NCC Bank, BRRI sign deal on agriculture research

NCC Bank has signed an agreement with Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) under which the bank will provide financial assistance worth Tk 90 lakh to a research project related to the development of a "Prilled Urea Applicator".

Md Shahjahan Kabir, director general (grade-1) of BRRI, and Md Monirul Alam, senior executive vice-president and company secretary of the bank, signed the deal at the bank's head office in Dhaka today, the bank said in a press release.

Kabir said supporting agricultural research projects is a great initiative of the bank and thanked NCC Bank authorities for co-operating with the research project, which aims to increase fertiliser efficiency. He added that it would reduce the use of urea fertilisers in paddy land by 30 percent.

"Through this applicator, urea fertiliser will be placed deep into the soil, which will help to reduce Green House Gas emissions," he added.

M Shamsul Arefin, managing director and CEO (current charge) of the bank, attended the programme.

Arefin said NCC Bank has supported marginal farmers to cultivate land across the country as a part of its corporate social responsibility.

Apart from providing loan facilities at lower interest rates, he said the bank distributed various seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, and saplings among 15,000 marginal farmers across the country free of cost.

Md Mahbub Alam, Mohd Rafat Ullah Khan, and Md Zakir Anam, deputy managing directors of the bank, Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, senior executive vice-president and CFO, Mohammed Anisur Rahman, senior executive vice-president and CIO, and Syed Hasnain Mamun, senior vice-president and head of human resources division, were present.

Among others, Md Golam Kibria Bhuiyan, principal scientific officer of BRRI, Mohammah Kamruzzaman, principal investigator and senior scientific officer, and Mizanur Rahman, scientific officer of farm machinery and post-harvest technology division, were also present.