Holistic approach urgent to fight climate change

Integrated approaches have become an urgent need to mitigate adverse impacts of climate change in Rajshahi region, including Barind Tract, caused by global warming.

Minimising the emission of greenhouse gases and adoption of conservation agriculture like minimum, strip and zero tillage, bed planting for direct seeding and resource conservation technology could be effective means of mitigating the impacts.

Agricultural scientists, researchers and academics made the observations while talking to the news agency separately on Friday.

Emphasis should be given to a substantial promotion of alternate wetting and drying methods in rice cultivation alongside a balanced use of fertilizers, especially nitrogenous ones.

Introduction of site specific nutrient management practices in different agricultural zones has been adjudged as an effective tool.

"More field level research on global warming and integrated crop management and problems and mitigation should be promoted in the region," said Dr Israil Hossain, chief scientific officer of the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI).He revealed that the country's traditional six seasons have been disappearing gradually due to climate change and that summer and rainy seasons have become prolonged whereas winter season was shrinking.

The spring season has already vanished while autumn and dewy seasons were on the verge of vanishing.

In Bangladesh, some 93 natural disasters have occurred over from 1991 to 2000 causing a financial loss of US $590 crore in agriculture and infrastructure sectors, said Prof Dr Golam Sabbir Sattar of the geology and mining department of Rajshahi University.