Govt eying to increase production of potato seeds; 5 cold storages to be built
Dhaka, Sept 1 (UNB) - The Ministry of Agriculture is eying to increase the production of tuber crops, especially quality potato seeds and its preservation and distribution in a bid to ensure food security and thus alleviate poverty.
In this regard, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday approved a Tk 421 crore-project, titled `Tuber Crops Development Project’. Of the total amount, Tk 269 crore will come from the government fund while Tk 153 crore from BADC’s own resources.
The project tenured from July 2010 to June 2013 will be implemented through Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC), Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI).
Under the BADC component of the project activities, five cold storages each with 2,000 metric tons capacity will be set up in Panchagarh, Lalmonirhat, Sirajganj, Tangail and Munshiganj. Besides, the capacity of two existing cold storages - one in Bogra and another in Chandpur -will be raised to 1,000 metric tons, according to Planning Ministry sources.
The project aims at producing breeder seeds of potato through tissue culture technology in a bid to reduce import dependence, extending cultivation of sweet potato and the cassava varieties invented by BARI to the Sidr affected and monga-prone areas, creating local market through developing marketing channel, collecting local and foreign germplasm to innovate high yielding, salt- and drought-tolerant varieties, and enhancing skills of the BARI scientists.
As the annual per capita potato consumption in the country is only 40 kg, there is a huge scope for increasing potato consumption and production to reduce the pressure on the cereal crops.
Per hectare production of potato is around 15 metric tons in the country, which is much lower than the developed and some developing countries. “It can be increased to a large extent by using high quality seeds,” said a senior official of BADC.
Ashraful Islam, Deputy Director of Potato Seed Division of BADC, told UNB staff correspondent Golam Moin Uddin that the project aims to supply high quality potato seeds to farmers as well as strengthening the research activities.
He said that of the countrywide total demand of the quality potato seeds, the BADC could supply only 8 percent of the demands, the contracted farmers 12 percent and the private companies 10 percent.
“If 60 percent of quality seeds could be supplied to the farmers, the production of potato could be increased by 40 percent,” he said adding that the countrywide demand of potato seeds is around 7.5 lakh metric tons.
The BADC will also produce, procure and preserve 1,596 metric tons of breeder seeds, 13,737 metric tons of foundation seeds and 51,522 metric tons of Truthfully Labeled Seed (TLS)/Certified Seed Potato.
It will also distribute 1,204 metric tons of breeder seeds, 11,197 metric tons of foundation seeds and 44,140 metric tons of TLS. Besides, the BADC will also import basic seed potato from abroad to increase production of foundation seed as well as to procure another 300 metric tons of seeds locally from the Tuber Crops Research Centre (TCRC).
Apart from these, the BADC will set up a Foundation Seed Potato Production Farm on 500 acres of land and impart training to some 13,320 people including technical staffs, contracted farmers, private entrepreneurs and NGO workers.
Under the BARI component of the project, field machineries and research related machineries will be procured, 400 cubic meters of green house will be set up, and research equipments and vehicles will be maintained and repaired.
In this regard, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday approved a Tk 421 crore-project, titled `Tuber Crops Development Project’. Of the total amount, Tk 269 crore will come from the government fund while Tk 153 crore from BADC’s own resources.
The project tenured from July 2010 to June 2013 will be implemented through Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC), Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI).
Under the BADC component of the project activities, five cold storages each with 2,000 metric tons capacity will be set up in Panchagarh, Lalmonirhat, Sirajganj, Tangail and Munshiganj. Besides, the capacity of two existing cold storages - one in Bogra and another in Chandpur -will be raised to 1,000 metric tons, according to Planning Ministry sources.
The project aims at producing breeder seeds of potato through tissue culture technology in a bid to reduce import dependence, extending cultivation of sweet potato and the cassava varieties invented by BARI to the Sidr affected and monga-prone areas, creating local market through developing marketing channel, collecting local and foreign germplasm to innovate high yielding, salt- and drought-tolerant varieties, and enhancing skills of the BARI scientists.
As the annual per capita potato consumption in the country is only 40 kg, there is a huge scope for increasing potato consumption and production to reduce the pressure on the cereal crops.
Per hectare production of potato is around 15 metric tons in the country, which is much lower than the developed and some developing countries. “It can be increased to a large extent by using high quality seeds,” said a senior official of BADC.
Ashraful Islam, Deputy Director of Potato Seed Division of BADC, told UNB staff correspondent Golam Moin Uddin that the project aims to supply high quality potato seeds to farmers as well as strengthening the research activities.
He said that of the countrywide total demand of the quality potato seeds, the BADC could supply only 8 percent of the demands, the contracted farmers 12 percent and the private companies 10 percent.
“If 60 percent of quality seeds could be supplied to the farmers, the production of potato could be increased by 40 percent,” he said adding that the countrywide demand of potato seeds is around 7.5 lakh metric tons.
The BADC will also produce, procure and preserve 1,596 metric tons of breeder seeds, 13,737 metric tons of foundation seeds and 51,522 metric tons of Truthfully Labeled Seed (TLS)/Certified Seed Potato.
It will also distribute 1,204 metric tons of breeder seeds, 11,197 metric tons of foundation seeds and 44,140 metric tons of TLS. Besides, the BADC will also import basic seed potato from abroad to increase production of foundation seed as well as to procure another 300 metric tons of seeds locally from the Tuber Crops Research Centre (TCRC).
Apart from these, the BADC will set up a Foundation Seed Potato Production Farm on 500 acres of land and impart training to some 13,320 people including technical staffs, contracted farmers, private entrepreneurs and NGO workers.
Under the BARI component of the project, field machineries and research related machineries will be procured, 400 cubic meters of green house will be set up, and research equipments and vehicles will be maintained and repaired.
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