Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque on Friday said the present government has successfully eradicated monga (famine-like situation) from Bangladesh by taking various initiatives.
"If we can spread out early-ripening varieties of Aman paddy, invented by our scientists, in our northern region, monga will not come back in future. These early-ripening varieties of paddy will guarantee this," he said.
The minister said this while virtually addressing a function organized by the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) in Taragonj, Rangpur, to mark the harvesting of specimens of BINA-16 and BINA-17 varieties of paddy.
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Dr Razzaque said these varieties have huge potential as their production is very good and these varieties ripen within 100 days.
"We can produce other crops like potatoes and mustard after harvesting these paddies," he added.
Agriculture Ministry Senior Secretary Md Mesbahul Islam, Additional Secretary Kamala Ranjan Das, BINA Director General Dr Mirza Mofazzal Islam, Rangpur Deputy Commissioner Md Asib Ahsan and local officials and scientists were present at the function in Taragonj.
