Bangladesh: IRRI holds rice production course in Barisal

A one-day training session on rice production for local service providers or LSPs was held at the Barisal regional station of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute on 18 July 2012.

LSPs are local folk who own or operate an agricultural support service such as a power tiller, water pump, fertilizer and pesticides dealership, or seed trade. Eighteen of them from Barguna, Barisal, Patuakhali, and Jhalokathi districts attended as participants.

Common and area-specific problems were identified and the corresponding information gaps determined during the training. Problems or concerns identified were: newly developed salt- and submergence-tolerant rice varieties, new season-specific high-yielding varieties for favorable ecosystems, quality seeds and suppliers, seedbed preparation and maintenance, quality seedling production, water management technologies, water pumps, area- and variety-specific fertilizer doses and applicators, pests, and pest management.

The role of LSPs and how they were to support local farmers were also discussed.

IRRI organized the event under the project Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) in Bangladesh. Md. Shahidul Islam of CSISA-IRRI in Barisal and Md. Harunur Rashid of CSISA-IRRI in Khulna were among the facilitators of the participatory training program.