Although the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) is committed to cooperation in agricultural development, there has been a little progress, CPD observed.

Agricultural development strategies should be implemented through public, private, and NGO participation rather than through public agencies only, it suggested.

The identified areas of cooperation are, agricultural research and development, technology exchange, capacity building, harmonisation of standards policies and laws, and participation in World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations on agriculture.

The areas of cooperation were identified by a study done by CPD's Senior Research Fellow Dr Uttam Kumar Dev. The findings of the study were presented at a seminar organised by CPD in Cirdap auditorium in the capital yesterday. CPD Board of Trustees Member M Syeduzzaman chaired the event.

Speakers at the seminar underscored the need for strengthening broader cooperation on agriculture among South Asian nations for overall development and for a common stand at the negotiations at WTO.

They suggested charting a broader action plan for regional cooperation on agriculture and other areas in line with the South East Asian nations under ASEAN, which was initiated in the 1960s.

They said the agriculture sector has developed a lot in the last two decades but cooperation among the regional states has remained very fragile.

Speaking as chief guest, Agricultural Adviser Dr CS Karim said there are many scopes for cooperation among the South Asian states on agriculture. He said the dialogues that have begun should continue for sharing knowledge and experiences among the countries.

He observed that many changes will take place in agriculture and crop patterns in the South Asian region because of climate changes in the future. So the mind set of the people regarding extending cooperation to neighbours should also be changed, Karim added.

He said there are many areas where cooperation exists and the process should continue for bringing more areas into the realm of cooperation.

Agricultural Secretary Abdul Aziz said the main lacking in strengthening cooperation among the Saarc countries is that whatever understanding had been reached earlier was not implemented through follow up actions.

Appreciating the recommendations of the keynote paper, Aziz said there should be a common platform for the South Asian nations at the WTO negotiations, and mobility of seeds should be allowed for research.

Former minister Fakhrul Islam Munshi emphasised on standardisation and diversification of products for strengthening cooperation. He suggested setting up testing laboratories and other facilities for maintaining standards of agricultural products.

Dr Quazi Shahabuddin Ahmed, director general of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) said agriculture was identified as one of the important areas of cooperation by Saarc but there has not been much progress in this regard.

Uttam Kumar Dev pointed out in his paper that effective cooperation for agricultural development will require establishment of working committees and networks, detailed work programmes, a series of agreements on specific issues, a regular system of monitoring and evaluation, strengthening of existing organisations, and establishment of regional institutes.

Former secretary Sarwar Kamal said many institutes were set up in the South Asian region for cooperation but the ultimate result has been zero.

Former secretary Dr Z Karim underscored the need for a common procedure in Saarc countries for export of vegetables, fish and meat from this region to developed nations.

He said the safety standards of the Saarc states also must be updated for accelerating export to developed nations.

Acting Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain, CPD Executive Director Debapriya Bhattacharya, AKM Saifur Rashid, and Dr Rafiqul Islam also took part in the discussion.