Alternate irrigation
photo: Focus Bangla
This new method, developed by agricultural scientists at BRRI is a wonderful innovation for Bangladesh. It drastically reduces the water needed for irrigation of our rice crop. The news has been published in all the dailies over the last few days. It represents a valuable breakthrough for our agriculture greatly benefiting the country. Very simply it does away with flooding of rice fields all the time, which our farmers have been doing over generations. BIRRI recommends that the rice sapling be covered with only two or three inches of water. No water needs be added till the water is all soaked and the field has no standing water and dry. Then again another two or three inches of water be filled on the paddy field. This step is to be repeated for irrigation, rather than keeping the field continuously flooded with high level of water covering the rice saplings as these grow. Two things are needed, and it must be done. Firstly, widespread public recognition must be given to the team of scientists by our national government; those involved in developing this water saving method of irrigation. The government should arrange to send them to different rice growing regions in Bangladesh; to spread the idea first-hand with our farmers and talk to them, explaining the cost savings for them by adopting this method of irrigation for their paddy fields! This is of more importance and relevance for north Bangladesh, where water is comparatively scarce. Secondly, the government should give wide publicity to the farmers all over the country, widely covering all audiovisual media. Our MPs should be informed about this method of irrigation and advised to go to their respective constituencies and explain this method of irrigation to farmers and villagers involved in rice cultivation. The idea needs to be followed up vigorously, to put it into widespread practice all over the country in national interest, to conserve our water resources.
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