RAJSHAHI, Oct 13, 2021 (BSS) - Scientists and researchers today underlined

the need for mechanizing farming process in larger scale to decay agriculture
related challenges and boost production in the drought-prone Barind area in
the division.

   They put the importance while focusing on challenges in the region
including climate change, labour shortage, irrigation water scarcity and
increasing cost in crop cultivation.

   They were addressing the closing session of the two-day long training for
farmers and mechanics here.

   Farm Machinery and Postharvest Process Engineering Division (FMPED) of
Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) organized the training at On
Farm Research Division (OFRD) in association with the 'More Profitable
through Innovation of Agricultural Machinery and Appropriate Technology'
project.

   FMPED Senior Scientific Officer Dr Arshadul Hoque, OFRD Principal
Scientific Officers Dr Majharul Anwar and Dr Jagadish Chandra Barman, Senior
Scientific Officer Dr Shakhawat Hossain and Scientific Officer Dr Jahidul
Islam conducted the training sessions as resource persons.

   The trainees were told that the cropping intensity can increase to 250
percent even 400 percent from the existing 200 percent after the best uses of
the farm mechanization.

   They were given practical knowledge and ideas on handling, repairing and
maintaining agricultural machinery, particularly bed planter, seeder, maize
sheller, power thresher, potato harvester, solar pump based solar home system
and reaper.

   Dr Arshadul Hoque said forty percent labourers are involved in
agricultural activity at present which is decreasing day by day. Serious
labour crises are being found during the planting and harvesting season in
the region, he added.

   Importance of mechanization in agricultural is being perceived by all
policy makers and stakeholders to overcome the labour crisis, reduce the
production cost and improve productivity through timely planting, he said.

  So, the government is trying to popularize agri machinery among the farmers
and has been giving subsidies to the farmers for farm mechanization.

   BARI has developed 50 different agricultural machines which are suitable
for the small scale farming community of Bangladesh.

   Simultaneously, FMPED has been implementing a project to meet the national
demand for increasing mechanization level in agriculture.

   "We are focusing on development of entrepreneurs of agricultural machinery
besides increasing the number of manufacturers and adoption level of
agricultural machinery," he added.