'Russia-Ukraine War Not to Trigger Food Crisis in Bangladesh'

Bangladesh sees no food crisis coming as a fall-out of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdur Razzaque on Wednesday.

“The stocks of food grains and production which we have now won't have any major problems. There will be no food crisis,” said the minister while talking to the reporters after a meeting with Qu Dongyu, secretary-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in Dhaka.

Regarding the hike in commodity prices, Razzaque said people have to suffer a little because of the international market. “We will have a big harvest season in April. I hope there will be no problem.”

The minister further said the price of coarse rice in Cox’s Bazar is not rising. The price has been within Tk 40-42 for the last one and a half months.

But, the price of fine rice is going up as there is a real shortage, he added.

“People's income has increased. And so, the tendency of people to eat fine rice has increased,” the minister said.

“But we are providing assistance to the poor.”

"We are still producing 6-7 million tonnes of maize," the minister said, adding that the climate in Bangladesh is very good for maize.

He also said FAO has played a major role in maize production in Bangladesh. “I think in the future, our relationship with the FAO will expand further.”

The agriculture minister said Fao will hold an investment conference next October. “They are hoping that our prime minister will go there.”

“And right now, we want to irrigate with pipes which requires a lot of investment.”

“Besides, we are going to cultivate different crops in saline areas. We hope FAO will provide us with technical assistance in all these areas,” said Razzaque.

“FAO assists us in agricultural development. They provide us technical support,” said the minister.

FAO works closely with the donors. The organization also develops global rules on how to reduce the harmful effects of pesticides, he said.

The 36th Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific (APRC) of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), hosted by Bangladesh for the first time, began on Tuesday and will continue till Friday.