Home ›› 29 Jun 2022 ›› Front
The Ministry of Agriculture has taken up a project to develop improved varieties of spices and expand the use of technology to reduce related costs, with the goal to boost production of such crops across Bangladesh.
The plan is to increase spice crops density from 2 per cent to 5 per cent, Planning Minister MA Mannan told reporters after an Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting, held at the NEC conference room on Tuesday.
Ten projects – including the “Developing Improved Spices Varieties and Expanding Technology” project – were approved at the ECNEC meeting with an estimated cost of Tk 2,216.75 crore.
“Of this figure, Tk 1,875.57 crore will come from the government exchequer, while Tk 341.18 crore will come from project assistance,” Mannan said.
Providing more details about the spices project, the minister said, “Once this project is implemented, it will help increase the income of farmers and reduce production costs of spices through the expansion of technology.
“The Department of Agriculture Extension will implement this project at a cost of Tk 119.50 crore in 110 upazilas and 25 horticulture centres across the country. It will be implemented from July 2022 to June 2027.”
According to the project proposal, the government will hold 28,652 exhibitions on spices in implementation areas. It will also produce and import seedlings. Moreover, 302 agricultural equipments will be procured and distributed.
Farmers and officials will receive training in 2,650 and 29 batches respectively. There will also be two training sessions abroad. Mannan said the domestic and global demand for spices is growing day by day, and the market price for such crops is also higher compared to many other agro goods.
He then pointed out, “Currently, the domestic market of spices in the country is Tk 30,000 crore. Around seven types of spices are being produced in the country although 50 types of spices are being consumed.
“As a result, most of the domestic demand is being met by imports. So, there is a need to produce more spices to reduce our dependence on imports. Considering such circumstances, this project has been undertaken.”
The Bangladesh Spices Research Centre has so far invented around 47 varieties of some 22 spice crops.
Some other projects approved in the ECNEC meeting are – Widening of the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive Road with Tk 1,092.35 crore; Sustainable Agriculture Extension in Jashore Region with Tk 171.33 crore; a Railway Overpass Construction at Railbazar located at 81th KM of Kushtia (Trimohoni)-Meherpur-Chuadanga-Jhenaidah Regional Highway Project with Tk 75.11 crore; Construction of PC Girder Bridges and RCC Box Culverts in places of Dilapidated; Narrow Bailey Bridges on the Pirojpur part of Chakhali-Tushkhali-Mathbaria-Patharghata Highway Project with Tk 332.91 crore; Extension of Physical Infrastructural Facilities of MES (Military Engineering Services) in Dhaka Cantonment Project with Tk 98.50 crore.
