President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday said inadequate earnings from farming is the key reason for the growing difficulty in finding agricultural workers and stressed the need for taking steps to improve the profitability of the sector.

 “Have you noticed that workers are becoming difficult to find? The reason is that the income people earn from agricultural work is not enough to sustain their livelihoods,” said the President at an exchange of views meeting during his visit to the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) in Gazipur.

The President said the labour shortage in agriculture should not be considered merely a problem of finding workers. “The underlying economic factors that discourage people from remaining in the profession must also be addressed.”

“Since agriculture is no longer profitable, people are leaving the profession. You have to adjust to this reality and find ways to make agriculture profitable,” he said.

The President also referred to the destruction of institutions in the country, saying the time has come to overcome the damage and work towards rebuilding them.

He said the sacrifices of young people and the mass uprising have created a rare opportunity to establish a democratic system.

“We must utilise this opportunity. If we all remain patient and work steadily to move forward, I believe we will certainly succeed,” he said.

Agriculture Minister Mohammed Amin Ur Rashid, Gazipur-2 lawmaker Manjurul Karim Rony, Agriculture Secretary Md Selim Khan, BARI Director General Dr Md Manjurul Kadir and BRRI Director General Dr Md Rafiqul Islam attended the meeting.

BARI Director General delivered the welcome address, while the agriculture minister also spoke.

The President arrived at BARI at 10:15am and received a guard of honour from a contingent of Bangladesh Police.

He later visited the institute's gene bank and various stalls before planting a BARI Kathal-6 jackfruit tree at the Plant Genetic Resources Centre.