The country will not face any food crisis as its stock is satisfactory, says Agriculture Minister Dr. Abdur Razzque.
He told this to journalists after a meeting with a delegation led by Chu Dongyu, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), on Wednesday.
"We’re trying our best. The food stock that we have, the productivity that we have. We are optimistic that we will not have any major problems," said the minister.
While drawing attention to the rising prices of commodities in the country, the minister replied, "Many of you can't agree with me, but I am again saying, as far as our information is concerned,the price of coarse rice is not rising. Its price has been between Tk 40 to Tk 42 for the last one and a half months. The price of fine rice is going up, there is a real shortage of fine rice. People's income has increased. Therefore, the tendency of people to eat fine rice has increased."
Citing that the government is helping the helpless and poor people, he said, "We are helping our poor people. People are suffering a little because of the international market. Next April we will have a big harvest season. Hopefully, there won't be any problems."
Abdur Razzak said that the FAO conference is going on in Dhaka, and that is why the DG of FAO has come to Bangladesh. The FAO assists us in agricultural development. They help us technically. They work closely with donors. The FAO has developed global rules on how to reduce the harmful effects of pesticides.
"We are still producing six to seven million tonnes of maize. The climate in Bangladesh is very good for maize. The FAO has played a major role in maize production in Bangladesh. I think our relationship with the FAO will expand further in the future," the agriculture minister expressed hope.
Abdur Razzak said they will hold an investment conference next October. They are hoping that our Prime Minister will go there.
"We want to irrigate with pipes now. This requires a lot of investment. We are going to make different crops in saline areas. Hopefully, the FAO will provide us with technical assistance in these cases," further added the minister.
At the time, the Secretary of Agriculture, Md. Saidul Haque and other officials were present.
