Agriculture and Water Resources Adviser Dr CS Karim said every inch of fallow land should be brought under cultivation to cope with any future food shortage in the country, reports agency.

Karim, who visited different flood-control embankments in the haor areas under Madan, Khaliajury and Mahanganj upazilas of Netrakona district, said the domestic production of paddy, wheat, potato and other crops should be increased to ensure food security.

He instructed the concerned officials to take necessary steps to repair the damaged flood-control embankments to protect Boro crops from flashflood, a major concern for paddy growers of haor areas. During his visit, the adviser talked to the farmers and assured them of providing all possible help from the government to make Boro harvest a success.

Chief Engineer of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) Liakat Al Faruk, Director (inspection) of Agriculture Extension Department (DAE) Dr Shahidul Islam and Commanding Officer of 5- East Bengal Regiment of Bangladesh Army Lt Col Nakib Ahmed Chowdhury accompanied the adviser.

Earlier, Karim exchanged views with local journalists and district-level officers at Netrakona Circuit House. He said that there was no alternative to increasing food production to face any possible food shortage.

“You must render your service round the clock to help produce all kinds of crops including high yielding variety of Boro, wheat, potato, mustard, sweet potato and vegetables to ensure our food security,” Karim told the DAE and BWDB officials.

He said that the fallow land of the country should be used for cultivation to recover the losses caused by the last year’s Sidr and floods.

The adviser expressed the hope that there would be no food crisis in the country with the harvesting of Boro paddy by next two months. Deputy Commissioner of Netrakona Mohammad Aiyatullah Mojumder informed the adviser that a total of 1,76,000 hectares of land have been brought under Boro cultivation in Netrakona.