Md. Bayazid Khan :
According to a recent study nearly 69,000 hectares of agricultural land have been shrinking annually due to rapid industrialisation and unplanned urbanisation. If you move along premier highways of the country you will see the sign of unplanned industrialisation and urbanisation in the cultivable lands. On the contrary daily newspaper published news recently that farmers are destroying potatoes, tomatoes etc in utter frustration and anger as they could not recover even the production cost. Reports in the newspapers told that farmers are selling their vegetables at throw-way prices as they could not even fetch what they spent on growing these. Newspaper also published photos of potato farmers’ demonstration with spreading their potatoes in the street in front of Deputy Commissioners’ office because of not selling their products with price that only meet production cost. These are the common picture in every year as farmers are protesting for not getting logical and justified prices for their products. Because of poor road connectivity between production areas and markets, poor transportation facilities, lack of reliable price information and exploitation by intermediaries are depriving our farmers to make agriculture profession a profitable one. Even they are compelling to sell their products with meagre prices that can not recover production costs. These make farmers frustrated and encourage them to leave agriculture profession.
Examples cited above can never help our economy to achieve desired target of economic growth as it strongly hamper production in agriculture sector. Obviously agriculture sector provides lifeline of our national economy. So, economic growth of the country mostly depends on growth in agricultural sector. Moreover for economic emancipation of almost two-third people depend on agriculture. So, both the said incidents definitely hamper agricultural growth of the country as agro based production will fall significantly. We have large number of population in the country in comparison to the small size of areas. To ensure food grains for its entire people to feed for existence the country needs to increase agricultural products. Therefore government should be outlined more on increasing agro-based production. But unplanned industrialisation and urbanisation in the cultivable lands, poor marketing system, improper and inadequate storage system for perishable agricultural products like fruits, vegetables etc, absence of agro-based industrialisation and depriving of making profit due to presence of intermediaries in selling products are creating hurdles in developing our lifeline of national economy. To the contrary farmers are being compelled to cultivate tobacco, strawberry etc instead of growing major cereal crops only for earning more. Therefore the government need to take necessary steps for motivating farmers to grow more major cereal crops like rice, wheat, pulses etc as well as oilseeds, vegetables, fruits etc removing all the barriers faced by the farmers. Because government needs to ensure food for entire population from domestic sources as it will be costly for importing food grains from abroad. Moreover almost 90% people of the country are rice eaters. So, the government should encourage farmers providing logistic and financial support as well as taking stunning actions to bring all of the cultivable lands under cultivation for increasing production of major cereal crops rice, wheat and pulses. Besides ensuring this the government should also take necessary steps for growing other agro-based products like vegetables, oilseeds, fishes etc to ensure availability of nutritious supplementary foods necessary for eating with rice or wheat. Government may consider following steps to be taken to inspire farmers to grow more need based agro products.
Ensure smooth road connectivity between production areas and markets through projects like KABIKHA, TR etc.
Chain shops owners, wholesalers, TCB and other government agencies may encourage buying agro products directly from farmers removing interferences of intermediaries in the marketing system.
Available and rational cost effective transport facilities be ensured in the agriculture markets.
Government might inaugurate special goods train with air-conditioned bogies/wagons and other suitable facilities among rural and urban agriculture markets with a view to smooth transportation of agro-based products for strengthening its’ marketing system.
Union level agriculture information centers (UCIS) should be well equipped so that farmers may get price information and other information suitable for cultivation.
Air-conditioned growth center might be established at union level agriculture markets for temporary storage of agro products.
Genuine farmers be provided complicacy-free loans or monetary facilities by commercial and specialised banks, chain shop owners and agro-based industrialists with zero or marginal interest.
Ensure utmost heartfelt services from officials of agriculture departments.
Moreover Bangladesh is a densely populated country. So development of the country mostly depends on active participation of country’s huge labour forces in economic activities in both agriculture and industry. Industrial sector mainly depends on labour intensive garment factories. But it is a touchy sector as its expansion and smooth running mostly depends on GSP facilities, buyer countries’ policies, domestic development friendly political environment, economic/business diplomacy of government and intense competition among other neighbour countries. On the contrary Bangladesh is not blessed with enough natural resources as raw materials for setting up technology dependent heavy industries. So considering huge manpower with hereditable agricultural knowledge and skills government might utilise them in agro-based economic activities. Labour intensive agro-based industrialisation could be the authentic and rational way of utilising huge labour forces in economic activities that tends to develop growth in agriculture sector. It also ensures food security in the country with removal of nutritional deficiencies among people. Agro-based industrialisation require more agricultural products as raw materials and knowledgeable and skilled labour forces as main input. Fortunately the country has fertile lands suitable for over production and skilled labour forces. So, government should outline more on expediting agro-based industrialisation through encouraging domestic and foreign investors to set up industries using particular agro based products as raw materials in the areas of the country noted for growing that agricultural products abundantly. Government may encourage investors to set up juice/jam/jelly/pulp factories in the areas where mango, litchis, orange, pineapple, jackfruit, watermelon etc grow enormously. Investors could easily invest on producing ready vegetable curry, ready fish curry and ready meat curry. Factories of chips and other crispy and tasty food items from potato, banana, pulses, corn/maize, rice and wheat might be established in the areas noted for growing such agro products abundantly. Investors may be inspired to set up factories of delicious food items from chicken, fish and vegetables like chicken nugget, chicken ball/roll, fish finger/ball/roll, french fry etc. It might be profitable for investors to establish factories of frozen chicken/ beef/mutton/fish in packets for cooking. Modern hygienic dry fish factories may be set up in the coastal districts and haor districts ( Sunamgonj, Natore, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Netrokona etc) noted for growing and catching fish enormously.
Agro-based industrialisation must create huge demands of agro products as raw materials that definitely increase agricultural production. Eventually this will ensure food security in the country. On the contrary excess production after meeting domestic needs may boost to export. Besides this the country may earn foreign exchange by exporting products from agro-based industries. Moreover agro based industrialisation enables to bring huge number of people under employment. As a result economic activities will actively run in the interior parts of the country that surely prevent peoples’ exodus from villages to towns only for earning money. This will develop growth in transportation sector too. Thus growth in agriculture and agro-based industries sectors raise significantly that eventually develop country’s overall economy. Bangladesh only needs a combined initiative taken by commerce, industry and agriculture ministries to chalk out a revolutionary plan for rapid agro-based industrialisation.
(The writer is working for primary education in Bangladesh, [email protected])
