The abundant basket
Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger dubbed Bangladesh as a bottomless basket when the country achieved independence from Pakistan.
Fifty years back, Bangladesh was a country dependent on foreign aid. The first budget of the independent country was USD 92 million. I remember, former finance minister of Bangladesh Tajuddin Ahmad announced the budget on the radio and that was dependent on foreign aid. He said whatever the size of the plan is, its success can only be assured by a massive collective effort of disciplined people. He urged people to respond to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's call and move forward together to build 'Sonar Bangla.' Foreign journalists have repeatedly asked Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahma, who took the helm of a war-torn country, how will he rebuild the country? Bangabandhu, in a convincing voice, said my country has soil, my country has people and with these two, I will make Bangladesh stand on the rubble. Today's Bangladesh has travelled this far following the path of Bangabandhu's golden dream and now is a self-sufficient country in cereal and protein food production.
I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to observe this long journey, from the birth of a country to 50 years of its glorious journey. The main struggle of the people of post-independence war-torn country was against hunger. People built this country through their hard work. Today, from a bottomless basket, Bangladesh is an abundant basket. This achievement belongs to every single citizen of the country.
There was food shortage even before the independence of the country. During the Liberation War, agricultural production was severely affected and the amount of food shortage was about 3 million tonnes in 1971-72. The amount was about 30 percent of the total production. And when I am writing this, total government reserve of food grains is 1.5 million tonnes. The population has increased from 75 million to over 160 million. On the contrary, the amount of agricultural land has been decreasing every day. In many developed countries of the world food shortages have occurred due to global pandemics like COVID-19, but Bangladesh has marched onwards successfully. Some of the catalysts behind this achievements are our resilient farmers, increase in agricultural production, expansion of farming initiatives, the government's farm-friendly policy, ensuring irrigation availability, continuous subsidy in agriculture, the success of agricultural research, use of technology, private cooperation, the role of media and many more. This has created a comprehensive food system in the country. Bangladesh in fact has become an overflowing basket as the nation has already become self-sufficient in cereal and protein production and is well on its way to becoming food self-sufficient.
Development of irrigation system is at the root of agricultural progress. Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque said Bangabandhu had taken a landmark step in the expansion and development of irrigation. He arranged cash subsidies and easy loan facilities for farmers. He brought water pumps from Germany on an emergency basis and due to the development in irrigation systems, farmers have been able to grow multiple crops from a single land. Now in some areas, farmers can cultivate three to four crops a year on the same land. Even in hilly lands, where it wasn't possible to grow any crop due to lack of proper irrigation system, farmers are growing crops abundantly.
Another important catalyst for increasing agricultural production is the seed, especially development of high yielding varieties. According to the information received, agricultural scientists from various research institutes of the country have invented 962 varieties of different crops and 1,392 advanced agricultural technologies, which has taken the farming sector forward. In this case, of course, our young generation of farmers have walked before the researchers. Seeing the success of global agriculture on YouTube or online, they have come forward to innovate technology in their own adaptive method. Today, one can see varieties of diversified fruits and vegetables in every corner of the country.
I was saying, technology is taking our farming sector forward. However, our pace is much slower than the other countries, who have entered into agricultural mechanization. Moreover, developed countries are moving towards digitization at the end of mechanization. We are entering the age of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called for ensuring easy transfer of available technologies to developing nations so that they can face the toughest challenges of the 4IR. The new changes in the farming sector is shaping everything, from production process to management. Things like transformation of information technology around the world through smartphones, the Internet of Things, the application of artificial intelligence in equipment management, robotics, biotechnology and quantum computing have geared up the 4IR. Artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things are now being added to the world's newest agricultural machinery. Precision agriculture and smart farming like saving farmers' time and labour is also reducing the production cost and ensuring good profit margin. This will definitely change the face of farming in Bangladesh in near future. The future of agriculture is all about science, technology and investment in innovative projects. In this regard, farmers should remain prepared as well as the government should also take necessary initiatives so that they stay in the race. My expectation is all about the development of farmers and progress of Bangladesh. When the centenary of victory will be celebrated, many of us may not be here, but hope this Bangladesh will remain and names of our farmers will be uttered with respect. Because these are the people who have sacrificed everything to build a prosperous Bangladesh.
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