Bangladesh will roll out new varieties of flood-resistant and salt-tolerant rice to farmers next year, in an effort to boost production of the staple.
The impoverished south Asian nation faces serious food shortages after last year's floods and a cyclone, which damaged nearly 3 million tonnes of grains, mostly rice.
Rice prices have doubled over the past year to 40 taka (58 cents) a kilogram, forcing a third or more of the country's over 140 million people to skip one or two meals a day.
Last month Bangladesh announced plans to import 1.3 million tonnes of grains on the international market in the year to June 2009 as it builds emergency food stocks of 3 million tonnes.
Both new types of rice, developed in cooperation with experts in India, the Philippines and the United States, have passed field tests and have been approved by Bangladesh's agriculture ministry for use by farmers, a top agriculture official said.
The impoverished south Asian nation faces serious food shortages after last year's floods and a cyclone, which damaged nearly 3 million tonnes of grains, mostly rice.
Rice prices have doubled over the past year to 40 taka (58 cents) a kilogram, forcing a third or more of the country's over 140 million people to skip one or two meals a day.
Last month Bangladesh announced plans to import 1.3 million tonnes of grains on the international market in the year to June 2009 as it builds emergency food stocks of 3 million tonnes.
Both new types of rice, developed in cooperation with experts in India, the Philippines and the United States, have passed field tests and have been approved by Bangladesh's agriculture ministry for use by farmers, a top agriculture official said.
