Experts and officials at an international conference here on Sunday claimed that some well-known, modern rice varieties developed in Bangladesh and India are frequently crossing the border between the countries through informal channels.
Bangladeshi high yielding varieties (HYV), including BR-11, BR-12, BRRI Dhan-28, BRRI Dhan-29, and hybrid variety Hira are being hugely cultivated by farmers in different districts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal states in India, while their cross-border neighbours in Jessore, Dinajpur and Chapainawabganj districts in Bangladesh are also cultivating informally imported varieties, including Swarna, Minikit and Parijat, they noted.
They stressed the need for harmonisation of seed certification and marketing processes that are existing in both the countries lest that substandard seeds or disease-infected seeds are not accidentally exchanged that can have detrimental impact on food security on both sides in the longer term.
The observations came at the conference, titled ‘Addressing Barriers to Rice Seeds Trade between India and Bangladesh’, jointly organised by Unnayan Shamannay and CUTS International with assistance from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation at Brac Centre Inn, according to a news agency.
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