The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has expressed interest in working with Bangladesh to modernise the agriculture sector using technology. FAO Representative in Bangladesh Robert D. Simpson said this during a meeting with State Minister for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Zunaid Ahmed Palak in the city’s Agargaon on Sunday. Also read: Most vulnerable now paying more for less food: FAO Besides, Simpson said they want to work jointly on various issues, including agro-machineries and Agricultural Technology Blended Learning, to introduce smart agriculture in Bangladesh.

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque on Friday said enough allocation was given for the agriculture sector in the proposed national budget of 2021-22 fiscal year. “I feel no deficit in the allocation to operate our activities. We’ve been given enough allocation,” he said at a virtual post-budget press conference. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal also addressed the press conference arranged a day after he placed the proposed budget in Parliament. The Agriculture Minister said though the allocation for agriculture declined in terms of percentage, it did fall in amount. The amount of agriculture loans was Tk 14,000 crore to Tk 15,000 crore in the past, which has increased at some Tk 22,000 crore in the upcoming fiscal year during the corona-period. And the interest rate of the loans was lowered, he said. He said the government had given the highest priority to agriculture also during its first tenure after assuming power in 2009. Also read: New budget unveiled with focus on protecting lives and livelihoods Abdur Razzaque said the agriculture production has significantly increased. “So, now the goals of the government are to sustain productivity and to boost production further,” he said. Since Bangladesh attained self-sufficiency in food, now another goal of the government is to expedite agricultural mechanisation and commercialization of agricultural products through promoting food-processing industry in the country, he said. “The production in all the agricultural sub-sectors went up. Now we’ll go for processing the agricultural products in mills and factories and then supply to local market and export to international market. Such measures have been taken in this budget,” said the Minister. He said the Agriculture Ministry started implementation of a Tk 3000-crore project for agricultural mechanisation to reduce the production cost amid the high wages of agricultural workers as the farmer don’t make profit in many cases now. In this budget, Tk 680 crore has been allocated for the project implementation in the upcoming fiscal year, he said. Also read: New budget: Tracking prices going up and down “The budgetary allocation for agriculture is good enough. There will be no problem with (this allocation),” he said. If needed, there is an instruction of the Prime Minister to allocate more funds to agriculture from any other sector except health, said the Agriculture Minister.    Planning Minister MA Mannan, PM’s Economic Affair Dr Mashiur Rahman, Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir, Senior Secretary of Finance Division Abdur Rouf Talukder, National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, among others, spoke at the conference.

The government is going to launch accredited laboratories soon to ensure the quality of agricultural goods to face the competitive global market. Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque said this on Sunday during an online discussion programme with vegetable and fruit exporters. "The government aims to make the agriculture sector profitable through marketing and processing. For that, the agricultural export market must be expanded," he said. Also read: Cabinet nods Agricultural Good Practices Policy to ensure safe food Also, the government is working on reducing barriers to exports of agricultural goods and considering setting up the processing industry and finding ways to give more support to the entrepreneurs, Razzaque said. "Those who are involved with the export and improving the quality of agricultural goods will get all the assistance," the minister added. "Agriculture is vital for Bangladesh as it ensures food security and provides raw materials for different industries. We can export agricultural goods to the international market if we can produce safe vegetables and fruits and process them."

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday urged researchers to conduct studies to diversify Bangladesh’s export products alongside modernising and mechanising the agriculture sector.

Bangladesh will become a developing country within 2024 despite the challenges unfolded by the Covid-19 crisis.

Although the government claims that the country has enough food reserves, the prices of daily essentials are rising in the kitchen markets, triggering unbearable sufferings to the city dwellers.

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque has said he is confident the current scheme of incentives will be enough to help the agriculture sector get back on its fee, as long as there isn’t another bout of flooding to come this year.

Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdur Razzaque on Wednesday urged banks to come forward with easy loans to help create entrepreneurs in both agriculture and non-agriculture sectors.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday proposed an allocation of Tk 9,500 crore as subsidy for agriculture sector in the upcoming fiscal.

Aiming to ensure food security and prevent any possible food crisis  in the post-corona world, the government has given the second highest priority to agriculture by proposing an allocation of Tk 22,489 crore, up by 1,005 crores from last year’s.