Khulna City Corporation Mayor Talukder Abdul Khalek said rats are clever and silent destructive mammals. Many crops in the field and warehouses are destroyed by this. Rats are the biggest obstacle to crop production. An average of 750,000 metric tons of food crops are wasted every year due to rats. Rats are small in size, but the extent of damage is very high. If you can control rats, you can succeed in achieving food and nutrition security in the country. He said these things in the speech of the chief guest in the discussion meeting on the occasion of the inauguration of the National Rat Killing Campaign/23 and the World Food Day at the DAE Auditorium in Daulatpur, Khulna on October 16. The mayor also said that among all the achievements of Bangladesh after independence, crop production is significant. The current government is agriculture friendly. The government is providing all kinds of support for the development of the agriculture sector. That is why Bangladesh is self-sufficient in food today. Rats not only damage crops, but also spread about 60 types of diseases including plague, jaundice, typhoid, fever, dysentery among humans and animals. By making people aware about the methods of rodent extermination, he called upon the concerned to prevent the spread. Agriculture Extension Directorate Khulna Region Additional Director Agronomist Mohan Kumar Ghosh presided over the event as special guest, Khulna Additional Deputy Commissioner (Education & ICT) Md Nazmul Hussain Khan. Kazi Jahangir Hossain, Deputy Director of Agriculture Extension Department, Khulna, delivered the welcome speech. The main article was presented by DA Khulna Additional Deputy Director Agronomist SM Mizan Mahmud. Chairman of BJA Sheikh Syed Ali, farmer Md. Abdul Halim Akon and others spoke at the ceremony. Later, the mayor cut off the tail of a rat and inaugurated the month-long rat extermination campaign. He gave commendation crests and certificates to farmers and upazila agricultural officials of Khulna district for successfully exterminating rats. Agricultural officials, farmers, farm owners and district and upazila level officials were present in the event. Directorate of Agriculture Extension Khulna Region, Metropolitan Agriculture Office Daulatpur and Labanchara jointly organized this event. Earlier, a colorful rally started from Daulatpur Metropolitan Agricultural Office premises under the leadership of the mayor and ended at the same place by circling different roads. People from different professions participated in the rally.

Correspondent: Md Abdur Rahman, AICO, Kritsa, Khulna.