Dhaka: Bangladesh is on the right track in ensuring long-term sustainable food security for its growing population by addressing the adverse impacts of climate change that threaten global food security.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, experts, researchers, and scientists have highlighted the development of new methods, technologies, and stress-tolerant crop varieties through continuous research as effective measures contributing to increasing crop production in the country.
The accelerating rate of climate change cannot be slowed overnight, and while positive results from global efforts may slowly improve the situation over time, agricultural production must continue and increase to ensure food security. Bangladeshi experts, researchers, and scientists have emphasized the innovation of new ways and technologies for cultivating stress-tolerant crops and popularizing those among farmers to keep food production on the rise.
Independence Award 2018 Medal (food security) winner rice scientist Dr. MA Mazid noted that changing climate could cause severe natural imbalances on agricultural production. He fears that the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture could be unimaginable and severe enough to cause the entire agricultural sector to collapse. Dr. Mazid advises the global community to take the issue with utmost seriousness.
"Considering all these negative impacts of climate change, Bangladesh has taken some far-sighted steps, and our researchers and scientists have achieved success in developing new technologies and stress-tolerant crop varieties to increase food production," he said. For example, the innovation, successful field trials, and popularization of flood-tolerant rice varieties have helped Bangladesh sustainably increase rice production over the past decade, thereby protecting the Aman rice crop from flood damage.
Executive Director of North Bengal Institute of Development Studies, Krishibid Dr. Syed Samsuzzaman, mentioned that climate change has already affected agriculture, navigation, ecosystems, environment, and groundwater levels worldwide. As a result, rainfall, floods, cyclones, droughts, cold and hot temperatures, sea and surface temperatures, water pollution, water and soil salinity, aquatic systems, river siltation, and drying up, along with groundwater levels, have been severely impacted.
The situation is rapidly deteriorating due to the melting of ice from increasing temperatures and large emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. "In such deteriorating conditions, Bangladesh has placed maximum emphasis on developing stress-tolerant crop varieties and innovating new technologies and pest management methods to increase agricultural production under adverse conditions," he added.
Stress-tolerant crop varieties developed by Bangladeshi scientists and researchers, such as flood-tolerant rice, drought-tolerant rice, salinity-tolerant rice, and other stress-tolerant crops like maize and wheat, are being successfully cultivated, boosting the country's food production.
Md Mamunur Rashid, a PhD Fellow in the Department of Agricultural Extension at Dinajpur Haji Mohammad Danesh University of Science and Technology, described the chronological background of climate change and its adverse effects on agriculture and other sectors worldwide. Rashid, also an environmental expert, said the adverse impact of climate change could be unimaginable, so severe and millions of times worse than anything experienced so far, and could lead to the collapse of the agricultural sector.
"Bangladesh is continuing its efforts to address the situation by developing new methods and technologies and stress-tolerant crop varieties and mechanization of agriculture to increase food production," he said. He also urged the global community and every nation to take the issue with utmost seriousness everywhere.
The experts said climate change has also changed the timing of different seasons, including crop farming periods, causing concern to the agriculture sector that might suffer further and severe setbacks over time. They stated that to achieve sustainable food security, there is no alternative to continuing to increase agricultural production under deteriorating climate conditions, innovating new technologies, methods, and stress-tolerant crops for all-season cultivation.