Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena, during his scheduled visit to Bangladesh, may visit an agriculture research institute, a diplomat told Daily Mirror.
The head of the island state is set to visit Dhaka between 13 and 15 July.
Bangladesh will then showcase its remarkable progress in the agriculture sector, Bangladesh high commissioner in Colombo Riaz Hamidullah said at an interview ahead of the presidential visit.
“President Sirisena will be visiting one of our agricultural research institutes. When former president Chandrika Kumaratunga visited Bangladesh in May, she showed great interest in innovative rice cultivation and visited our institutes,” he was quoted to have said.
President Sirisena’s interest in agriculture, especially rice cultivation, is natural as he hails from the Polonnaruwa district in north central Sri Lanka, according to the newspaper.
Like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh too experiences droughts and floods frequently. But Bangladesh has found several channels to overcome the challenges posed by natural disasters through what the high commissioner calls ‘climate adaptation techniques.’
He was said to have pointed out that Bangladeshi farmers in flood-prone areas are now using a variety of rice which can remain submerged without getting damaged for as many as seven days. They also use rice varieties which can withstand drought and salinity, he added.
“Bangladesh, which has reached self-sufficiency in rice, can sell rice to Sri Lanka. But it has not been approached yet. However, it is ready to share its know-how on rice cultivation with Sri Lanka and has made an offer to the provincial administrations”