Staff Reporter:
Agriculture experts at a farmers’ training programme have stressed on adoption of modern onion farming technologies and smart disease management to boost its production.
“Farmers can increase onion production using the latest technologies and modern management to save huge foreign exchequer,” Director General Dr. Debasish Sarker of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute said.
Alongside spicy crops, he stressed on increasing production of safe and nutritious foods.
He was addressing a farmers’ training programme on “Smart Onion Production Technology and Disease Control Management” held yesterday at the Regional Agricultural Research Station (RARS) of BARI at Burirhat in Rangpur as the chief guest.
The Plant Pathology Division of BARI organised the programme under the “Prevalence of Major Pre and Post-harvest Diseases of Onion and their Management” project with financial assistance of Krishi Gobeshona Foundation (KGF).
Chief Scientific Officer and Head of the Plant Pathology Division of BARI Dr. Ashis Kumar Saha presided over the event.
Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Department of Entomology of BARI Dr. Nirmal Kumar Dutta, Chief Scientific Officer of RARS at Burirhat of BARI in Rangpur Dr. AKM Khorseduzzaman and Principal Scientific Officer of the On-Farm Research Division of BARI at Rangpur Dr. Md. Al-Amin Hossain Talukder spoke as special guests.
The BARI DG stressed on popularising smart disease management in onion cultivation to inspire more farmers in farming and enhance its output.
He called upon all mothers and sisters not to spoil the nutritional quality and values of foods through cooking or frying those harmfully in too much oil.
He put emphasis on popularising adoption of latest technologies to reduce food wastage in various ways including in the field and post-harvest stages.
Dr. Ashis Kumar Saha said that as natural calamities are less in Rangpur region, it is possible to increase onion production like other Rabi crops in this area to meet its national demand.
“There is a huge prospect for onion seed production in this region and farmers can earn more profits from its production,” he said
