Other programs and activities
The inaugural ceremony of BRF
An inaugural ceremony of the Foundation was
organized on 29th January 2003 at the auditorium of Bangladesh Agricultural
Research Council. The program was chaired by Mr. M. Syeduzzaman, Chirman of
BRF. Honorable Minister for Finance & Planning Mr. Saifur Rahman, M.P.
was the Chief Guest on the occasion. The event was attended by a large number
of distinguished individuals from the Govt., the private sector, universities,
research institutions, non government organizations, the media, and foreign
missions. Mr, Irshadul Haq, Vice Chairman of BRF, presented the key note paper
entitled " Bangladesh Rice Is Production Growth Sustainable?"
On this occasion, BRF awarded a special plaque of appreciation to Dr. Shah
M. Hasanuzzaman, former Director General of BRRI and Member of the Planning
Commission, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the advancement
of scientific methods of increasing rice production in Bangladesh.
Workshop on "Next Step in Rice"
Following the inaugural ceremony described
above, a workshop on the theme "Next Step in Rice" was held at the BARC Conference
Room. It was attended by selected professionals from the research and development
sectors as well as the private sector. The main purpose of the workshop was
to elicit discussion on, and response to, the 10 research papers that were
presented in the workshop. The papers covered a wide range of rice related
issues, including rice production sustainability, rice export, value addition,
farmers' income and employment, rice trade, and the role of rice in local
culture and tradition. The workshop provided a useful forum for the participants
to suggest issues and problems that BRF should address in its future p rograms.
The inputs received from the participants were later discussed in BRF's Program
Committee and Board of Trustees meetings and these were considered in formulating
the future programs and activities of the Foundation.
Publication of special journal Next Step
in Rice
A special journal entitled Next Step in Rice,
which included 11 papers that were presented at the workshop and the keynote
paper of the inaugural ceremony described above, was published in January
2003, This journal was distributed to the participants of the inaugural ceremony
and the workshop, and thus it served as a substantive introductory background
of the Foundation to the participants of the two events.
Interim workshop on "Potential of exporting
aromatic and fine rice from Bangladesh"
This workshop was organized on 10th of December
2003 to present the preliminary findings of the research project on this theme
(see progress report on the project in this volume) and to obtain reactions,
criticisms, and suggestions on these from the participants. It was participated
by selected stakeholders from two Govt. agencies (MoA and MoF), the private
sector, NGOs, producers, traders, and researchers. The workshop was chaired
by Mr. M. Syeduzzaman, Chairman of BRF. The Hon'ble State Minister for Agriculture
Mr. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was the Chief Guest. Following a comprehensive
presentation of interim findings by the Principal Investigator of the project,
in depth discussions took place on important issues such as reliable sources
of data, whether present cultural practices of farmers are detrimental to
preserving the aroma of Kataribhog rice, characteristics of foreign competitor
varieties of local aromatic/fine rice, farmers' suffering from lack of rice
price stability, and milling quality problems. Highly constructive and specific
suggestions emerged from the interactions of the participants. One of the
recommendations advanced was that the project should include two case studies:
one on the production of local Basmati rice, and the other on contract rice
growing models for ensuring adequate, high quality harvest.
Participation in international Rice Conference,
2003 in China
RF was invited by the Asia Rice Foundation
(ARF) to participate in the display of various rice related cultural
artifacts from Asian countries in a special
fair organized at the Conference site in October 2002. BRF participated by
contributing the following materials for display: (a) a number of ornately
designed rice cakes rnakshi pitha"), along with photographs of these spocialty
dishes; (b) an article on the tradition and artistry involved in the making
of "nakshi pithas"; and (c) a number of rice farmers' hats of various designs
and forms collected from different parts of Bangladesh. The ARF expressed
its deep appreciation to BRF for its significant participation. One of the
Bangladeshi hats that was displayed was featured in the 2003 desk calendar
that ARF produced.
