Agriculture minister Abdur Razzaque on Thursday said the government has taken various initiatives to give easy loans to farmers to buy agricultural equipment.
He said this while speaking as chief guest at views exchange meeting with stakeholders to expedite agricultural mechanisation online from his secretariat office in the capital.
With a big amount subsidiary the government is providing agricultural equipment including combine harvester, reaper and others to the farmers. But still farmers are to pay a big amount of money to buy those equipment, he added.
Therefore, initiatives are being taken to get easy loans from various banks for farmers to buy agricultural implements. As in many cases, farmers cannot afford to buy this type of equipment and the same is true for other agricultural implements, so the government has come up with such move, the minister further said.
"Our objective is to make agricultural machineries locally in phases. At present most of the equipment has to be imported from abroad. We want to reduce the dependency on import. In addition, we are emphasizing on locally manufacturing spare parts and repair factories so as to increase employment at the local level," Razzaque said.
The minister called upon the manufacturers and importers of agricultural implements to come forward in this regard.
At the meeting, the manufacturers and importers of agricultural implements demanded bank loans for them, loans for farmers and distribution of agricultural implements to small village entrepreneurs to expedite the mechanisation of agriculture.
The Agriculture Minister further said that, "The present government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken and implemented various initiatives to modernise and make agriculture profitable through its mechanisation. A unique example of the government’s initiatives is Tk 3,020 crore agricultural mechanisation project of the government".
Citing the mechanisation project is an exceptional initiative all over the world the minister added, "This project marked a new chapter in agriculture. There will be a new revolution in agriculture of the country. Agriculture will be profitable and the quality of life of rural people will be accelerated".
The workshop was chaired by Mesbahul Islam, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture. Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture (Planning) Abdur Rauf, Additional Secretary (PPC) Md Ruhul Amin Talukder, Additional Secretary (Extension) Hasanuzzaman Kallol, Additional Secretary (Administration) Wahida Akter, Director General of the Department of Agricultural Extension Asadullah and other heads of agencies, Director of Agricultural Mechanisation Project, representatives of manufacturers, manufacturers and importers were present.
