The government is set to finalise the national agriculture policy 2018 soon with a view to making it time befitting complying with the contemporary world.
“The country needs to double its food production as per the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030 and that’s why the National Agriculture Policy should to be modernized,” said Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury as the chief guest while addressing a review workshop on the drafted national agriculture policy 2018 at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) here today.
The government is firm for overall development of the agriculture sector as per the seventh-five year plan and the national agriculture policy, said the minister.
The continuity of the agricultural development had to face a setback in various times in the past since the independence as no government had taken an initiative to form the national agriculture policy, she said.
The Awami League government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was the first who had formulated the national agriculture policy in 1999, said the minister, adding the national agriculture policy was also revised in 2013.
Chaired by Senior Agriculture Secretary Mohammad Mainuddin Abdullah, the workshop was attended by Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance Ministry Dr Abdur Razzaque and member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture Ministry Abdul Mannan as the special guests.
Matia Chowhdhury said the agriculture sector is now facing various challenges including the climate change, saying the government has enacted the revised national agriculture policy 2018 (drafted) for ensuring food security and transforming the subsistence agriculture into a commercial approach.
So the newly formulated national agriculture policy has been included research for agriculture development, technology transfer and agriculture extension, agriculture ingredients, farm mechanization, knowledge and expertise development, agriculture environment and natural resources management, specific regional agriculture, specialized agriculture, safe food and agricultural commodity production, agriculture marketing, women empowerment, youth force in agriculture, investment in agriculture, agriculture cooperatives and information and communication technology, the minister added.
“The review of national agriculture policy 2018 is important as almost 50 per cent people are still involved with the sector,” said Dr Abdur Razzaque.
The government has emphasized on the national agriculture policy as the government is determined to build a poverty and starvation free prosperous country dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, said Abdul Mannan MP.
BARC Executive Chairman Ikramul Haq gave the welcome address while former BARC chief Dr Wais Kabir presented the highlights of the drafted National Agriculture Policy 2018.
