Agriculture is the economic backbone of Bangladesh. But farmers say that numerous revolutionary reforms introduced in the sector over the past two decades have failed to bring any major change in their economic condition. The reason: The profiteering middlemen who buy fruits and vegetables at extremely low rates directly from farms, but jack up prices in further sales -- from distribution to retailing through commission agents and wholesalers. Read: UK announces £18m new funding to end child marriage in Bangladesh, 11 other countries And as this nexus takes a substantial chunk of profit from their produce, farmers are left with very little revenue in the agricultural market hierarchy in the country. Of course, consumers are also a casualty as they pay a higher value for the cheaper farm produce. Market analysts also blame the nexus of multi-layered middlemen involved in the distribution process for the huge gap in the prices of agricultural produce at farm and retail levels. Another reason being the high transportation cost to cities like Dhaka. In fact, vegetable prices are 100-300% higher in the kitchen markets of the capital than that at the farm level, according to the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM). This has already been admitted by the Bangladesh government. Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzak had earlier said that "many people cannot afford sufficient vegetable intake due to high prices while the farmers are also not getting fair prices of their produce". Read: Remotest region to connect with broadband internet by 2025: Palak Farmers often throw away their vegetables when they find that the cost of production is higher than that of sales, according to the government. "We have to create a modern marketing system to eliminate this problem," he had said, adding "value-addition and market chain development are needed for this".  

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 prioritising the cultivation of high-yielding paddy as occasional floods threaten the crop in haor areas, Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque said Sunday.  “Adequate amount of paddy is collected from haor areas every year which is very essential for food safety but sometimes floods destroy them. We're working to reduce the risks and prioritising cultivation of the high-yielding variety," he said at a Boro paddy collection programme in Shadhor haor of Mithamoin in Kishoreganj.  The government is prioritising paddy varieties that can be harvested 15-20 days earlier than the regular varieties. Combined harvesters and reapers are being provided there urgently considering the shortage of workers, the minister said. In the haor areas, paddy is cultivated once a year. Production should be boosted, Razzaque said adding that scientists have already invented high yielding paddy BRRI Dhan 89, 92. Farmers will be provided high-yielding varieties, he said urging their cultivation.  The work of installing regional Rice Research Institutes is underway for further research to invent more paddy species suitable for haor areas, he said. This year, Boro paddy is being cultivated on 1,66,950 hectares in Kishoreganj. Among them, 1,02,500 hectares are in haor areas. So far 53 percent and 39 percent paddy from haor and outside have been collected in the district. The government targets to produce 7,11,580 metric tonnes of paddy from here.    

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."

  The government is distributing 5,776 farming machines among farmers across the country in the current fiscal year under the Agricultural Mechanisation Project of the Agriculture Ministry. The machines include 1,617 combined harvesters, 701 reapers and 184 rice transplanters, according to a handout of the Agriculture Ministry issued on Tuesday. Of the machines, 510 combined harvesters and 701 reapers are being distributed in the Haor area. Under the project, more than 51,000 machines of different technology, including combined harvesters, reapers, rice transplanters, power thresher dryers, power weeders, power sprayers, potato diggers and maize sheller will be distributed among the farmers throughout the country by 2025. Also read: Dhaka for greater intra-OIC trade, contract farming Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque on Tuesday virtually inaugurated the distribution. He said the government is providing the farming machines among the farmers at 70 percent subsidised rate in Haor and coastal areas, while 50 percent subsidised prices in other areas of the country under the Agricultural Mechanisation Project involving Tk 3,020 crore. Noting that the incumbent government has been working for agricultural mechanisation for the last 12 years, he said the agriculture sector of Bangladesh would be as advanced and modern as that of the industrialised countries. “With this project, a new chapter started in the country’s agriculture. There’ll be a revolution in agricultural mechanisation. The agriculture of Bangladesh will be as advanced and modern as that of the industrialised countries,” said Dr Razzaque. Also read: Bangladesh eyes big opportunities abroad through contract farming He said the present government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is giving utmost importance to agriculture. “At present, the main goal of the government is to modernise and make agriculture profitable,” he said adding that the government has taken and implemented various initiatives to modernise and make agriculture profitable through mechanisation. The Minister expressed hope that this project will make agriculture profitable and accelerate the improvement of the living standards of the rural people. State Minister for Social Welfare Md Ashraf Ali Khan Khasru also spoke on the occasion, joining the virtual function from Netrakona. Also read: Alt. Farming: How women in Kurigram augment their households' incomes Senior Secretary of Agriculture Ministry Md Mesbahul Islam and other high officials from the ministry and the Department of Agricultural Extension joined the event.   DAE Director General Md Ashadullah said some Tk 5,271 crore will be saved, if the boro paddy of 48 lakh hectares of land can be harvested using machines.  

A total of 86 percent people with physical and leprosy disabilities in Bangladesh are directly involved in agriculture while income of 88 percent of farmers with disabilities has been reduced during the COVID-19 pandemic.