The Bangladesh Agriculture Minister, Begum Matia Chowdhury, today expressed concern over the problem of soil salinity in coastal areas and called for intensifying research and development activities for effective ‘salinity management” in coastal areas. Matia Chowdhury, who visited the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute (CSSRI) here to interact with soil scientists, said that the problem was similar in the Sunderbans area falling partly in Bangladesh and partly in West Bengal. She said coordinated efforts of scientists could help Bangladesh reclaim its one-million-hectare salinity-affected areas along the sea coast. “Scientific and technical cooperation in research, development of salinity and drought-resistant varieties of crops and incorporating new programmes in the ongoing research can be useful in enhancing farm productivity and livelihood security of the farming community of the saline areas of India and Bangladesh,” she said. “We have a long coastal belt and about one million hectares of area is saline. In order to combat salinity, we are visiting the CSSRI as the institute has done a lot of work in tackling the problem. We hope that India and Bangladesh would soon find solutions to problems of farmers in saline areas and work collectively in the Sunderbans,” she said. Dr S K Ambast of the CSSRI, who visited Bangladesh for three days, said Bangladesh has more salt-tolerant crop varieties than India and both nations could benefit mutually. Matia Chowdhury was accompanied by the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India, Tariq A. Karim, among other officers. Dr D.K.Sharma, director of the CSSRI, made a presentation on institute technologies and their impact on farmers.