Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi has said, “We are trying to increase onion production through special initiatives. Steps have been taken to innovate new varieties of onions for year-round production, to prevent onions from being wasted and to store it for a long time.”
He said that the country has progressed a lot in agriculture.
“This has been made possible due to sincere cooperation of the government and modernization in the field of agriculture. There is a lot of opportunity to increase the production in the agricultural sector; we have to use this opportunity,” he said.
The commerce minister made the statement while speaking as the chief guest at the concluding session of the agriculture conference titled “50 Years of Bangladesh: Transformation and Achievement in Agriculture” at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on Sunday. The conference was jointly organized by Banik Barta and Bangladesh Agricultural Journalists Forum (BAJF).
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The commerce minister said that the country is now self-sufficient in
animal resources. “Once we had to import animals from abroad to meet the demand for sacrificial animals in the country but today we are producing more animals than the demand and trying to export meat. Bangladesh now ranks third in the world in fish production. The government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is working sincerely to achieve self-sufficiency in every sector,” he added.
Regarding onion production, he said “We have a deficit in onion production. The production is less than the demand. As a result, onions are being imported to meet the demand.”
Speaking as the special guest, State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam said that Bangladesh has come a long way in the commercialization of the agricultural sector and significant changes have taken place.
“Food production has increased a lot. We have succeeded in producing fish and animal resources. However, we are still far behind many countries. There are a lot of opportunities to increase production in the agricultural sector,” he said.
Bangladesh Agricultural University teacher Prof Dr Mohammad Jahangir Hossain delivered the keynote presentation.
Director General of Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute Dr Jahangir Alam, former Director General of the Department of Fisheries Syed Arif Azad and Chairman of Lal Teer Livestock Abdul Awal Mintu participated in the discussion, among others.
