Gopalganj - Integrated planning of water and agriculture is fundamental for scaling up farm production, advocated Ad Spijkers, FAO Representative in Bangladesh during a three day field mission to the south and south west of Bangladesh. He led the mission that included visiting FAO expert Benoist Veillerette and other officials from FAO and relevant government agencies.

Water development
"The Gorai river is the main source of water for the south and agriculture, environment and livelihood of millions of poor farmers depend a lot on it", emphasized Ad Spijkers when the team looked at progress with the dredging works at the off-take of the river. "Opening the Gorai mouth and maintaining a perennial flow again is a must, and the government’s initiatives should be supported sufficiently by development partners for this massive river engineering work," he added.

Quality seeds
The need for quality seeds of stress tolerant and high yielding varieties was highlighted during the mission’s inspection of the seed production and multiplication facility of the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) in Dattanagar, Chuadanga.

Farmers seek quality seeds to boost plant production, the FAO visiting team stressed. Availability of adequate inputs with reasonable price and knowledge for their efficient use should be ensured at farmers’ level. This was reiterated during the visit to a proposed seed multiplication farm in Char Bashbaria of Dasmina upazila in Patuakhali district. "Huge potentials lie in the area for seed production in the fertile fellow lands, but it needs good investment plans and farmers’ participation", the FAO country chief said.

"The Government has the highest commitment for the south and south west and high aspirations to exploit the immense potentials therein to attain sustainable food security for the country", Ad Spijkers emphasized during a meeting at the Gopalganj collectorate attended by senior officials from Dhaka and local authorities. "Both a master plan and investment jointly by the government and development partners are key to bring back southern Bangladesh as ‘the food basket’."

The synergies of water, seeds and technologies should be further explored, commented the FAO mission while visiting ongoing field activities and potential initiatives on crops, fisheries and livestock in Kotalipara and Tungipara of the district.

"FAO is looking for sustainability and will further explore opportunities for cooperation", Mr Spijkers added.

The mission visited the Gorai river mouth in Kushtia, the largest government seed production facilities in Chuadanga, remote island farms in Patuakhali, and water and farming initiatives in Gopalganj. It was the second visit in a year by FAO to this particular location.

Press release issued by the office of the FAO Representative in Bangladesh. For more information, contact [email protected]