Bangladesh
Bangladesh-Canada Prime Minister emphasizes on the development of climate tolerant crops
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, May 9: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has advised agricultural scientists to conserve food, reduce post-harvest losses, use nutrition science and modern technology and develop climate tolerant varieties.
MM Imrul Kayes, assistant press secretary to the Prime Minister, said she had made the suggestion when a Canadian delegation visited her at the Prime Minister's official residence Ganobhaban on Sunday.
The four-member delegation was led by CBE, Director Strategic Partnership and Chief Operating Officer, Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) at the University of Saskatchewan, Stephen Visscher.
The other members of the delegation are: Dr. Balajit Singh, Vice-President (Research) at the University of Saskatchewan, Bangabandhu Research Chair in Food Security at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, Dr. Andrew Sharp, GIFS and Lilly Nicholls, High Commissioner of Canada to Dhaka.
Sheikh Hasina said that relations between Bangladesh and Canada had started long before Bangladesh's independence as an independent state on December 16, 1971. She recalled that when the Awami League, led by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation, won a landslide victory in the December 7, 1970 general election, the then Trudeau government of Canada requested a peaceful transfer of power to elected representatives in Pakistan.
"The Canadian government continues to support us during our liberation war. Canada was one of the few countries to recognize Bangladesh (February 14, 1972) immediately after its independence," she said.
Last year, the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada opened its regional office in Dhaka to enhance collaboration between researchers from agricultural research institutes in Canada and Bangladesh. The delegation has come to visit this office.
During the meeting, Stephen Visscher said that they would provide technical assistance to GIFS's regional office in Dhaka.
Dr. Balajit Singh said if anyone goes to Saskatchewan University for higher education, they will give him all possible help. The delegation also expressed interest in working on the multifaceted use and reproduction of jackfruit in Bangladesh.
