Bangladeshi scientists have unveiled the complete genome sequence of salinity and submergence tolerant rice varieties for the first time in the country. It will open a new horizon in the agriculture sector.
The announcement came during a press briefing held at the conference room of the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) in Mymensingh on Thursday.
Addressing the programme, Agriculture Minister Md Abdur Razzaque, said that with the joint efforts of BINA and a team of scientists from Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), a new horizon has been unlocked in rice research in Bangladesh.
Agriculture Minister said, “Two million hectares of land in the country experiences salinity, where one crop is harvested annually. In order to make food security sustainable and to meet the growing demand for food in the future, we are focusing on producing 2-3 crops a year in adverse areas including saline prone areas and the haor areas. The complete unveiling of the genome will facilitate the invention and propagation of rice varieties tolerant to salinity and submergence.”
"Our goal has always been to produce nutritious food in high volumes," the minister said adding, "With this [genome sequencing] not only we will be able to meet local demand but also be able to export."
Bangladesh Agricultural University Professor Dr Md Bazlur Rahman Mollah said, "In future scientists, from both home and abroad would be able to use this sequencing as a reference to make high-yielding varieties."
BINA Director-General Dr Mirza Mofazzal Islam, and Bangladesh Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor Professor Lutful Hasan, BARC executive chairman Sheikh Md Bakhtiyar, DG of BRI Shahjahan Kabir have also attended the event.
It is said that in this joint study of BINA and BAU, by applying different levels of gamma radiation and producing more than half a million mutants, 3 advanced mutants in M6 generation have been identified after various tests. The mutants obtained have better properties than the parent and tolerate salinity of 8 dS / m and 15 days submergence.
Rice cultivation is hampered due to sudden floods and the increasing salinity in the coastal areas of Bangladesh due to climate change. An effective solution to this problem is to develop improved varieties of rice tolerant to salinity and submergence. To this end, a team of scientists led by Mirza Mofazzal Islam of the Bangladesh Atomic Agriculture Research Institute has been working for almost a decade.
