IRRI promoting sustainable intensification of agriculture in coastal areas

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) has launched the second phase of a project to promote innovation for sustainable intensification of agriculture in the coastal areas of Bangladesh.

The project titled "Pathways of scaling of agricultural innovations for sustainable intensification in the polders of coastal Bangladesh" was officially launched at a virtual workshop today, said a press release.

In the first phase of the project that ran from 2015-2019, the focus was on unlocking the potential of polder communities in coastal Bangladesh through improved resource use and diversified cropping systems.

The overall goal of the project is to improve food security, human nutrition and livelihood of the rural communities in the polders through scaling and evaluating pragmatic and feasible farming approaches for more efficient utilisation of available land and water resources to sustainably intensify polder-based agriculture.

The project is funded by USAID through the Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab (SIIL) under the US government's Feed the Future initiative.

For both phases of this project, IRRI has been collaborating with the Kansas State University of USA and different national partners in Bangladesh.

Speaking as the chief guest, Md Mesbahul Islam, secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, said, "The Ministry of Agriculture has been giving special attention to increasing productivity through diversification and intensification of cropping patterns in the coastal areas of Bangladesh."

Dr Md Shahjahan Kabir, director general of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), said, "BRRI has been working in the coastal areas since 1995 and has developed suitable salinity tolerant, short duration and high yielding rice varieties. Combined efforts will be required from all actors to increase overall agricultural productivity of the coastal region."