Agriculture Minister Md Abdus Shahid on Tuesday said there is no scarcity of rice in the country as the demand is met by domestic production.

“Rice production in Bangladesh has increased more than four times in the last 50 years. As a result, there is no scarcity of rice in the country. The demand is being met through domestic production,” he said.

The minister made the remarks while addressing a ministerial session at the 10th World Water Forum in Bali of Indonesia, said a PID handout here in Dhaka.

He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is taking and implementing pioneering steps for the welfare of the country's farmers and agriculture. She took various measures including raising subsidy to the agriculture sector, increasing budgetary allocation for research and enhancing scopes for research, he added.

“These multifaceted initiatives have made Bangladesh a role model for agricultural production in the world,” said Abdus Shahid adding that the initiatives have greatly helped Bangladesh become self-sufficient in rice and maintain the self-sufficiency here.

Noting that it needs to sustain food security through the collective initiatives of all, the agriculture minister urged all countries and international organizations to take concerted actions in this sector.

Chinese Water Resource Minister Li Guoying, Indonesian Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman and UAE Climate Change and Environment Minister Amna bint Abdullah Al Dahak, among others, spoke at the session jointly arranged by the World Bank and the International Rice Research Institute.

Later, Agriculture Minister Abdus Shahid addressed another session titled “Water for the Shared Prosperity” in the World Water Forum 2024.