Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque on Sunday said the country will be self-reliant in jute seed production within next three years as a road map has been formulated to this end.
“We hope that the country will be self-reliant in jute seed production by next three years and then the country will not need to import jute seed from India,” he said.
The minister was addressing a discussion and prize distribution ceremony marking the National Jute Day-2022 at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka as chief guest.
Razzaque said his ministry has formulated a road map as the country will never be dependent on other countries for jute seed. India usually produces the seed on the infertile land and then exports to Bangladesh, he said.
“Even our local farmers are not interested in cultivating jute seed compared to other crops,” he said, adding that “But our scientists of the jute research institute have developed a jute variety which is comparatively better than India.”
The government has been relentlessly working to make the newly innovated jute seed popular among the farmers, he said.
“We will no longer import jute seed from India when our newly innovated jute variety becomes popular.”
Talking about the jute industry, the ruling party leader said the industry was on the verge of destruction when the BNP-Jamaat alliance government was in power, saying that the jute production was only 10 lakh tonnes in the 2005-06 fiscal year.
During the last 12 years, Razzaque said the country’s jute production has increased to nearly double by producing nearly 17 lakh tonnes under the able leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Chaired by Textiles and Jute Secretary M Abdur Rauf, the function was also addressed by Textiles and Jute Minister Golam Dastagir Gazi as special guest.
Director General of the Department of Jute M Ataur Rahman gave the welcome address at the function.
