Editorial
Tackling famine in the north
New varieties of crops will ensure food security
EVERY year we hear tales of famine like situation in a number of districts in the northern part of the country around this time of the year when source of work and food supply begin to dwindle dangerously. This is the time, September-November, when thousands of young men are forced to migrate to other corners of the country in search of work, leaving their wives and children behind to pass a couple of months in semi-starvation state.
But this year a piece of good news has reached us from Nilphamari to boost our morale. It's a story that was made to come true by a group of scientists of the country and farmers of the famine-prone areas. Young men will not have to migrate this year as they already have started to harvest new rice varieties of BRRI Dhan-33 and BINA Dhan-7 in full gusto, which will feed the people of the six districts for the next two months. And then the same farmers will harvest aman paddy to keep their rice bowls filled.
Traditionally, after aman paddy plantation in mid September, workers of five monga-prone northern districts of Rangpur, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Gaibandha sat idle because of lack of employment in the Bengali months of Ashwin and Kartik. Marginal farmers also do not have any stock of rice left to feed the family, which often forces many to sell the little possessions they have and migrate for good.
This year, thanks to the scientists who spent hours after hours in the laboratory for the breakthrough, farmers of the monga-affected areas cultivate two new varieties of paddy as they can be harvested during the crisis period, about two months before aman harvest. The new rice varieties can be planted in mid June and it takes only 110-115 days to mature and produce an average yield of 2.4-2.5 metric tonnes per hectare of land.
We believe there is no way we can handle some of our core problems without delving deep in scientific research. There is no denying that to feed the ever growing population, we shall need to find alternative crop varieties besides the ancient ones. These new generation crops will rise above flood waters, grow in dry land and mature in the most adverse environment. The government should support the scientists who are engaged in such research works.
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