An allocation of Tk 22,489 crore was proposed by the Agriculture Ministry in the budget for 2020-21 fiscal year (FY), which was Tk 21,484 in FY 2019-20.
The Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal made the announcement while the budget for the next fiscal was placed at the National Parliament on Thursday.
The minister in his speech said, “We have been successful in sustaining self-sufficiency in rice production and maintaining a high growth rate in agriculture. Various steps will need to be taken in agricultural production, marketing and different other areas to tackle the imminent challenge of food scarcity. As per Prime Minister’s directives to ensure not even an inch of land is left without farming so as to ward off any possibility of food scarcity in the aftermath of Covid-19. Ministry of Agriculture and all attached departments will take necessary steps in this regard”.
As the pandemic has affected the country’s agriculture sector, to effectively combat the effects of the virus, this year the government will continue its interventions, such as agricultural subsidies, incentives and support cards for fertilizers, seeds and other agricultural inputs, support for agricultural rehabilitation, special agriculture credit at low interests and easy terms, etc. at the required levels.
Besides, farmers’ subsidies on procurement of agricultural equipment used in harvesting crops will continue. The number of farmers holding agricultural input support cards currently stands at 2 crore 8 lakh 13 thousand 477.
Finance Minister also said, “We have taken up a project of Tk 3,198 crore to promote farm mechanization. An allocation of Tk 9,500 crore is made in the next fiscal year for agricultural subsidies. An allocation of Tk 5,000 for the Agriculture Refinancing Scheme will also be made through Bangladesh Bank in the next fiscal year. As in previous years, sales price for chemical fertilisers will be kept unchanged in the next fiscal year irrespective of their import costs, and we will continue to provide incentives to the agriculture sector”.
The country has achieved self-sufficiency in fish and meat production, and efforts are continuing towards attaining similar achievement in egg and milk production. But, due to prolonged lockdowns in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, a formidable challenge has emerged in marketing fishery products.
“The government will continue to provide necessary support to tackle the challenge. Besides, the government will implement necessary special initiatives so that the fisheries sector can regain its pre-coronavirus position. Effective steps will be taken in the next fiscal year to continue research activities to innovate new variety of fresh water fish and effective measures will be taken to develop new technologies for sea fishing”, added the minister.”
To ensure proper growth of the livestocks sector, development of three livestock related technologies and transfer of these three technologies will be made, and activities to implement 40 research projects will be completed in the next fiscal year.
