Bangladeshi scientist wins IAEA-FAO award

dr-mirza-mofazzal-islam

Dr Mirza Mofazzal Islam of Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) was awarded with the ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’ during the 58th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The award, jointly conferred by IAEA and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, was one of the five in this category to honour teams of scientists who have helped to increase food security by using radiation to breed better crop varieties.
IAEA director general Yukiya Amano presented the award in Vienna, said a foreign ministry media release on Friday.
Dr Islam has released nine mutant varieties of fibre jute, vegetable jute, mung bean and chickpea with improved yield and quality traits which have increased yield from 20 to 45% comparing to other existing crop varieties.
Mutation breeding, which uses radiation to mimic natural plant mutation events, is a well-established method that enables plant breeders to work with farmers to develop disease-resistant variants with higher yields.
The Director General while handing over the award to the representative of Bangladesh Government recollected his visit to Bangladesh and lauded the important contribution of BINA in plant mutation breeding.

Source: Prothom Alo