More efficiency in irrigation has become crucial for reducing the misuse of water alongside decreasing agriculture production cost, speakers at a meeting said on Friday.
They observed that the existing irrigation method causes misuse of water adding pressure on both ground and surface water posing a serious threat to ecology.
So, some major parameters like water distribution system, irrigation scheme management system, water marketing system, sources of water, source of energy, Alternate Wetting Drying (AWD) and types of pumps should be brought under consideration.
The observations came at the 76th Virtual Board Meeting of the Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) held at its headquarters in Rajshahi city.
The meeting reviewed all activities and progress of BMDA projects elaborately and took some important decisions in this regard, the meeting sources said. BMDA, the pioneering state-owned irrigation providing organisation in the northwest of Bangladesh, has brought 5.25 lakh hectares of croplands land under irrigation facilities through operating 15,517 deep tube wells (DTWs) and 516 low lift pumps. The irrigated lands have yielded around 26.76 lakh tonnes of additional crops, especially food grain in the region especially in the vast Barind Tract per year.
With Dr Akram Hossain Chowdhury, Chairman of BMDA, in the chair, 14 Board Members including Akhtar Jahan, Jahangir Alam and Abdul Gaffar joined the meeting.
BMDA Executive Director Shayam Kishore Roy, Superintending Engineers Abdur Rashid and Shamsul Huda and Executive Engineer Tariqul Islam were present on the occasion.
The meeting observed that the agriculture sector has already witnessed the scarcity of irrigated water, which may be harmful for crop production.
Besides, the agriculture sector has faced huge production costs due to rising prices of different agri-inputs, which is pushing farmers of the region into a difficult situation.
