Saarc move to boost food production
The Saarc Agriculture Centre (SAC) is taking up five regional projects to increase food production through sharing experiences and technological expertise among the South Asian countries.
"The projects might be launched next year," SAC Director Dr Rafiqul Islam Mondal told The Daily Star on the sidelines of a workshop yesterday.
SAC is undertaking the first ever projects to step up cooperation in the agricultural sector to ensure food security in the member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc), he said.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and SAC jointly organised the workshop titled 'Saarc initiatives on regional food security' at Sonargaon Hotel in the city to discuss the projects.
The projects will focus on increasing food production in the flood-prone, salinity-prone and drought-prone regions, helping marginal farmers, promoting balanced use of fertilisers and chemicals, increasing efficiency to prevent post-harvest losses, upgrading food standards and preventing trans-boundary diseases.
Once the projects are finalised, funds will be sought from development partners. ADB will also provide funds, Rafiqul Islam said.
Addressing the inaugural session of the workshop, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said it is imperative that the experts incorporate the climate change issues into the projects.
"It is not enough to develop technologies to increase food production. We must know how to tackle natural disasters, which eat up good amounts of our crops," she said.
Matia said there is similar climate in many areas of the South Asian countries, and that sharing technologies to grow crops in those areas could help increase food productivity.
ADB Acting Country Director Hans Carlsson and Saarc Secretariat Director Riaz Hamidullah also spoke at the inaugural ceremony. Experts from the Saarc countries and development partners attended the workshop.
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