Despite climate extremes, Bangladesh improves harvests to feed a growing population
Through plant breeding, Bangladesh developed 85 new crop varieties that not only survive harsher climates, but also show increased crop yield and quality.
Learn more
â–Ľ
Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to floods, cyclones, storms, and droughts. The climate crisis has escalated harsh environmental events, disrupting traditional agricultural patterns and causing new crop vulnerabilities.
Bangladesh’s agricultural output is heavily affected by these severe conditions, increasing the risk of food insecurity. In coastal areas, saline soil conditions and soil degradation have rendered over one million hectares of land unfit for cultivation.
However, by adapting food production systems, the country is able to maintain sustainable food production, as well as mitigate the impact of the climate crisis on its agriculture and ecosystem.
Developing new rice varieties to adapt to climate change
Rice is a particularly important crop in Bangladesh. It has a natural ripening period of up to 150 days. Extreme weather events or outbreaks of plant disease can ruin entire harvests. Farmers urgently need new crop varieties which can grow despite extreme conditions.
With the goal of adapting food production to the severe consequences of climate change, the IAEA has been collaborating with Bangladesh on developing crop varieties that are resistant to extreme conditions and also show increased crop yield and quality.
◼︎ Nuclear science gives many Bangladeshi farmers more rice to eat and sell
In collaboration with the IAEA, the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) has successfully produced a total of 85 different crop varieties. This includes an improved variety of rice called Bina dhan-14, which was developed using nuclear technology in just four years. This is less than half the time of a conventional plant breeding process, which typically takes 8 to 12 years.
BINA has also used nuclear plant breeding techniques to develop saline-tolerant varieties of rice, providing hope for the coastal farmers affected by saline soil conditions and soil degradation. Two saline-tolerant varieties are already available, and 40-50% of previously fallow lands can now be cultivated, improving food security and farmer income in these regions.
The new rice variety produces nearly seven tonnes of rice per hectare, almost 75% more than the global average yield.
Plant mutation breeding is a nuclear technique in which plant seeds, cuttings or plant leaves are exposed to radiation such as gamma rays, speeding up the natural process of crop mutation. The irradiated material is then cultivated in a sterile rooting medium, generating a plantlet. The plants are multiplied and examined for favourable traits.
To expedite the selection of desired traits, molecular marker assisted breeding, often referred to as marker-assisted selection (MAS), is employed. This process involves using molecular markers to identify plants carrying specific genes that express specific traits. The identified plants are further cultivated.
Plant mutation breeding relies on a plant’s own genetic resources, accelerating the natural process of spontaneous mutation. Precise screening techniques focus on specific traits, such as tolerating high levels of salt in soil or resisting pests. This allows the rapid validation of new varieties for practical use.
Thanks to plant breeding, rice production in Bangladesh has tripled since the 1970s
The new varieties developed by BINA and the IAEA not only help Bangladesh feed its 165 million people, almost a third of whom are food insecure, they have also allowed the country to maintain its status as the world’s fourth-largest producer and consumer of rice. Worldwide, there are more than 3,200 officially released mutant varieties from over 200 plant species.
The IAEA promotes nuclear-based solutions to preserve and restore the environment from climate-related weather events and disasters through the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation to and monitoring of the adverse consequences of climate change.
Share by clicking on social media icons on top right of this page.
The IAEA looks forward to strengthening and establishing partnerships to support Member States towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the implementation of the Paris Agreement in areas such as energy, sustainable land use, climate smart agriculture, food production systems, analysis of global greenhouse gas emissions, water management, and oceans and coastal protection. The IAEA brings together experts, coordinates research, and fosters cooperation between countries to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Built with Shorthand