Adopt modern technology to ensure food security

Agriculture Adviser Dr CS Karim yesterday said modern technology would have to be adopted in agriculture sector to meet the growing demand for rice and other food cereals.
"We shall have to adopt modern technology in our agriculture to increase production of rice and other crops. Every year an additional four lakh tons of rice is needed for additional people while around 8200 hectares of land goes out of agriculture because of urbanisation," said the adviser as chief guest at a roundtable in the city yesterday.
He said farmers should be trained up so that they can learn how to use modern technology and grow hybrid rice.
"In 1980s, our annual rice production was only one crore ton, but now it is three crore tons and this has become possible because our farmers are accepting modern technology and cultivating hybrid rice," said the adviser.
The roundtable titled 'Food Security in Bangladesh: Import Dependency Vs Attaining Food Self Sufficiency' was organised jointly by the Media Foundation for Trade and Development and The Equity and Justice Working Group at the National Press Club.
The adviser said the government will continue to give subsidy on fertiliser until the end of the current Boro season and sufficient fertilisers are being supplied through 16000 centres, each of which can provide fertilisers to 500 to 600 farmers.
“We are giving a subsidy of Tk 1200 per bag of fertiliser as its sale price is Tk 300 a bag against the production cost of Tk 1500,” he pointed out.
Dr Mahabub Hossain, a noted agricultural scientist, said an increase in food production is a must to ensure food security, but it should be better integrated with traditional knowledge and modern research.
"We should use modern technology to increase outputs from current land and there must not be any further loss of farm land," he said while addressing as special guest.
"Nearly every region of the world has recently experienced drastic food price inflation. Retail prices are up 18 percent in China, 17 percent in Sri Lanka, 10 percent in Latin America and Russia and around 20 percent in Bangladesh," he pointed out.
Economist Dr Atiar Rahman said rice will have to be imported immediately to meet the present food crisis and price spiral.
Political leader AKM Jahangir, former Ambassador Waliur Rahman, journalist Sadek Khan, Equity and Justice Working Group President Rezaul Karim Chowdhury and Media Foundation for Trade and Development Executive Director Kawser Rahman also spoke at the roundtable.