Participation in IRRI's Communication Fair,
2003
At the invitation of IRRI, BRF participated
in the Communication Fair organized by the PETRRA (Poverty Elimination Through
Rice Research Assistance) project of IRRI. The Fair was held on 10 11 September,
2003 at the Sheraton Hotel, Dhaka. BRF's stall was decorated with colorful
posters especially prepared for this event; these carried messages relevant
to BRF's mission, programs and activities. On both days, a large number of
people visited the stall and iearnt about the Foundation, most of them for
the first time. The BRF brochure was distributed and the journal "Next Step
in Rice" was sold for a nominal price to interested visitors.
Participation in Executive Committee Meeting
of ARF
The Chairman of BRF Mr. M. Syeduzzaman was
invited by the Asia Rice Foundation (ARF) to attend the meeting of the Executive
Committee held in Bangkok on 12th December 2003. At the meeting, Mr. Syeduzzaman
presented to the ARF Board an overview of the mission of the Bangladesh Rice
Foundation, its organizational structure, and programmatic thrusts. He had
the opportunity to interact with his peers from five other countries (India,
Indonesia, China, Philippines, and Thailand) and to learn about their missions
and programs. The Chairman considered the experience gained at the meeting
highly enriching and useful for BRF. An important outcome of the meeting was
the agreement on the modalities of observing the International Year of Rice
2004 in each member country.
Observance of the International Year of
Rice 2004
The United Nations declared 2004 as the International
Year of Rice (IYR 2004). The basic aim of this declaration is to promote sustainable
production of rice, the staple for about one half of the world's population,
and to create awareness for socio economic development of the rice producing
nations. They adopted the slogan "Rice is Life!" for this event. It will not
be an exaggeration to say that this slogan is more relevant for Bangladesh
than for any other country in the world.
BRF considered the UN declaration and its objective
as most appropriate and complementary to its own mission, and decided to play
a significant role in celebrating the event in an appropriate manner. At the
recommendation of the Program Committee, the Board of Trustees approved for
BRF to perform the following activities for celebrating IYR 2004:
Commemorative stamp. Early in 2004, the Chairman
of BRF wrote to the Minister for Agriculture, with a copy to the Secretary
of Post & Telecommunications, requesting them to issue a commemorative
stamp to celebrate the event and offered BRF's assistance in its design. They
responded positively. BRF helped in the selection of the theme to be depicted
in the stamp. The Minister for Agriculture Mr. M.K. Anwar, M.P., inaugurated
the stamp on 21st June, 2004. The inaugural activity was participated by the
Chairman and few others from the Foundation.
Rice cake fair and competition ("Pitha Mela").
BRF co sponsored with the Chander Haat, a national youth movement that involves
the youth in various extra academic cultural activities, in organizing a rice
cake fair ("pitha mela") and competition at Mandarpur village of Brahmanbaria.
This event was held in February 2004, in which pithas were displayed in 28
stalls and local youth presented a skit to the audience. A large number of
children, men and women participated in the event. Prizes were given for the
best preparation and displays. This is the third annual event of this kind
held at Mandarpur.
National painting competition for children.
BRF has organized, in cooperation with the Shishu Academy, a national painting
competition on rice for children. The competition will be held at six provincial
centers of the Shishu Academy in September, 2004. Prizes will be awarded for
the best paintings and certificates will be given to all participants. About
60 100 participants are expected at each center.
Concluding workshop on the potential of exporting
aromatic and fine rice. BRF will hold the concluding workshop on its research
project on "The potential of
exporting aromatic and fine rice from Bangladesh"
in November 2004 as a part of its celebration of IYR 2004. A progress report
on this project has been included in this volume.
