Matia slates WB over slow fund release

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury yesterday expressed her dissatisfaction over the World Bank's (WB) lengthy process of releasing funds for development projects, saying such nature of funding cannot really help achieve a goal.
“It is the WB that takes long time to release the funds and then they pin the blame on the government for the slow pace and say the government is embedded in corruption,” she said at a discussion on “Use of genetic engineering in developing stress-tolerant crops”.
There are many restrictions on getting money from the donors, Matia Chowdhury said, calling upon the scientists of the country to be sincere and to conduct researches amid constraints to help develop crop varieties that can help the country face the adverse impact of climate change.
The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Dhaka University organised the programme at the Centre of Excellence Auditorium of the university.
Addressing the discussion as the chief guest, she said she was not very happy about the National Agriculture Technology Project (NATP), an over Tk 600 crore project, where the WB is providing a chunk of the fund for research and extension works.
“I have doubt about how it wants to patronise research and development,” Matia Chowdhury said.
Once there was opposition to the use of genetic engineering, but that mindset is gone now. “Without genetic engineering, so much development in cotton sector could not have been possible,” she said.
Bangladesh very badly needs to develop high level saline-tolerant crop varieties to be grown in the coastal districts, as salinity is gradually increasing in the areas. Scientists also need to develop drought- tolerant crops for the northern districts where desertification is obvious, she said.
“Please put as much importance to bioscience as it is given to the IT (information technology) nowadays. There will be no problems for money,” the agriculture minister told scientists.
Professor Zeba Islam Seraj of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in a presentation said besides conventional breeding methods, genetic engineering is important to develop crop varieties tolerant to drought, cold, salinity and submergence.
A good progress has already been made in this regard, she said, adding that they were about to complete pushing saline tolerant genes in BR-11 and BRRI-28 varieties, which will be soon tested, she said.
Once the tests are completed, these will have a revolutionary effect in the country's agriculture.
Professor Haseena Khan said genetic engineering in jute could also revolutionise production by developing cold and salinity-tolerant varieties, but state patronisation would be greatly required for it.
Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique and chief of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology also spoke.