Saarc Agricultural Centre (SAC) organised the seminar titled 'Rural development for sustainable agriculture' at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council auditorium in the city.

Presenting the keynote paper, Director General of the CIRDAP Dr Durga P Paudyal stressed the need to strengthen rural infrastructure and greater market connectivity for agricultural products of the country.

Lamenting that policymakers have showed some sort of negligence towards the agricultural sector since independence, he said agro-based industries should be the main destination of foreign aid.

He also called for promotion of the use of technology among the farmers in order to boost productivity in the agricultural sector.

Although the Saarc nations have set Saarc Development Goals to be achieved by 2012, very little has been done to meet the target, Dr Durga said.

He also suggested devising country-specific policies and programmes for each country.

Identifying centralisation of power as one of the major obstacles to rural development, he suggested that the sooner the decentralisation would take place, the faster would be the pace of rural development.

SAC Director Dr Wais Kabir said that although the contribution of agriculture to gross domestic product is decreasing day by day, the sector has always contributed to poverty alleviation.

Apart from traditional agriculture, forestry and fisheries can largely contribute to poverty alleviation and sustainable agriculture, he said.

Emphasising greater investment in this sector, he said that a thriving agricultural sector would ensure food security and bring in foreign currency as well.