National Rice Fair. In a recent letter to the
Secretary MoA, the BRF Chairman proposed that, as a part of celebration of
IYR 2004 in Bangladesh, a national rice fair should be organized by MoA in
November or December of 2004, in which different scientific, socio economic,
cultural, and other thematic materials and
information could be displayed for the public. He also indicated that if
the fair is organized by MoA, BRF would be able to participate in it with
a focus on rice's influence on the life style, art and culture of the people
of Bangladesh. The proposition was accepted by the Secretary MoA as well
as the national committee for celebration of IYR 2004, and instructions
for holding the fair have already been issued.
Workshop on the research project "Potential of Exporting Aromatic
and Fine Quality Rice from Bangladesh"
The concluding workshop on the project "Potential
of Exporting Aromatic and Fine Quality Rice from Bangladesh" was held
on 11 October 2004 at the conference room of the Director General of DAE.
The workshop was organized to have a peer review of the final draft of the
research project before its finalization. The workshop was participated
by a selected group of specialists and stakeholders from the public and
private sectors.
Seminar on "System of Rice Intensification" (SRI)
A seminar on "System of Rice Intensification"
(SRI), which was jointly organized by BRF and DAE, was held at the conference
room of Director General of DAE on 22 February 2005. The purpose of this
seminar was to review the research findings of the different organizations,
public and private, which had recently conducted field research on the usefulness
of the SRI method of rice production. The participants included, apart from
concerned researchers and other professionals, a number of farmers who participated
and helped the project team in the field research.
International Seminar on the theme "Food Policy in Bangladesh:
Issues and Perspectives"
An International Seminar on the theme "Food
Policy in Bangladesh: Issues and Perspectives", which was jointly sponsored
by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Bangladesh
Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), and BRF, was held on 13 March 2005
at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, Dhaka. The Seminar was participated
by four (4) members of the IFPRI Board of Trustees, 13 IFPRI researchers,
three cabinet ministers of Bangladesh (Finance and Planning, Food and Disaster
Management, and Agriculture), distinguished local researchers and specialists
on food policy in both the public and private sectors, including several
Board members of BRF, and representatives of the donor community. This was
a very high-profile activity. BRF was responsible for its local organization
and management, but all necessary expenses for the seminar were borne by
IFPRI. The proceedings of the seminar were subsequently published by IFPRI.
Workshop on "A National Rice Policy for Bangladesh"
A peer review workshop on "A National
Rice Policy for Bangladesh" was organized in August 2005 at the conference
room of BARC. The purpose of this activity was to allow a selected group
of professionals from the public and private sectors and the NGOs to review
the final draft of the national rice policy document that was produced by
the team of BRF experts having worked on this project for about a year.
A number of highly useful comments and suggestions emerged during the workshop,
which were carefully considered in preparing the final document on the topic.
Meet the press on rice data bank inauguration, quarterly newsletter publication
and Awarding of innovative rice farmer:
Bangladesh Rice Foundation (BRF) organized
a Press Conference on 9th April 2007 the conference room of the Agriculture
Information Services (AIS), Khamar Bari Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh.
M. Syeduzzaman - Chairman, Bangladesh Rice
Foundation (BRF) addressed the press conference. The Executive Director
of BRF, members of the Board of Trustee (BOT) of BRF, Director of AIS, Chief
Scientific Officer (P&E) of BARC, journalist of different daily paper
and TV were in the session.
The press conference addressed three issues
i.e. (i) Inauguration of the Rice Data Bank; (ii) First version of the quarterly
BRF News Letter Release; and (iii) Recognition of Innovative Rice Farmer
(i)The Rice Data Bank:
The Rice Database
has been developed under the auspices of Bangladesh Rice Foundation. The
Rice Data Bank is a database composed of data collected from various agencies
combined with data in a public domain. The Bangladesh Rice Foundation started
this project with a vision to increase the effective use and access to integrated
information related to rice in Bangladesh. Rice related information at Global
and Bangladesh levels are available from this database. The Main menu contains
nine different buttons/ subject matters.
