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agro

Cabinet Okays draft of revised agriculture policy

The cabinet today approved the draft of a revised National Agriculture Policy eying to benefit farmers and attaining food and nutrition security for the people. The cabinet approval came at its weekly meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair, reports BSS. “The policy has been framed by upgrading the previous policy of 2013 . . . its prime goal is to make the agriculture sector safe and profitable and attain food and nutrition security,” Cabinet Secretary Md Shafiul Alam told a news briefing after the meeting, simultaneously approved in principle the draft of Bangladesh Shishu Academy Act.

Govt plans to speed up rice imports in wake of flooding

The government of Bangladesh will speed up plans to import rice that it brought in to build reserves and rein in local prices after flash floods hit domestic output, government officials said on Thursday. As part of that, a Bangladeshi delegation is now in Vietnam to finalize imports of the staple grain in a government-to-government deal, said a procurement official, declining to be pariza rice panicleidentified as he was not authorized to speak with media. He did not give further details on the transacti...

BD seeks Thai support to promote fisheries

Bangladesh today sought Thai expert supports to promote Bangladesh's fisheries sector as its ambassador in Dhaka Panpimon Suwannapongse called on Fisheries and Livestock Minister Muhammed Sayedul Hoque, reports BSS. Thai"They discussed issues of bilateral issues relating to particularly to fisheries sector when our minister sought the Thai expert supports," a spokesman of the ministry told BSS. In response, he said, the envoy invited the minister to visit Thai livestock and fisheries installations to get an idea for the proposed mutual ...

Good days for golden fibre

Jute production has increased and so has new investment in the sector. However, the potential of the product in the international market has not been exploited to the full. If the bottlenecks in this sector can be removed, it would be possible to increase export of jute and jute products to the international market. Stakeholders highlighted various aspects of the jute sector at a roundtable on "Jute Production and Expanding the Market for Jute Goods: Problems and Potential" on Tuesday. It was organised by Prothom Alo with support from CARE and SWITCH Asia Jute Value Chain Development Project, at the Prothom Alo office in Dhaka's Kawran Bazar. State minister for textiles and jute Mirza Azam said, the present government has taken several [caption id="attachment_20187" align="alig...

WB to provide $ 176m fund to help poor farmers

The government on Tuesday signed a $176-million deal with the World Bank (WB) to help more than a million of its poor farmers boost output and gain better access to markets. Funding from the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) will increase and diversify the productivity of crops, livestock and fisheries, Farmer besides enhancing market access, the World Bank said in a statement. "This project will help achieve food security, improve resilience to climate change, and enhance nutrition through safer and ...

Agriculture a key driver in reducing poverty

Agriculture is a leading contributor to poverty reduction in Bangladesh since 2000, a new World Bank report said. The country now needs to shift towards high-value agriculture, including horticulture, livestock, and fisheries as well as greater value addition to improve farmers’ income and household nutrition. The report launched on May 17, “Dynamics of Rural Growth in Bangladesh: Sustaining Poverty Reduction,” says pro-poor agricultural growth has stimulated the non-farm economy. It estimates that a 10 percent rise in farm income generates a 6 percent rise in non-farm income. Hence, the growth of the non-farm economy largely depends on agriculture. Although rural non-farm employment is almost 2 times higher than all urban employment put together,