.
Agronomists and researchers present at the forum said some 1.8 million hectares of lands in unfavorable areas could be brought under paddy cultivation.
Food Adviser Shawkat Ali said a large part of the country’s lands are seasonally favorable and the strategic use of such lands for paddy cultivation can be another way to increase domestic rice production.
Statistics presented at the dialogue revealed that there are 13,579 rice mills in the country with a total capacity of 578,000 tons, and 649 storehouses with a total capacity of 1.7 million tons of rice.