Smart agriculture future of Bangladesh to fight climate change: Experts

Bangladesh has to shift to "smart agriculture" to deal with the growing concern for the climate change impacts, agriculture experts say.

At a seminar on "Climate Change in Bangladesh: Impacts on Agriculture," on Thursday, they called for coordination among the government institutions to fight the climate impacts.

Citing a study, Mohammad Kamruzzaman, senior scientific officer of the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, said, "Nearly 21.8% of the country's agricultural land may decrease by 2050, if climate impacts are not addressed. So, we've to move towards smart agriculture to deal with climate change."

Bangladesh is facing various challenges due to climate change, including extreme temperature, drought and premature floods, he said, adding that challenge has become more difficult in agriculture.

He said the drought-prone zone will extend from North-Western to North-Eastern as a result of climate change. 

Long-duration droughts will expand from the northwest to the central and southern parts of the country in the future, he added. 

SM Manjurul Haque, honorary general secretary of the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, said, "Self-sufficiency in food is the best agricultural achievement in Bangladesh. Now, addressing climate change has become one of the toughest challenges. The challenge can be tackled easily, if we can create skilled and smart farmers."

BRAC University researcher Prof Nepal Chandra Dey advised to reduce excessive use of pesticides and while enhancing the use of natural and organic fertiliser.  

He said yields are not decreasing in the country despite declining rainfalls as the scientists have focused on innovations in various ways. 

The speakers urged agricultural engineers to come forward to address the climate impacts and help increase use of smart and efficient agricultural machinery in the country. 

They said challenges will increase over time. So, the capacity to meet the challenges must also be increased. 

EngKhairul Bashar, IEB vice president, Eng Amit Kumar Chakraborty, assistant general secretary, also spoke at the seminar moderated by Eng Wahidul Islam, secretary of agriculture strategy division of the IEB.