Call for integrated efforts to attain food security
Speakers at a national seminar yesterday underscored the need for integrated efforts to attain food security for the increasing population, as the country is facing new challenges in food production for its additional 22 lakh people every year.
The seminar on `united against hunger,' marking the World Food Day, was organised at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (Barc) here.
As every year, a number of 22 lakh newborns are being added to the population and that's why the country needs to produce 4 lakh tonnes of additional food every year to feed these increasing population, they told the seminar.
They said country's population is being increased at the rate of 1.41 per cent a year and at the same time, the cultivable land is being depleted with the rate of one per cent from the total land.
Quazi Akhter Hossain, acting agriculture secretary, attended the seminar as the chief guest, while Dr Wais Kabir, Barc's executive chairman, was in the chair.
Dr Nazmul Hossain, additional secretary and chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC), and director-general of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) Dr Sayeed Ali were special guests.
The cultivable land of the country was around 92 lakh hectares in 1972, while now it has decreased to 82 lakh hectares and it has been identified as a big threat to maintaining food security, they noted.
Anwar Faruque, additional agriculture secretary, gave the welcome address, while M Asaduzzaman, director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) presented a keynote paper.
Asaduzzaman in his paper said hunger is a common phenomenon of different developed countries including the Near East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia and the Pacific.
According to the estimate of the FAO, he said, there are more or less a billion people who go to sleep with empty or partially empty stomach every night.
The seminar observed that the real budgetary allocations for research and technology generation, extension and marketing services are still low and more attention should be paid to this.
About the government initiative for food production, Quazi Akhter said the present government is working with a target to achieve self-sufficiency in food production within 2013.
Earlier, he inaugurated a two-day agricultural commodity fair on the premises of Krishibid Institution here.
There are 20 stalls at the fair. Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) and Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations set up their stalls with their latest technology in foodproduction.
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