The New Nation - Internet Edition

Talha Bin Habib

As part of the ongoing efforts to gear up overall agricultural activities, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) has taken a number of projects to increase agricultural production by adopting a new method aiming to mitigate the growing demand of food in the country.

The BADC has taken 35 projects in total. Two of them are research-based work as well as for collecting data from the farmers. The rest of the projects are exclusively for raising agricultural production.

Under the supervision of Minor Irrigation Information Service Unit (MIISU) of BADC, work on the projects started in July 2009 and will be completed in December next year. The initial cost of the projects is estimated at Tk 200 crore.

The BADC, first ever in the agricultural history of the country, will implement the indigenous version of Alternative Wet and Dry Method (AWDM) that will not only boost food production but also significantly reduce the unwanted wastage of irrigation water and its cost as well.

The projects would bring a total of 76,991 hectare of land under agriculture cultivation with a target of producing 2,38,067 tonnes paddy that will benefit 96,23,875 farmers.

Besides, the project will help remove constant water stagnation in the areas and turn those into arable land by using more surface water. Some thirty engineers and other officials are working on the projects. The projects will be implemented in the southern, western, eastern regions, haors and other backwards areas of the country where water often remains stagnant.

The new initiatives would significantly help increase production as the sustainable development of agriculture is under grave threats due to erratic behaviour of climate, late rainfall pattern and seasonal variation of temperature and precipitation.

During March-April the ground water level in the central, northern, northeastern and eastern part of the country fall sharply.

About 25 thousand square kilometres of 31 districts with more than 3.5 lakhs shallow tube wells remained inoperative during the time as the water table goes below the suction limit of shallow tube wells. As a result flowering and grain formation of 'Boro' rice faces a critical time that causes huge financial losses of the farmers.

If the BADC projects are implemented successfully then it will help increase agricultural production by enhancing use of the surface water by installing power pumps, constructing irrigation channels, regulators, boxes and culverts.

Engineer Md Eftekharul Alam, head of MIISU told the New Nation yesterday that procurement of materials for the project is under process.

He said that a total of 2442 diesel run irrigation pumps would be installed in the project areas. Besides, excavation of some 1225.5 kilometres of canals, water bodies and haor would also be completed.

About 690 different sizes of 'irrigation infrastructure' will be develop and 71- kilometres of dams will be constructed during the project period, he said.

The project will be implemented in Gopalganj, Jessore, Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Barisal, Jhalokathi, Pirojpur, Bhola, Kushtia, Jhenidah, Pabna, Natore, Noakhali, Comilla, Sunamganj, Madaripur, Shariatpur, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Kishoreganj, Tangail, Mymenshingh, Narayanganj, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram and Brahmanbaria districts.