National Agriculture Day today

With bumper Aman production on the horizon, the nation celebrates the National Agriculture Day today, the first of Bangla month Agrahayan.

The government is observing the day with the slogan 'Agriculture is Prosperity' for the second time in the country to encourage farmers.

Rallies and processions will be held at district and upazila levels with the participation of officials, farmers and students.

Parliament Speaker Abdul Hamid will lead a procession from the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban to Khamar Bari in the capital and then attend a discussion at the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council auditorium.

The agriculture ministry will organise a harvest festival at Tentulia in Savar.

"There are many festivals, but not for the farmers. We want to celebrate the day for agriculture and farmers who feed us," Anwar Farouque, additional secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, told The Daily Star yesterday.

The day is being observed at a time when farmers are expecting bumper production of Aman.

"Though there was late rain in the beginning of Aman season, it would be a no major problem. A total of 54 lakh hectares of land was brought under Aman production and we are expecting over 1.30 crore metric tonnes of yield," Farouque said.