Creative agronomy is widening the horizons of food security

Jibanananda Das, esteemed as the pioneer of modernism in Bengali poetry, wished to return as a raven in rural Bengal on a harvesting morning in the late autumn (Kartik). 

Or our national anthem loudly proclaims: "In autumn, O mother mine, in the fully blossomed paddy fields/I have seen spread all over sweet smiles." 

Bangalis, as a race, depend on rice-based agri-food systems; hence, the nation's cries for "rice" have been resounding through the millennia. 

Our aspiration for rice reverberates through the lines of Charyapada (i.e., the earliest collection of Bengali poems around one thousand years ago), Ishwari Patni's desire in the mediaeval Bengali folklore, and the lines of rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam of the early twentieth century. 

Photo: Touhid Hossain, Field Officer of B4RL-CNRS.

Bangladesh's agriculturalists or agronomists have discovered a wide variety of rice species in the last several decades through their dedication, hard labour, and creativity. All these rice species conform to our country's particular soil structure, type of water and climate. 

So far, the newly invented different sorts of rice have relieved hundreds of marginal farmers nationwide of their different seasonal troubles. 

Apart from the catalyst's role played by our agronomists or agriculturalists, many national and international development agencies are also encouraging their beneficiaries within the farmer community to choose and sow these newly invented species of seeds so that a better harvest can be secured. 

All such endeavours are harnessing the speed of attaining food security and sovereignty in Bangladesh. 

It was common in rural Bangladesh even one or two decades ago that immediately before the harvesting season in the late autumn, seasonal famines took place, and such famines were generally termed "monga" or "akaal." 

Kartik, the Bengali month of late autumn, was also called "mora Kartik" or "dead late autumn." Most rural farmers had no work during this time, and paddy grains were yet to be ripe. 

This is why most rural people used to migrate to the cities in search of jobs internally. During this time, people used to mortgage their land, or even poultry or livestock, for a mere handful of rice. 

Writers from North Bengal, in particular, have penned even masterpiece novels on such seasonal famines. Now, thanks to Bangladesh's agriculturalists or agronomists, various climate-resilient rice or paddy species are being invented and cultivated all over the country. Their endeavours are helping Bangladesh attain food security. 

Earlier, the dark shadows of seasonal famines commonly hovered on rural Bangladesh's landscape from September to November of each year. As soon as the farmers and the Boro seeds had been sown, the seeds of Aman were sown from March to April. 

But "The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI)," established in October 1970 in Joydebpur, Gazipur, came to the forefront to solve the food scarcity crisis. The Institute has made an outstanding contribution to Bangladesh's food security. So far, it has developed 67 high-yielding rice varieties, including four hybrid ones. 

Of them, 13 are convenient for both the Boro (winter) and Aaush (summer) seasons, seven for the Boro season, five for the Aaush season, and 12 for the season of Amaan (monsoon or rainy season). 

Moreover, these varieties are cultivated in about 80 % of the total rice areas, and contribute almost 91 % of the country's total rice production. The Institute has also been successful in developing salt, drought, cold, and submergence-tolerant varieties, along with zinc, iron, antioxidant-enriched, and diabetic-patient-friendly rice. 

In addition, the Institute has developed more than 50 improved technologies on soil, water, fertiliser, and cultural practices of rice; developed 39 profitable rice-based cropping patterns for different AEZs; developed and improved 32 agricultural machinery; identified 32 rice diseases (10 major) and 266 species of rice insect pests (20 major); and developed control measures for the major insects and diseases (Ibid.).

The BRRI report titled 'About BRRI: A very short introduction' informs us that during the last 43 years, rice production has increased more than three times, synchronising with the increase in population, which has doubled. 

The BRRI report underscores that in 1970, the population of our country was 71.32 million and the yield of clean rice was 1.05 t/ha. The population has increased to well over 150 million and clean rice yield reached 4.32 t/ha by 2012-13. In 1970, total clean rice production was about 10 million metric tonnes (MT), which was 34.43 MT in 2012-13.

Another statistic reveals that, owing to the newly invented species of rice seeds and production technologies, rice production has increased from 99,30,000 lakh metric tonnes to 1,90,000 lakh metric tonnes from 1972–73 to today. 

In recent years, the BINA-17 rice variety has gained huge popularity in all the drought-prone areas of Bangladesh, including the broader Rangpur, Dinajpur, Bogra, Pabna, Rajshahi of North Bengal and Dhaka, Comilla, Jessore, Kushtia, and Mymensingh regions, and BINA-23 has earned the love of the farmers in the salinity- and flood-prone coastal belt regions of the South like Barisal, Patuakhali, Bargona, Bhola, Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira, and Chittagong. 

Mere citation of too many facts and figures may make the readers feel bored. Rather, let us listen to the voices of marginal peasant women from the Pashchim Dhankhali village of Shyamnagar, Satkhira, about how the BINA-17 and BINA-23 rice seeds offer them immense help. 

Kalyani Rani Mandal, a female farmer, narrated how they could harvest their crop this year before the 18–19 November storm struck the region. 

"Earlier, we used to panic each year before the November cold, rain and storm. The November rain simply destroys your whole year's harvest. But BINA-23 offers an early harvest, 15–30 days ahead of the pre-scheduled time. Another good thing is that BINA-23 rice is not destroyed in flood, inundation or water-logged conditions." 

"We got 22–23 maunds of rice per bigha of land. Now we are thrashing rice, as it came to our granary before the November storm," Kalyani Mandal said. 

She added, owing to extra or additional production of BINA-23 rice, farmers can sell surplus rice after their demands at home are fulfilled. 

Kalyani Mandal is a beneficiary of "Biodiversity for Resilient Livelihood" Project, funded by the Embassy of Sweden and being implemented by "Centre for Natural Resources Study (CNRS)", a national NGO that has been working to ensure proper and equitable management of natural resources in Bangladesh since 1994. 

The project commenced in April 2023 with 30,000 marginal farmers and fishermen, forest dwellers, women, people with special abilities (PWSA), and Munda people. 

The project also offers newly invented rice seeds like BINA-17 or BINA-23 to marginal and women farmers in the working areas. 

According to the sayings of Khana, the female sage, "if it rains in autumn, the king goes begging (Jadi borshe agan E/Raja jai magan e)." The proverb is glaring evidence of how insecure the people in our agrarian land used to feel about the November rain! Today, our farmers no longer feel that insecure because of rice seeds like BINA-17 or BINA-23. 

Dr Mokhlesur Rahman, Executive Director of CNRS, said: "People in the grass-roots now call these sorts of newly invented rice seeds as Agam Dhan, as those can be harvested before the scheduled time and thus often get saved from November storms or other types of natural calamities."

Audity Falguni, Communications Manager, Biodiversity for Resilient Livelihoods project, Center for Natural Resource Studies.

Md Mahbubur Rahman, Project Director, Biodiversity for Resilient Livelihoods project, Center for Natural Resource Studies.

M Anisul Islam, Director, Center for Natural Resource Studies. 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.