The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) organized a crop cafeteria on 11 May 2024 at the BADC Seed Multiplication Farm in Tangail.
The event evaluated 37 rice varieties suitable for the Tangail Region for the boro season. These include 14 varieties developed by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), two from the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), eight hybrid varieties from BADC, 11 hybrid rice from private companies, and two local varieties.
Rice production in Bangladesh faces several challenges, such as issues with productivity, profitability, and resilience. A significant problem is the slow and low adoption of newly released rice varieties because farmers often hesitate to accept them.
"There are three major challenges associated with adopting a new crop variety," said Humnath Bhandari, IRRI country representative for Bangladesh. "The long time taken by the farmers to adopt the released variety, the very low adoption rate of released variety, and the low replacement rate of the newly released varieties.
"However, initiatives like crop cafeteria evaluation by various stakeholders are the best ways to showcase location-specific varieties to the concerned stakeholders," said Dr. Bhandari.
The crop cafeteria initiative enables researchers and stakeholders to collaborate, evaluate, and select the most suitable varieties for specific locations. This approach is essential in modern agriculture, especially in rice production. It promotes new varieties and higher adoption rates to improve sustainability, resilience, and food security.
Crop cafeterias empower farmers by allowing them to make informed decisions about which crop varieties will maximize their yields. They also enhance productivity by identifying high-yielding and resilient varieties and sustainable farming practices, conserving biodiversity, and facilitating knowledge exchange among farmers and other stakeholders.
"We intended to replace BRRI dhan-28 and BRRI dhan-29 with other varieties," said BRRI Director General Shahjahan Kabir. "But everyone voiced their preference for retaining these excellent varieties. Now, after 30 years, we need new varieties to ensure food security. We require widely adaptable and location-specific varieties that yield more."
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The event also institutionalizes the crop cafeteria as a multi-stakeholder crop evaluation tool involving plant breeders, farmers, millers, dealers, private sector representatives, and women farmer groups for greater consensus.
"The concept of a crop cafeteria developed and initiated by IRRI offers a well-balanced platform for all stakeholders to evaluate and discuss the performance of various rice varieties," Dr. Kabir added. "Crop cafeterias are a valuable tool for stakeholder engagement and location-specific variety selection, recommended for expansion based on agro-ecological zones.
IRRI plans to extend this initiative to the aman season in four additional locations in Bangladesh to facilitate the widespread dissemination and adoption of superior rice varieties across different agro-ecological zones.
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