RANGPUR, Jan 4, 2025 (BSS) – Experts at a workshop today stressed on ensuring climate smart agriculture and water management to make irrigation water available to enhance crop output for ensuring food security amid climate change.
 
They viewed this at the workshop on “Formation of an ad hoc committee for water management team" of the Telipara Low Lift Pump Irrigation Sub-project held at Telipara village in Debiganj upazila of Panchagarh district. 
 
The Deputy Chief Extension Office of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), Thakurgaon organised the event for farmers under the Climate Smart Agriculture and Water Management Project (CSAWM). 
 
Chief Extension Officer of BWDB, Rangpur, Amolesh Chandra Roy, its Executive Engineer for Panchagarh Ashutosh Barman, Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension of Panchagarh Md Abdul Matin, Development Consultant Md Matiur Rahman, Deputy Chief Extension Officer of Thakurgaon Md Rafiul Bari, Debiganj Upazila Agriculture Officer Md Nayeem Morshed, among others, addressed the event. 
 
Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Chief Extension Officer of BWDB Thakurgaon, Rafiul Bari, said that the Power Block-3 light irrigation pump project was built in 1963 to expand irrigation facilities to the local farmers of the area. 
 
“At that time, the project was taken up to increase irrigation facilities of the  farmers by lifting water from the river Karatoa through pumps to provide irrigation facilities to farmers during the Kharif-1, Kharif-2 and Rabi seasons,” he said. 
 
Due to lack of regular renovation works, only one kilometre of irrigation canal out of the nine kilometres was so far being used to provide irrigation facilities to farmers. 
 
Renovation works of the remaining eight kilometres of the irrigation canal already began in the current fiscal year. 
 
“If the entire irrigation canal of the project is renovated, 1,530 hectares of land included in the project   will come under climate smart agriculture and water management facilities to enhance crop production benefiting farmers,” he said. 
 
At the end of the workshop, a five-member ad hoc committee was formed for the project, with Tapan Kumar Roy as its convener.