DHAKA: Dr. Mirza Mofazzal Islam, scientist of Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) received the ‘Outstanding Achievement Awards’ during the 58th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), says a press release.

The award, jointly conferred by IAEA and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, was one of the five in these categories 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 awards.

External Publicity Wing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the press release on Friday.

Dr. Mofazzal 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 per cent compared 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.

BDST: 1551 HRS, SEP 25, 2014