RANGPUR, Oct 11, 2022 (BSS) - Experts at a meeting today said demand for zinc-enriched BRRI dhan74 rice seeds is rising at a compound rate in Rangpur region following its high disease resistance capacity, good yield, better market price and taste.  

    They put special emphasis on enhancing production and marketing of bio-fortified zinc rice seeds to enhance its farming, production and consumption for nourishment of common people.

    RDRS Bangladesh organized the "Zinc rice seed value chain actors' meeting" at its training center with assistance of HarvestPlus under its Commercialisation of Biofortified Crops (CBC) Programme.

    Forty producers, seed company owners, seed dealers, retailers, NGO representatives, BADC officials and zinc rice commercial producers of Rangpur region participated in the event.

    Deputy Director (Seed Marketing) of Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) Md. Asaduzzaman attended the event as chief guest with the Head of Admin and General Service of RDRS Bangladesh Md. Nazrul Gani in the chair.

    Additional Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension Md. Shamimur Rahman, Project Coordinator of HarvestPlus CBC Programme Syed Md. Abu Hanifa and Project Officer of HarvestPlus CBC Programme Md. Ruhul Quddus were present as special guests.

    Project Officer of RDRS Bangladesh Shahinur Islam delivered a welcome speech narrating goals of the CBC Programme being implemented in Rangpur region.

    After discussions, the participants agreed to work together for expansion of cultivation, production and commercialization of biofortified zinc rice in the region.

    They hoped that the meeting would contribute a lot to ensure commercial production and marketing of zinc rice immensely and help to mitigate deficiency of zinc micronutrients of common people.

    The chief guest said farmers of Rangpur region are becoming more inclined towards farming zinc-enriched BRRI dhan74 rice during the Boro season due to its high disease resistance capacity alongside excellent yield and high market price.  

    "Even few years ago, it was very difficult to sell 100 tonnes of zinc rice seeds. But now, demand for zinc rice seeds is increasing exponentially," he said.

    There is a demand of over 1,500 tonnes of BRRI dhan74 rice seeds in the region during the 2022-23 Boro season.

    "We will provide 500 tonnes of zinc rice seeds from BADC and hope the rest can be met from private seed companies," he said.

    He thanked HarvestPlus and CBC Project for diligently working with BADC in dissemination and commercialization of zinc rice.