Home ›› 30 Sep 2021 ›› Front
Agriculture minister Abdur Razzaque has said the government has no other way but to import more rice even after recording bumper production as the staple continues to be widely used in feeds for fisheries, poultry and cattle.
Apart from that, secondary use of rice along with the gradually increasing non-food crop cultivation has also lead the country to source rice from abroad to maintain the required food stock.
The minister came up with such observation while addressing the launching ceremony of a book “Farm sector of Bangladesh: Prospects and challenge” at Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council auditorium in the capital on Wednesday.
Forum for Information Dissemination on Agriculture (FIDA) and multinational seed company Syngenta Bangladesh jointly organised the programme.
The book was published under a fellowship offered by FIDA and Syngenta Bangladesh.
“Currently, around 60 lakh tons of maize is being produced in the country as maize cultivation is being
expanded on the vast areas of land which was once used for rice cultivation. Rice is now being increasingly used to produce various kinds of feeds for poultry, fishes and animal feed,” said the minister.
“Apart from these reasons, there are also some other reasons behind the export of our staple food.”
The minister also said that the country’s rice production has, however, made a record achiving one maund of rice yield from 0.1 acre of land.
“But there is no accurate information regarding our population as well as exact demand for rice. On the other hand, agricultural land is decreasing day by day along with increased inhabitants,” he explained further.
The minister, however, expressed his commitment to the commercialisation, modernisation and profit centric agriculture system in Bangladesh.
“Private sector must come forward to achieve the goal,” Razzaque furthered.
The minister also underscored the need for checking risks and health hazards involved while introducing a new variety of foreign crops in Bangladesh.
The book lunching ceremony was addressed, among others by FIDA President Reaz Ahmad, Department of Agriculture Marketing Director General Mohammed Yousuf, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute Director General Nazirul Islam, Department of Agriculture Extension Director Manirul Alam, and Syngenta Managing Director AMM Golam Towhid.
However, due to the price hike the government gave permission to importers to import around 17 lakh tons of rice. But importers did not import rice as most of the permitted importers are the rice mill owners. They imported less than 1, 20, 000 tons till September 28.
