Scientists have innovated a new technology that will help cultivate underutilised land all year round in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) by reserving rainwater with building dams between the hills at a very low cost.
The benefits of this innovation by the scientists of Hilly Agricultural Research Centre was disclosed at a workshop held at the Ethnic Minorities Cultural Institute in Khagrachari yesterday.
Naba Bikram Kisore Tripura, secretary for the Ministry of CHT Affairs and chairman of CHT Development Board, attended the workshop as the chief guest while among others, Mike Rebson, representative of International Rice Research institute to Bangladesh, and Abu Hamid Mia, director general of Agricultural Extension Department, were present as the special guests.
The workshop informed its participants that the current picture of the agricultural activities of the district can be altered by building dams between the hills at a cost of Tk4 lakh only. Around 4,000 hectors of land remain underutilised every year due to the lack of water while half of the land can be made arable using this new technology.
It is also possible to utilise the reserved water to bring the adjacent plain and hilly gardens of mixed fruits under irrigation.
Not only that, It makes husbandry of domestic animals like ducks, geese etc and cultivation of fisheries much easier than it used to be earlier.
The entire project would eventually pave the way for the self-employment for many local farmers.
It was also learnt from the workshop that the dam-building technology would not only accelerate the agricultural activities in the CHT but also help ease the crisis of drinking water simultaneously.