The objective of the Rice Data Bank is to provide updated data and information
on rice and other agricultural issues relating on rice of Bangladesh and
major rice producing countries outside Bangladesh. The main objective to
develop this Rice Data Bank is to provide necessary information on rice
to the organizations and the researchers who are engaged in field research,
action research and policy research on rice and agricultural issues. The
Rice Data Bank has two versions are available. One is CD-based software,
which can be installed in most computes with Windows XP operating system.
The other version is web-based. This Rice Databank can be accessed through
the website of BRF at www.ricefoundation-bd.org.
(ii)Quarterly
News Letter: RICE NEWS
First version
of the (March 2007) of the Quarterly Newsletter of the Bangladesh Rice Foundation
entitled "RICE NEWS" was published by the organization. This newsletter
was released through the press conference. It has been distributed to the
different organizations according to the mailing list decided in the 36th
Program Committee (PC) meeting held on 22nd February 2007.
(iii)Innovative
Rice Farmer Award - 2007
Innovative rice
farmer, Abdul Basit (Salim) was awarded through press conference by certificate,
medal and five thousand taka for his outstanding performance in aromatic
rice production of 'Chinigura' and 'Kataribhog'. Mr. Salim born in Kadamtoli,
Sadar thana of Sylhet district in 1964. During 1989, he collected seeds
of 'Chinigura' and 'Kataribhog' from Dinajpur to cultivate it in his 4 bighas
farm of Kadamtoli in Sylhet. He is now cultivating about more than 100 bighas
of land and producing Chinigura/bigha 16.5 mon and Katarighog/bigha 12.5
mon. He has already exported 30 mon rice in 1999 and 40 mon in 2001 respectively
from his farm through private initiative. His rice export initiative is
already proliferating with the assistance of other farmers.
He is an affiliated
farmer of BADC, for Rice Seed production. He was awarded a good performance
certificate from BADC, BRF, Rice Research Institute, Agriculture Extension
Department of People's Republic of Bangladesh. His success in rice production
has been highlighted in different National Dailies. He has created great
business opportunity of these two types of rice by marketing and exporting
it to abroad.
Press Conference
on a National Rice Policy:
The final report
entitled "A National Rice Policy for Bangladesh" was submitted to
the Government of Bangladesh in February 2006. A press conference on "National
Rice Policy" was organized on 11th March 2006 at the National Press Club,
Dhaka, in which the Chairman of BRF introduced the background of this study
and the policy recommendations. Many journalists from national dailies and
scientists/experts from different GOs and NGOs were present at the press conference.
The event was well covered by the national daily newspapers and also by some
international media.
Participation in the 2nd International Rice Congress at New Delhi, India
held on October 9 - 13, 2006:
As per decision
of the BOT in its meeting held on 29 July 2006, Dr. Z. Karim was requested
to attend, on behalf of BRF, the 2nd International Rice Congress 2006 to
be held on October 9-13, 2006 in New Delhi, India. BRF paid for his return
air ticket and he arranged for local costs to be paid by IRRI. A paper entitled
"Brief on the Bangladesh Rice Foundation" prepared by Dr. Z. Karim
was presented in the Congress. He also carried with him important BRF publications
and documents for display and distribution to some of the important participants.
Returning from New Delhi, Dr. Karim submitted a report on his participation
in the congress and there was discussion on it in the 24th BOT meeting held
on 25 November 2006.
Asia Rice
Foundation Newsletter Publication : A special issue on the Bangladesh Rice
Foundation:
Asia Rice Foundation
(ARF) requested BRF to submit a report on its programs and activities for
publication in the October 2006 issue of its quarterly newsletter. BRF submitted
an 8-page report along with color photos, which was published by ARF with
the assistance of BRF in October 2006 as Vol. 2 No. 2, a special issue on
the Bangladesh Rice Foundation. BRF has received printed copies of the newsletter
from ARF on October 29, 2006 and distributed it to the all members and other
concerned stakeholders.
