Comprehensive reform in agri sector soon

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury at a workshop yesterday said the government is working to bring comprehensive reform in the agriculture sector to make Bangladesh a food surplus country.
“We are now busy in fertiliser management and its distribution for Boro season. Once this is over, we will start reforming the total agriculture sector,” she said, adding that the sector faces a number of problems due to the negligence of the last regime.
Matia was speaking as the chief guest at the workshop titled 'Farm-level fertiliser management' jointly organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) at the Cirdap auditorium in the city.
Organic fertiliser, which is very useful for soil health, could reduce pressure on chemical fertiliser, but the natural resources to make natural fertilisers are so scarce, she said, adding that excessive use of chemical fertilisers is damaging soil health in many areas of the country.
On the other hand, the minister said fertiliser factories are not producing as per their capacities. “We will overhaul the old fertiliser factories to up production.”
Dr Z Karim, former chairman of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council, in his presentation said 53 percent cultivable lands of the country have inadequate organic contents due to intensive use of land and imbalanced use of chemical fertilisers.
He suggested using more green manure and providing incentives to farmers for it, leaving crop residues in the field and increasing fertiliser efficiency by upgrading their knowledge.
There may be different methods of fertiliser use, but the farmers must follow only the proven methods, Karim added.
Stating that Bangladesh is vulnerable in terms of fertiliser availability, Dr Shahidul Islam, former director of the Department of Agriculture Extension, said, “There should be buffer stocks of fertilisers so that farmers can get the chemicals in any crisis.”
Head of Research at Centre for Policy Dialogue Dr Uttam Deb said there should be a mechanism that the government does not provide subsidy for the fertiliser used for non-agriculture purposes.
FAO Representative Ad Spijkers also spoke at the workshop with Agriculture Secretary Sheikh Enayetullah in the chair.