Lal Teer Seed brings salt tolerant wheat

Local seed company Lal Teer Seed Ltd and Sweden-based firm OlsAro Crop Biotech along with Gothenburg University of Sweden have developed chemical mutations of a wheat variety that can be grown on salt affected soils, a press release said.

The company said the wheat variety, upon approval from the concerned authority, could be grown on a large part of the southern coastal region, where most farmlands remain unused during winter because of high salinity.

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The southern coastal region has 28 lakh hectares of cultivable land -- nearly one-third of the net cultivable land of Bangladesh -- but more than 10 lakh hectares of this area is affected by different degrees of salinity at certain times each year.

The predominant salinity of coastal areas is 4-8 decisiemens per metre (ds/m).

A vast amount of land in the southern coastal region lies fallow during the dry winter season for increased salinity after the harvest of Aman paddy, Lal Teer Seed said in the statement.

The presence of salt reduces plant growth as a result of its adverse effects on plant morphology and physiology. Under salinity stress, the enhanced uptake of sodium and chloride ions negatively affect plant growth, especially during critical stages.

"This ultimately leads to reduced yields," the company added.

Considering the options for adapting wheat to saline prone soil, Lal Teer, OlsAro and Gothenburg University of Sweden teamed up to develop a few salt tolerant lines through chemical mutations.

Lal Teer said it tested the lines in coastal areas along with the salt-tolerant variety BARI Gom-25, a wheat variety developed by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI).

"The line OA-62 performed potentially well through 4-8ds/m continuously for the last two years and out-yielded BARI Gom-25," said Lal Teer Seed.

"It is expected that the introduction of OA-62 in coastal areas, where predominant salinity ranges at 4-8ds/m can extend the acreage of wheat, increasing the total production in Bangladesh and minimising imports," it said, adding that the company is working on registering this line with the National Seed Board.

The local seed company focuses on developing saline tolerant wheat as demand for the grain, now the second most consumed item after rice, is growing for home and industrial use to make wheat-based foods.

Bangladesh's annual requirement for wheat is roughly 75 lakh tonnes, of which domestic production can meet around 15 per cent, as per industry estimates.

Lal Teer said the consumption range of wheat in the country is increasing day by day. However, crop competition is a major constraint for wheat acreage.

As Boro, the major rice crop, maize and vegetables are produced during the same season, it is difficult to expand the amount of land used for wheat production.

"The challenges of wheat production are crop competition, heat and drought stress, salinity in southern coastal areas, soil acidity in the northern region and boron deficiency in the northwest region," the company said, adding that the only option is to adapt wheat to southern coastal areas during winter.

Lal Teer signed an agreement with OlsAro in Dhaka on February 22 regarding the intellectual property rights and commercialisation of seeds after receiving approval from the government, said Abdul Awal Mintoo, chairman of Lal Teer Seed.

Among others, Sofia Strom, chief executive officer of OlsAro Crop Biotech, was present at the event.

Talking with The Daily Star, Mintoo said they have been growing wheat under a trial basis for the past five years to develop varieties that can be cultivated in saline prone areas.

The main trial is taking place at Rampal upazila under the southwest district of Bagerhat. Besides, trials are being conducted in Tongi near Dhaka and north Bengal to see the performance of the crop.

"We are also conducting trials of soybean and sunflower to grow oilseeds on saline prone regions that remain fallow for 4 to 5 months a year because of salinity intrusion," he added.

Mintoo went on to say that as Bangladesh is highly dependent on imported edible oil, increased research on oilseeds and the introduction of new varieties will cut the country's import dependence.