The government of Bangladesh is likely to save Tk 10,000 crore annually from importing oil in the next three years as a revolution is taking place in mustard cultivation, said Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque on Sunday (January 08, 2023). “The government has to import 90 percent edible oil from abroad to meet the demand for edible oil. As a result, it has to spend Tk 25,000 crore in a year. In such situation, the government has taken a roadmap to reduce import dependency by producing 50 percent of the demand in the country,” he said. Read: 5% cut in VAT on imported edible oil extended till April 30 Razzaque came up with the information, while talking to reporters after a views-exchange meeting with farmers at Kalaroa upazila in Satkhira district. Honey cultivation has also been increased in the country, he added. On the other hand, the farmers are benefitting by cultivating mustard in their Aman, Boro and barren lands, said the minister. Read: 50 percent edible oil to be produced in country by next 3 years: Agri Minister He also assured people of providing necessary support to ensure fair prices to the mustard growers. Talking about BNP’s movement, Razzaque said “People have no connection with BNP’s movement and BNP cannot topple the government through movement, so there will be no difference to their movement.” Referring to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the minister said ACC is doing its work independently and the government has no control over it. “ACC has established the rule of law by taking action against corruption. So BNP is misguiding people by saying ACC is suppression commission." Read More: TCB to procure 1.65 cr litres of edible oil from local suppliers again.

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque on Monday stressed the need for formation of a commission to unmask the masterminds and beneficiaries of the 1975 August 15 massacre. “The massacres of August 15 (1975) and August 21 (2004) are tied in the same thread. It is needed to unmask the faces of abettors, masterminds and beneficiaries of the August 15 carnage before the nation,” he said while addressing a discussion at the Jatiya Press Club. Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote arranged the discussion and doa-mahfil on the occasion of the National Mourning Day, commemorating the martyrs of the 1975 August 15 and the 2004 August 21 carnages. Also read: August 15 conspirators are still active, says Salman Rahman Dr Razzaque, also a presidium member of ruling Awami League, said the defeated and anti-liberation forces still want to bring back the trend of Pakistani regime in Bangladesh. So, it is essential to spread the healthy cultural practices among the people massively to counter the rise of anti-liberation forces and militants and fanatics, he said. He said the first aggression against Bangalis was cultural one soon after the establishment of religion-based Pakistan as the country wanted to establish communal spirit by carrying out aggression on Bangla language, literature and culture.  The minister said BNP established an anti-liberation force and spirit from August 1975 to 1996. The 1975-1996 is a black chapter of the history as the truth was distorted in a well-planned way, anti-liberation forces and communal spirits were established everywhere in the period, he added. Also read: ‘Want Bangabandhu's killers to be deported to Bangladesh’: FM Sayeda Rubina Akter Mira MP and AL relief and social welfare affairs secretary Sujit Roy Nandi, among others, spoke at the function presided over by Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote President Falguni Hamid.

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.

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque on Friday said the health sector won’t face any fund crisis to tackling the Covid-19 situation. “Fund will be given to the health sector whenever the money is required,” 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 for 2021-22 fiscal in Parliament. Dr Razzaque said the Finance Ministry also repeatedly assured that "money won’t be a problem," or "allocation won’t matter to face the corona." He said the Prime Minister repeatedly advocated a balance between lives and livelihoods - the cardinal choice for policymakers in the pandemic era. Some on the left however, point to at least the possibility that this is a false dichotomy.  Not Dr Razzaque though. Also read: New budget unveiled with focus on protecting lives and livelihoods "If the livelihood is not taken care of, many people will be severely affected or even die (without catching Covid)," he added. The Agriculture Minister said the country’s economy is now vibrant and on a strong footing amid the growing reserves of foreign currency. “The way the whole world is facing it (Covid-19), I think this government will also face it in that way. Money will not be a problem for it,” he said. About the budgetary allocation for the health sector, Senior Secretary of Finance Division Abdur Rouf Talukder also said some Tk 14,200 crore has been kept in the proposed budget for procuring Covid vaccines during the upcoming fiscal year. “We’ll provide the fund, if the health sector needs more money,” he said. Also read: New budget: Tracking prices going up and down The Finance Secretary said the budgetary allocation for the Health Services Division has increased by 13.2 percent for the upcoming fiscal year, compared to the outgoing fiscal year. But the overall budget size has risen by 6.3 percent. “So, the growth in the allocation for the health sector is more than double,” he said. Replying to a question over the inability to spend more money on the health sector, Abdur Rouf said the government identified two problems – lack of capacity among the officials engaged in procurement, and mismatch between demand and supply during procurement. He said the government will address the two problems in the upcoming fiscal year as it is going to take measures to provide training for the officials. Planning Minister MA Mannan, PM’s Economic Affair Adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman, Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir, and National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, among others, spoke at the conference.

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque has said that Bangladesh will have surplus production of fish, egg, meat and milk in the space of the next 3-5  years. He said, "One of the main challenges of the current government is to ensure nutritious food to all.We recognise that the fisheries and livestock sector can play a vital role in that." "We are gradually becoming self-reliant in food for the steps taken by the government in the last few years. Not only that, if we keep up the good work, we might have surplus productions of fish, milk, meat and egg in the next 3-5 years," the minister hoped. Also read: Govt to procure 5-6 lakh metric tonnes of rice to reduce shortage: Razzaque He came up with the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a virtual discussion meeting organized by Bangabandhu Veterinary Council on the occasion of World Veterinary Day 2021 on Saturday. Addressing the veterinarians, the agriculture minister said the sector needs to be taken further through technology expansion and entrepreneurship. He also advised them to work hard in ensuring  nutritious and safe food for all. Dr. Razzaque added that in order to ensure nutritious food, people's incomes must be increased and employment must be created.  Otherwise, even if enough food is produced, people will not be able to buy and enjoy it. Also read: Will take initiative to harness potential of mushrooms: Razzaque The minister also emphasised on the importance of agriculture in alleviating poverty at the event. "The government is working tirelessly to bring down the poverty rate to 12% and extremely poor to 5%......The fisheries and livestock sector can play a huge part in that," he concluded.

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."

Bangladesh needs to be self-reliant in food production as there will not be enough food that money can buy if a crisis or famine breaks out as a fallout of Covid-19. 

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque on Sunday said that aiming to eliminate the shortage and control prices in the rice markets, the government is going to purchase 5-6 lakh metric tonnes of rice.

Agriculture Minister Dr M Abdur Razzaque on Sunday sought cooperation from India for agro-processing and farm mechanisation and said the two neighbours have many opportunities to work together.

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque on Sunday said that the government will review the overall situation, including the flood’s impact on aush and aman paddy, before deciding to import rice.