No food crisis in BD due to govt. steps and marginal farmers’ effort: SM Rezaul Karim

Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim has said that there is no food crisis in the country now due to timely steps of the present government and hard work of marginal farmers.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of distribution of free aus paddy seeds and chemical fertilizers among small and marginal farmers under the agricultural incentive program in the fiscal year 2021-22 and 2022-23 season at the Sadar Upazila Parishad auditorium in Pirojpur on Wednesday (April 20) the Minister made this comment by joining the program virtually. Pirojpur Sadar Upazila Administration and Department of Agricultural Extension, Pirojpur Sadar organized the event.

At the time, the minister said, no government in the history of Bangladesh has done so much to provide all kinds of assistance to the farmers as the government led by Sheikh Hasina is doing. Her government is procuring agricultural inputs, fertilizers and pesticides from abroad and supplying them to the farmers with more than half subsidy. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina believes that in order to save agrarian Bangladesh, farmers must be saved. And in order to save the farmer, in order to pay the price for the labor of the farmers, agricultural inputs and other assistance have to be delivered to them.

SM Rezaul Karim also said that farmers in Kansate and Thakurgaon were brutally shot dead during the BNP rule due to their demand for electricity. There is no dissatisfaction among the farmers during the time of Sheikh Hasina. She loves the farmer, loves agriculture. She is delivering electricity and agricultural inputs to the farmers.

He added that in the early stages of the Corona, many countries had said that there would be a food crisis in Bangladesh. But it did not happen. There is no food crisis in Bangladesh. However, this crisis can happen at any time if the agricultural production process is not maintained.

Pirojpur Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Bashir Ahmed presided over the function while Nazirpur Upazila Agriculture Officer Shipon Chandra Ghosh, Senior Upazila Fisheries Officer Saikat Mallik and other government officials working in the upazila were present.

Free aus paddy seeds and chemical fertilizers were distributed among 150 small and marginal farmers of Pirojpur Sadar Upazila on the occasion.