The Ministry of Agriculture is preparing to implement the Bt brinjal impact assessment study. On 6 August 2017, the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Agricultural Policy Support Unit (APSU), and Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) organized a day-long training of trainers at BARI-Gazipur for 17 senior agriculture extension officials (Upazila Agriculture Officers and Additional Agriculture Officers), who will monitor farmers selected to participate in the Bt brinjal impact assessment study from 10 upazilas across 4 northwest districts in Bangladesh.
The DAE training reviewed the following:
- Study design and motivation
- Ministry’s strong support of the impact assessment
- Agronomic lectures: Preparing seedbeds, timing of seedling transplantation, spacing of plants, creating a non-Bt variety refuge border during Bt cultivation to reduce likelihood of pests becoming resistant to the variety, and pest control strategies)
- DAE’s role as trainers for DAE’s sub-assistant agriculture officers (SAAO), who will be on the “frontline” alongside farmers, and close monitoring throughout the study duration
Brinjal is sprayed with pesticide 60-180 times during the growing season–one of the most sprayed vegetables in Bangladesh. This affects farmers’ production costs and pesticide exposure. The Bt brinjal impact assessment study may go a long way in generating definitive evidence on how Bt brinjal may affect farmers’ income and pesticide use and exposure.
For more information on the Bt brinjal impact assessment, please contact the Principal Investigator and Country Representative for Bangladesh Dr. Akhter Ahmed.