“In order to benefit the farmers of the country by reducing the cost of production, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been continuously giving huge amount of money as subsidy and incentive in the agriculture sector ignoring the objections of various donors and development partners including the World Bank”, stated Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdur Razzaque, MP.
The minister made the remark while speaking as the chief guest at a virtual seminar titled ‘Family Agriculture and Farmers: Actions needed from Government and Civil Society’ from his official residence on Saturday morning.
The minister said the present government is working to make agricultural production profitable for the farmers. Most of the farmers in the country are farmers of family, small, marginal and sharecropper level. That is why the government is continuously adopting and implementing agro-friendly policies to make agriculture profitable.
Fertilizer prices have already been reduced four times to trim down production costs. Fertilizer prices in Bangladesh are now much lower than that in the neighboring countries. The government has also made irrigation, seeds and other agricultural materials easily available. In addition, 50-70% subsidy is being given to the farmers for cutting paddy, threshing and other agricultural implements, the Razzaque added.
Noting that paddy cultivation is now profitable, the minister further said that due to timely initiatives taken by the government including providing various incentives and imposing tariffs on rice imports, farmers have been getting good price of paddy for the last few years and are benefiting in the process.
The agriculture minister called upon the private industrialists to come forward to make the cultivation of mango, pineapple, vegetables and other crops profitable for the farmers. He said the market for these agricultural products inside and outside the country needs to be further expanded. The government as well as private entrepreneurs have to invest in agricultural processing, he opined.
The seminar was organized by the Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) and Daily Banik Barta. ALRD Chairperson Khushi Kabir, CPB's Ruhin Hossain Prince, ALRD's Azim Haider, Raushan Jahan Moni and others spoke on the occasion. It was attended by representatives of various stakeholders including beneficiaries, civil society, media and NGO representatives.