Govt wants balance in prices of agri food items, says Matia

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury yesterday said the government wanted to establish a balance among producers, consumers and traders of agricultural food items to uphold interests of all the three groups.
“The producers suffer when prices of rice and other items go down. On the other hand, consumers suffer when prices of these items go up. So, we want to establish a balance among producers, consumers and others involved in the process so that nobody suffers,” Matia said told a function at Dhaka University.
Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) and Incidin Bangladesh jointly organised the programme, "Farmer's Parliament", at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban on the campus. Farmers from different regions of the country along side development activists joined the discussion.
The discussion was held as part of the five-day South Asia Social Forum, Bangladesh 2011.
Matia said, “Our land is limited but the population is high. Once we can keep our population at an acceptable level, we will be able to achieve surplus in food production.”
Presiding over the session, Executive Director of Manusher Jonno Foundation Shaheen Anam said the farmers of Bangladesh had done a miracle by producing necessary amount of food for a population of 16 crore.
She said the women farmers of the country should be given due respect and dignity, and the agricultural policies should be prepared considering the contributions of women farmers in the sector.
Executive Director of Brac Dr Mahbub Hossain said the government should concentrate on how the ups and downs of prices of agricultural food items can be controlled.
A lot of development has been achieved in the agricultural sector, but there is not much development done for the farmers, he added.
Five farmers' representatives at the session described the troubles they face in getting fertilisers, loan, seeds and others.
A proposal on the final draft of the agriculture policy was also presented to the minister at the programme. The proposal was made taking opinions from a number of organisations, which work for the farmers.
Nazim Uddin, vice president of Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal and Samsul Haque Reza, joint general secretary of Bangladesh Krishak League also spoke.