Promoting agricultural innovation must to ensure food security: Experts
UNB
Agriculture experts at a workshop here yesterday stressed removing the knowledge gap in the countrys agricultural sector by strengthening coordination and promoting agricultural innovation to sustain its outputs, reports UNB.
They said many agricultural institutions often come up with new innovations in a scattered manner as there is no coordination among them. As a result, the innovations are not properly implemented for lack of integration in policy.
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) organised the national inception and planning workshop of the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) Project in Bangladesh at the BARC auditorium.
BARC executive chairman Abul Kalam Azad, deputy FAO representative in Bangladesh David Doolan, joint chiefs of the Agriculture Ministry Sarat Kumar Saha and Manzurul Anwar, and officer in charge of FAO Research and Extension Unit Karin Nichterlein, among others, spoke on the occasion.
David Doolan said Bangladesh has increased food production four-fold since independence due to introduction of many innovations in its agriculture. This is one example of innovation that took place here.but innovation is not so easy to achieve, he added.
Abul Kalam Azad said the potential of innovation to increase agricultural production and productivity and the incomes of the countrys farmers is enormous.
Karin Nichterlein said investment in capacity development is crucial to develop sustainable agricultural innovations systems that are profitable, climate smart, socially inclusive and environmentally sound.
Innovation can make a major contribution to the fight against rural poverty by making agriculture more productive and sustainable, she said.
Promoting agricultural innovation in the country, FAO launched the CDAIS project here on Sunday to drive sustainable agricultural growth. The four-year initiative got underway in Bangladesh to help the country make its agriculture more productive and sustainable.
It is part of a 13 million (US$13.8 million) global effort promoting the development of national capacities in agriculture innovation systems, the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS), a partnership between AGRINATURA-EEIG and FAO with financial support from the European Union (EU).
