The National Seed Board has approved 'BRRI-100' rich high zinc rich rice invented by Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). It will be officially released soon.
The decision was taken at the 104th meeting of the National Seed Board held at the conference room of the Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday (February 9). Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and President of the National Seed Board Mesbahul Islam presided over the meeting.
This is the release of the 100th variety (BRRI Paddy-100) invented by BRRI on the occasion of Mujib's centenary. High in zinc, it contains 25.70 mg of zinc per kg. The average yield per hectare was found to be 7.69 metric tons in trial at 10 places of the country. The life span of the variety is 148 days. It has been approved for cultivation in the Boro season.
President of the National Seed Board Mesbahul Islam said that it is a great pleasure for Mujib Borsho as we are able to release the high zinc rich 'BRRI Paddy -100'. Hopefully, it will be a mega variety. Most of the calories, proteins and minerals in the nutrition of the poor people of the country come from rice. Rice is readily available to them. The invention of this zinc-rich variety will meet a lot of human zinc needs.
BRRI Director General Md. Shahjahan Kabir said, ‘BRRI Paddy- 100 will get a specialty as it has been released as the 100th variety of BRRI in Mujib centenary. This variety is rich in high levels of zinc. The yield is more than BRRI Rice 29 and the lifespan is like BRRI Rice 28, which is a reflection of our long aspirations. Our plan is to make this variety popular among the farmers very fast, on the one hand it will be possible to increase production and on the other hand it will be possible to provide nutrition.
At the same meeting, the salinity tolerant Deshi jute (BJRI Desi jute-10) invented by Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) was released. Desi Jute-10 variety is short term and tolerates moderate salinity. It is suitable for sowing in saline areas of the south. Another feature is that when the age of the plants is 105-115 days, cut and transplanted aman paddy can be planted along with it. Rabi crop can be cultivated by cutting aman. In 5 trials in Khulna and Barisal, the yield of fiber was 2.57 tons per hectare and the yield of jute stick was 7.21 metric tons.
Additional Secretary (Research) Kamala Ranjan Das, Additional Secretary and Director General (Seeds) Balai Krishna Hazra, BADC Chairman Saidul Islam, Director General of BRRI Md. Shahjahan Kabir, BJRI Director General ASM Anwarul Haque and other heads of organizations and members of the Seed Board were present.
The meeting also decided to facilitate the registration and renewal of seed dealers. From now on, the registration of seed dealers will be given for 5 years together instead of 1 year. Senior Secretary in this regard Mesbahul Islam said that as a result of service facilitation, dealers do not have to come to the ministry for renewal every year. Harassment of seed dealers will be greatly reduced.
At the meeting, the board has determined the amount of jute seed import for the next season. The demand for jute seeds has been fixed at 6,300 metric tons in the 2021-22 year.