Bangladesh MP and agriculture officials visit IRRI

Hon. Chhabi Biswas, Member of Parliament of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, and a delegation from Bangladesh’s Ministry of Agriculture  visited the International Rice Rseearch Institute (IRRI) Headquarters on 2 March 2015.

The group was briefed by Dr. Bruce Tolentino, director general for Communications and Partnerships, and Mr. Julian Lapitan, consultant and former partnerships manager, on IRRI’s work and the long-standing collaboration with Bangladesh as well as the contribution of their countryman Dr. Muhammad Yunus as a member of IRRI Board of Trustees. The guests also toured the different facilities and experimental plots of the Institute led by Dr. Abdelbagi Ismail for the experiment station, submergence- and drought-tolerance farm plots, and rain-out shelter; and Dr. Elizabeth Naredo for the International Rice Genebank.

Dr. Uma Shankar Singh, regional coordinator for South Asia of the Stress-Tolerant Rice for Africa and South Asia (STRASA) project and who was part of the delegation, said the regional cooperation on seed networking between Bangladesh, India, and Nepal—established through STRASA and IRRI—was a major accomplishment in the Project’s seed multiplication and dissemination efforts.

The entourage included Mr. Md. Eunusur Rahman and Mr. Md. Azim Uddin, secretary and chief seed technologist, respectively, of the Ministry of Agriculture;  and Mr. Md. Anwarul Islam Sikder, chairman, Mr. Md. Ramjan Ali, member director, and Mr. Md. Golam Kibria, manager,of the  Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, a part of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Hon. Biswas’ visit was capped with a dinner hosted by IRRI Director General Robert Zeigler.

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