The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury was sharply critical of activities of the Water Development Board (WDB) for unsustainable water resources development, which has led to increase of salinity threatening agricultural vegetation in the coastal areas.

Around 10 lakh hectares of land in the coastal districts have been facing salinity problems badly affecting agriculture, she said at a seminar on "Agriculture Development Approach to Coastal Areas of Bangladesh" organised by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) at the LGED auditorium in the city.

Besides, some coastal areas like Tala in Satkhira suffer frequent serious water logging problems as a result of irresponsible filling of the rivers, Matia said.

"You (WDB) have been working for decades, but never talked about dredging the rivers. You talk about polders to get money. And, you even cannot do it properly," she said in reaction to a WDB official's preference to polders to check salinity intrusion and tidal surges.

Referring to water logging in Tala, the minister said, when people are dying in Tala, WDB officials were talking of polders. Polder is not the answer, rather dredging of the rivers can help address salinity and water logging, she said.

The WDB officials allowed shrimp farmers to create holes in embankments for supply of water through pipes for shrimp cultivation, which has caused damage of embankments during the cyclone Aila, she said.

She said Water Resources Ministry and Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) have to work hard to develop water resources in coastal areas to help increase agricultural production.

The government, she said has taken an integrated approach to produce various crops in line with the soil and climatic conditions in the coastal districts by incorporating appropriate technologies.

She sought help of development partners in river dredging and agriculture research so that the people could tackle salinity, drought, cold and other adversaries.

IRRI Senior Scientist TP Tuong suggested dredging and improvement of canal network in the coastal districts to make the best use of surface water and tackle salinity, making a land and crop zoning and developing short duration, stress tolerant and high yielding crop varieties.

IRRI Scientist Dr Ismail Abdelgagi said salt intrusion, stagnant and tidal floods, complete submergence pose major challenges in the coastal districts, while increase in sea level, storms and flooding are the future challenges.

Agriculture Ministry Additional Secretary Anwar Faruque chaired the seminar attended by agriculturists and development experts.