A seminar on review of progress and results of nine projects of Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) under special grant from Ministry of Science and Technology was held at BJRI. The seminar titled “National Science & Technology (NST) Research Project Activities (2023-2024) at BJRI” was held at BJRI’s Manik Mia Avenue head office on Thursday.
The former executive chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council Dr. Wais Kabir was present as the chief guest while the seminar was presided over by BJRI Director General Dr. Md. Abdul Awal.
The Executive Director of Agricultural Research Foundation (KGF) Dr. Nathu Ram Sarkar, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology Bidyut Chandra Aich and senior expert of KGF Dr. Manwar Karim Khan were present as special guests in the seminar.
While speaking as the chief guest, Dr. Wais Kabir said, in today’s world where environment and climate are two important issues, the role of jute is very important.
He said, “In our rural communities, jute has been produced to increase the fertility of the land; so, all over Bangladesh, farmers have to produce some jute at the agricultural level. That’s why jute was, is, will be prevailing. However, a major drawback in jute research is that internationally there is ERI for rice research, SIMIT for wheat and maize but no such research center for jute. That’s why international agricultural organizations should work together on jute.”
Scientists should utilize the generous hands of the current Bangladesh government in the field of research, said Dr. Wais Kabir.
Director General of BJRI said, “On the one hand, research efficiency is increasing with the special grant of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and on the other hand, the image of the Bangladesh government is being embellished on foreign soil.”
Dr. Awal said, “The demand for seeds in Bangladesh is about 4-5 thousand metric tons. While 28% we produce ourselves, rest has to be imported from India. As a result, the government has to spend a lot of foreign currency. The technology that we have invented at BJRI, the cropping pattern that we have discovered, can reduce the import dependency of jute seeds in Bangladesh to a great extent. BJRI is working with the slogan “I will do my seeds.”
He also said, “To sustain the environment of the world, jute must be produced. At the time of independence, the area under jute production in Bangladesh was 8 lakh hectares, the production was 12 lakh metric tons. Today the land area is 7.5 lakh hectares but the production is 16 lakh metric tons. We hope that we will soon become the number one producer of jute in the world.”
Director (Technical) Md. Moslem Uddin; Director (Jute-Textile) Dr. Ferdous Ara Dilruba; Director (Agriculture) Dr. Nargis Akhtar; Director (PTC) Dr. Mahmud Al Hossain; Director (Administration and Finance) Dr. S. M. Mahbub Ali including CSOs, PSOs and various level officials of all departments of BJRI also attended the seminar.