Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder has said Bangladesh will export rice in future instead of importing.
“In the last two consecutive years, our government didn’t import rice and there is also no need of importing rice this year,” he said while inaugurating a three-day Agriculture Technology Fair-2024 at Sapahar Upazila Parishad Hall room in Naogaon district today as the chief guest.
Terming the government’s agriculture incentive as a planned and time-fitting step, the minister said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina remained beside the farmers through providing incentives and subsidies to them.
He said the Prime Minister has been working relentlessly to transform agriculture into technology-friendly.
With Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Masud Hossain in the chair, the meeting was addressed, among others, by Upazila Chairman Shahjahan Hossain, Vice-chairmen Noimuddin and Fahima Khatun, Upazila Agriculture Officer Shapla Khatun and Union Parishad (UP) Chairman Borhan Uddin.
Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said use of technology in agriculture has been enhanced, contributing a lot to boost its production.
On the occasion, he distributed incentives for Aman paddy farming among 1,210 farmers together with handing over cheques of education sub-stipend and bicycles among students of ethnic minorities of Naogaon district.
Meanwhile, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said rice production in Bangladesh this year is little lower than the demand. The demand for rice rose due to the decline in wheat import.
According to the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) a total of 41.2 million tonnes of rice is likely to be produced this year, including 20.9 million tonnes of Boro rice, three million tonnes of Aush rice and 17 million tonnes of Aman rice. The overall demand of rice in the country at the moment is nearly 35 million tonnes. As such, there should be a surplus of 5 to 6 million tonnes of rice.
In this situation, the government is relying on their old strategy by bringing down the import tariff to 17 per cent from existing 67 per cent. Initially, the food ministry gave permission to some 30 agencies to import 83,000 tonnes of rice. The ministry is also considering permitting some other agencies to import more rice. In all, the government may give permission to import 200,000 tonnes of rice.
