Agriculture Minister Explains Reasons for Rice Shortage

Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdur Razzaque today said that importing rice increases due to various reasons including non-human consumption.

"Maize is being cultivated in the same place where paddy used to be cultivated. At the same time, the non-human consumption of rice has increased a lot. The use of rice as fish, poultry, animal feed and starch is increasing day by day. With all these, there is a shortage of rice in the country," he said.

The minister was speaking at the unveiling programme of the book titled 'Farm Sector of Bangladesh: Prospects and Challenges' at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) auditorium in city's Farmgate area as the chief guest.

Forum for Information Dissemination on Agriculture (FIDA) and Syngenta Bangladesh Ltd organised the event.

The population is increasing year by year and the cultivable land is decreasing, Razzaque said.Land is being used for the cultivation of other crops, he said, adding that the country is now producing 60 lakh tons of maize a year, he said. As a result of timely steps taken by the present government, record production of rice has been achieved in the country, he said, adding that average productivity has also increased.

With Forum for Information Dissemination on Agriculture (FIDA)President Riaz Ahmad in the chair, the programme was attended, among others, by Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) Chairman Dr Amitabh Sarker, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) Executive Chairman Dr Sheikh Md Bakhtiyar, Director General of Department of Agricultural Marketing Mohammed Yousuf, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) Director General Dr M Nazirul Islam, Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) Director Monirul Alam and FIDA General Secretary Salahuddin Bablu.