It is heartening to note that the government has undertaken an initiative to cultivate every inch of land so that there is no shortage of food in the country. As reported by this daily on Monday, the aim of the initiative is to increase food production by bringing vast uncultivated lands under cultivation and to reduce import dependence. It is worth mentioning that the government has already taken a plan to increase crop production in fallow lands in the char areas of the country.
Bangladesh has achieved self-sufficiency in terms of food production and being self-sufficient in food production is indeed a great achievement for a country of 17 million people where more than 1252 people live per square kilometre. We are an agriculture-based country where the contribution of this sector to our economy and the livelihood is immense. Agricultural sector of the country has gone through a revolution in the last decade.
Prudent measures are necessary so that the
current state of food production can be
sustained as well as increased
The incumbent government approved the National Agriculture Policy 2018 with a view to achieving sustainable food and nutrition security through an efficient utilisation of the natural resources. We have tripled our rice production over the last few decades. We have seen substantial growth in agro-production, we have invented high-yield crops and consequently all the sub-sectors including fisheries, animal farming and processed agro-food have underscored remarkable growth that indicates a sustainable food system.
As we are moving towards commercialisation of our agriculture sector, we need to have proper infrastructure in place for facilitating this transition. Also, the government should take necessary measures to improve our rural infrastructures and communication system so that farmers are able to reap the full benefit of their produces. Needless to say, improved rural roads and infrastructures will make the movement of the produce easier from the farm to the market.
Prudent measures are necessary to sustain and increase the current state of food production. It needs no emphasising that in order to make our production growth sustainable we need to adopt advanced technologies in the agriculture sector. In this regard, the government should take necessary steps to involve private sector and increase its investment in research and development of new technologies.
