The government is going to provide various agro machinery and materials to the farmers of the country. For farmers’ welfare, the Tk 3,000 crore project is to be taken up soon.
According to sources in the government, it has been decided to provide agro machinery and materials among the farmers as these inputs are costly and not so easy for farmers to buy.
These pieces of agro machinery, materials and equipment would help make farmers’ tasks easier, and minimize cost and time. The project is expected to be implemented during the period July 2020 to June 2025.
In the project, tractors, power tillers, threshers, reapers and combined harvesters are among the materials and machinery to be provided to the farmers across the country. The project would be implemented in 61 districts keeping three hilly districts out of the project area, said officials concerned.
They said, under the project, farmers in the haor (wetlands) and saline water-prone areas would be compensated up to 70 percent of the costs of these machinery and materials while the farmers of other areas would be compensated up to 50 percent of the costs. Machinery and materials would be provided as per the choices of the farmers as per their needs and will.
Officials also said that the machinery and materials would be provided only to those farmers who have farmer’ cards so that the inputs could not be sold to others.
Department of Agricultural Extension sources said a combined harvester worth Tk 28 lakh would be provided to a farmer at Tk 14 lakh as the government would compensate 50 percent of the cost. A total of 50,000 Combined Harvesters would be provided to 50,000 farmers and the names of the farmers would be selected by the local Agricultural Offices.
A combined harvester is capable to harvest, thresh, clean and pack huge quantities of paddy or rice within a short period of time.
Besides, the government would provide 15 maize sheers to farmers for corn threshing purposes. The farmers would also be provided with paddy transplanters and potato collector machines.
Additional Secretary Proshanto Kumer Chakroborti, who is also the chief of Agriculture, Water Development and Rural Institution Department in the Planning Commission, said the project will be implemented from the government’s development fund. A meeting on the project has already been held recently.
Shah Mohammad Akramul Huq, an additional director (Monitoring and Implementation) of the Department of Agricultural Extension, said, “A massive project is going to be taken by the government for the welfare of the farmers.”
“If the project is implemented successfully, the agricultural sector of the country will be developed.”
