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If a farmer cultivates nutritious paddy, he will be given a loan of Tk 60,000 to Tk 1 lakh without collateral, said Mohammad Nasiruzzaman, former secretary at the agriculture ministry and chairman of Bangladesh Krishi Bank.
He made the remarks while addressing a roundtable meeting titled "Expansion and Popularization of Biofortified Zinc-rich BRRI Rice Market" organized by Banik Barta on Saturday (January 8, 2022). State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam was the chief guest on the occasion. Welcoming remarks were made by Dr. Rudaba Khandaker, Country Director, Gain Bangladesh, Dewan Hanif Mahmud, Editor and Publisher, Banik Barta, and Shakib Qureshi, Chief Executive, Business Intelligence, presented the keynote address. Krishi Bank chairman Mohammad Nasiruzzaman said several countries, including Bhutan, want to import zinc-rich rice from Bangladesh. But we can't afford that. So it takes 15 to 16 years to popularize rice variety after its invention. That must be reduced. He said that it is necessary to consider whether the name of paddy can be popularized in any other way without giving it in numbers. In particular, 74 and 84 varieties of BRRI rice are more nutritious. It remains to be seen whether this variety can be popularized as Zinc Rice. If a farmer wants to cultivate nutritious paddy, he will get a loan of Tk. 60 thousand to 1 lakh without collateral. Dr. Mohammad Shahjahan Kabir, Director General, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), said that all rice varieties in the country contain more or less zinc. However, if BRRI Dhan 74 and BRRI Dhan 84 varieties can be popularized, the zinc deficiency of the people of the country can be largely filled. For this we have to move forward with an action plan and integrated plan. Speaking on the occasion, former Agriculture Secretary Anwar Farooq, Dr. Nazma Shaheen, Professor, Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, Dhaka University, Dr. Khairul Bashar, Country Manager, Harvest Plus. Abdullah Sajjad, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mohammad Yusuf, Former Director General, Department of Agricultural Marketing, Mohammad Abdul Wadud, Executive Director, Bangladesh Institute of Applied Nutrition Research and Training, AKM Nurul Afsar, Former Director General, Department of Food, Former Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) Director General Dr. Abul Kalam Azad, Prof. Dr. Mohammad Jahangir Alam of Bangladesh Agricultural University, Anup Kumar Saha, Chief Operating Officer of Nabil Group, Naser Ahmed, Executive Director of Banga Millers Limited of Pran Group were present as the negotiator. |Source: Online/TA
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