Local entrepreneurs demanded government subsidies to manufacture agricultural machinery in the country. For this, they have also demanded formulation of a policy.
The entrepreneurs also sought long-term credit facilities for the sector and reduction of interest rates on conventional loans.
They also suggested prohibiting import of all agriculture machinery parts which can be manufactured in the country.
The entrepreneurs placed their demands yesterday at a seminar on the last day of a two-day workshop titled, ‘Agriculture Mechanization in Bangladesh: The Future’ at Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on Tuesday.
The workshop was jointly organized by Feed the Future Bangladesh Serial Systems Initiative for South Asia - Mechanization and Extension Activity (CSISA-MEA) with Bangladesh Agricultural University, funded by USAID. The seminar was conducted by the Chief Scientific Officer of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) Mohammad Ayub Hossain.
Managing Director of Alim Industry Limited, Alimul Ahsan Chowdhury said, “This sector needs interest free long term loan facilities. The light engineering sector is also based on agriculture. Light engineering requires 10 to 15 years loan. The engineers in our workshops or those who are working need adequate training. The government has to come forward in this regard as well.”
“Currently, we are concerned about the raw material market. When we participate in a tender, we estimate a price. But later the price goes up for which we have to face losses. The government has to think about that too,” Alimul Ahsan added.
“We need technical consultants in this sector. If a device breaks down or fails, we can't figure out where to go or what to do. That is why technical consultants are essential. Policies need to be formulated to ensure that agricultural machinery parts are manufactured in the country and have the capacity to be produced in the country,” Alimul added further.
Jessore-based Shilpi Metal Foundry Proprietor Samsul Alam Swapan said, “There is no industrial park in the country for light engineering. We need an industrial park. We need long term credit for the development of the sector. Raw material prices have risen in the international market. Many workshops are now closed due to the iron metal crisis. There are many purchase orders but we are not able to deliver the machineries.”
The speakers further said that the domestic manufacturers are lagging behind in manufacturing agricultural machinery parts. Instruments are being imported from outside. Entrepreneurs are also losing interest in this. Subsidies are needed to make domestic agricultural machinery. That is why a policy is the demand of the time.
