Dr Shamsun Nahar Begum, chief scientific officer of the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), has received the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) "Women in Plant Mutation Breeding Award."

Also, BINA, a research organisation under the Agriculture Ministry, has received the "Outstanding Achievement Award" from the IAEA.

The awards will be formally conferred at the 65th General Conference of the IAEA in September to recognise contributions to plant mutation breeding and related biotechnology, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

BINA carries out research in different areas including crop improvement through induced mutation, biotechnology, soil management and biofertil­iser, irrigation and water manage­ment, pest management, physiological aspects of crop productivity, crop management, improvement of horticultural crops, technology transfer and impact assessment, and socio-economic research.

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The organisation has succeeded in developing and releasing 112 modern varieties of 18 important crops by using nuclear techniques. These varieties are now making a significant contribution to raising the agricultural productivity of Bangladesh. 

BINA has also been able to identify eight rhizobial inocula for fixing higher biological nitrogen in soils to increase the seed yield of beans, pulses and oil crops.

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