Bangladesh Institute for Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) has so far introduced 90 new varieties of 13 different crops in Bangladesh using nuclear technology. This has played an important role in reducing the food shortage of Bangladesh. BINA is still working to improve the crop breeds.
Seventeen varieties of rice along have been introduced by BINA. Besides, there are one variety of wheat, 10 varieties of mustard, 9 varieties of peanuts, four varieties of sesame, four varieties of soybean, eight varieties of Moong dal, 10 varieties of gram, 10 varieties of pulse, one variety of mash dal, one species of Khesari dal, three varieties of jute and 12 varieties of tomato have been developed. Moreover, BINA has produced microbe- fertilizers, which can be used in place of nitrogen fertilizers.
Director of BINA Dr. Hosneara Begum said that the principal work of BINA is to conduct research. The scientists of BINA has been constantly doing research to meet the country’s ever-growing demand for food. Out of the 90 varieties developed by BINA, 31 is developed in the last 5 years. In 2016 alone BINA developed 10 of the breeds. She attributed the success to a planned research.
These varieties have been produced using nuclear technology and have made year round cultivation of rice possible. The rice varieties developed by BINA are very adaptive breeds. Some of the breeds can also survive extreme weather conditions like salinity, submergence for prolonged periods and some other varieties can be harvested within a very short time.
BINA-18 is a high-yielding rice breed developed by BINA. This variety of rice can produce as much as 7.5 tons of paddy for per hectare. This breed takes 145 to 152 days to ripe. BINA-17 also produces around 7.5 tons of paddy per hectare of lands. However, this variety of rice requires around 30 per cent less water and fertilizers than the traditional breeds.
BINA-16 and 17 are among the most popular breeds from BINA, which can be harvested in short time so that the same land can be used for cultivating other crops soon after, making it possible for farmer to grow three different crops in a year. BINA-16 that was introduced in 2014 takes only 100 to 107 days and yields about 5.5 tons. BINA-17 developed in 2007 takes only 115 to 120 days to harvest. BINA developed two other rice breeds that are salinity-tolerant along with 2 flood-tolerant breeds. BINA also has aromatic rice breeds.
BINA has developed some fertilizers that can boost the yield by a great margin. In some cases, the yield is enhanced by 155 per cent. The fertilizers are used on eight different crops. BINA-SB-4, the microbe-fertilizer used on soyabean can enhance the yield by 70 to 150 per cent. Microbe-fertilizers are also used on lentil, gram, mung, barbati, chinese nut, soyabean and mas dal.
