Speakers have emphasised on the availability of the newly invented biofortified rice crops in order to fight “hidden hunger” of the country.
They also said the government should make the rice crops available to people.
They mentioned this at a workshop on “Improving Nutrition Through Biofortified Crops: A Cost Effective and Sustainable Approach” organised by HarvestPlus, a part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health, held in the capital on Tuesday.
The speakers also remarked that the collaboration and integration of donor agencies, NGOs, private sector and media can facilitate initiatives of HarvestPlus for curbing hidden hunger.
Recently, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) has developed ‘BRRI dhan 62’ rice variety which is enriched with high zinc and high protein with long collaboration of HarvestPlus.
Howarth E Bouis, the Director of HarvestPlus said: “HarvestPlus is working to provide more nutritious staple food crops and new rice varieties with even higher levels of zinc and protein, which has been developed aiming to reach millions of people of Bangladesh.”
The director was speaking as the key presenter of the workshop chaired by HarvestPlus Global Advisory Committee Member Dr Mahabub Hossain.
About 60 Government officials, Donor agencies, National and International NGOs, representatives from private sector took part in the workshop.
Dr Khairul Bashar, Country Manager, HarvestPlus, Dr Alamgir Hossain, PDF HarvestPlus and CSO BRRI, Dr Paul Fox, IRRI Representative for Bangladesh made valuable remarks as the key speakers of the workshop.