Self-reliance in seed production necessary for sustainable food security: FBCCI

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Self-reliance in seed production necessary for sustainable food security: FBCCI

Peoples Time Desk

Published : Wednesday, 6 April, 2022 at 5:32 PM, Count : 452

Self-reliance in seed production necessary for sustainable food security: FBCCI

According to BADC, only 7% of seeds are produced locally. The remaining 93 percent has to be imported.

In such a situation, the members of the FBCCI's Standing Committee on Agriculture, Agricultural Processing and Agro-based Industries have called for increasing local seed production to make Bangladesh's food security sustainable at their first meeting.

FBCCI President Md. Jashim Uddin was present as the chief guest at the meeting held at the FBCCI office on Wednesday morning. He said that food security is one of the most important issues for any country. The Agri-production kept Bangladesh economy at a relatively better position during Covid epidemic.

The government has taken initiative to turn agro-based industries into export-oriented industries. Therefore, the FBCCI Chief urged the private sector entrepreneurs to come forward to invest in this sector. He said that although Bangladeshi agricultural products are exported abroad, their buyers are mainly expatriate Bangladeshis. PwC has been appointed to conduct research in the London market to find out why these products are not being sold in the mainstream market. After receiving the research data, the FBCCI President hopes that it will be possible to further increase the export of Bangladeshi agricultural products abroad.

“The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries are interested in taking halal food from Bangladesh. Hence there is a lot of potential in this sector.” The President informed.

Earlier, the director in-charge of the committee Dr. Ferdousi Begum said huge import dependence of seeds is a risk to the food security of the country. Achieving capacity in seed production requires long term investment. Therefore Dr. Ferdousi urged government to invest more in this sector.

Tasfia Jashim, co-chair of the committee, said that 54 per cent of the labor force in agriculture is women. Equal pay for this huge number of workers has not yet been ensured. At the same time, women own 10 percent or less of the land. Tasfia Jashim said that formal recognition of women's contribution to sustainable development in agriculture is important.

Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Bab, senior vice-president of the FBCCI, assured that the recommendations received at the standing committee meeting would be conveyed to the concerned government officials for implementation. The FBCCI senior vice-president also promised any assistance from the FBCCI for the development of the agricultural sector.

Earlier, the chairman of the committee Mr. Md. Abul Hashem said that a national conference will be organized soon on the initiative of the standing committee.

Also present at the meeting were FBCCI Director, Bijoy Kumar Kejriwal, Harun or Rashid, Secretary General Mohammad Mahfuzul Hoque, Co-Chairmen of the Standing Committee and other members.

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