BSS :
Agriculture Minister Dr M Abdur Razzaque on Sunday said there is no food crisis in the ongoing pandemic as the government is able to maintain good food production in the country.
“We have proven that the country is very self-sufficient in food…Besides, everyone assumed that the economic downturn and stagnation caused by the corona epidemic would lead to an extreme food crisis in Bangladesh. But due to good production, there is no crisis in Bangladesh,” he said.
He made the remarks at a meeting to review the progress of implementation of the Annual Development Project (ADP) online from the conference room of the ministry at the secretariat here.
The meeting was conducted by Md Mesbahul Islam, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture.
Project officials including senior officials of the ministry and the heads of the organizations were present at the time.
“This year we have taken various initiatives to increase rice production,” Razzaque said, adding that high importance was given to cultivating more land and cultivating hybrid varieties of paddy.
Various incentives including seeds and fertilizers have been provided to the farmers, he said, adding that as a result, Boro has been planted in about 130,000 hectares more land this year than last year.
“In addition, hybrid cultivation has increased in about 3 lakh 27 thousand hectares of land. We expect to produce 10-12 lakh tonnes of rice more than last year in extended area and hybrid cultivation,” he added.
It is said in the meeting that the target for Boro-production this year is 2 crore 5 lakh metric tons. Last year the production was 1 crore 96 lakh metric tons.
If there is no flood, the minister hopes that the target will be achieved in Aush production this time as well.
He also said that preparations are underway to increase production in the coming Aman season.
It was informed at the meeting that a total of Taka 2,300 crore has been allocated in favor of 82 projects under the Ministry of Agriculture in the RADP for the current fiscal year 2020-21.
As of April 2021, the implementation progress has been 59 percent while the national average progress is 49 percent.
