The overall agricultural growth has been slowed down by a fall in the growth of rice production, revealed a new research released by International Food Policy Research Institute on Wednesday.
Between 2012 and 2016, the overall agricultural sector recorded an average growth of 2.4 per cent with rice production growing at a rate of 0.7 per cent, said the research. But in the preceding five years, from 2007 to 2011, the average agricultural growth was 4.7 per cent with rice production growing at a rate of 4.8 per cent, according to the research.
‘Agricultural growth is key to poverty reduction. Recent slowdown of agricultural growth needs attention,’ said IFPRI country representative for Bangladesh Akhter Ahmed as he presented findings from his organisation’s research at a workshop.
IFPRI and USAID jointly organised the workshop titled ‘Promoting agricultural growth, technology adoption, and crop diversity’ at a Dhaka city hotel in the morning.
Food minister Qamrul Islam said that the growth in rice production was falling because of farmers not getting a legitimate price for their produces.
Referring to recent rice price hike, Qamrul said that the good side of an increase in rice price was that it benefited farmers. ‘There is no reason for a farmer to continue rice production if there is no profit for him in the business,’ said Qamrul. He urged all to think about producers before criticizing rice price hike. His comment led to a debate during the open discussion session at the workshop where discussants said that the recent hike in the rice price was related to supply shortfall and it did not help the producers anyway.
State minister for women and children affairs Meher Afroze Chumki, additional secretary Mohammad Nazmul Islam, USAID mission director Janina Jaruzelski, IFPRI director general Shenggen Fan, and Krishi Gobeshona Foundation executive director Wais Kabir also participated in the seminar.
The participants called on the government and the international donors as well for investing more in rice research for finding more high yielding verities for increasing rice production.
This article was originally published in The New Age on 05 October 2017.