That the political mayhem over the past several months has seriously dented some of the vital sectors of the economy -- notably exports -- is unquestionable. However, there are a host of other sectors and sub-sectors which, too, had to put up with the same lot, and are now faced with dire consequences. Putting some of such affected ones in a cluster would reveal that most of them are the farm-based production units, mostly small and medium, that are imperilled to a near shut-down condition.
Since October last year, agriculture and farm-based production units -- an immensely flourishing sector in rural areas involving the livelihood of millions -- have suffered shocks not experienced for a while. A news report, published in this newspaper, attempted to estimate the losses suffered by the sector as a fall-out from hartals and country-wide blockades and indicated that losses, until December 2013, could be as high as Tk 118 billion. Agriculture and farm-based industries including crops, vegetables, poultry, fisheries, livestock and the linkage industries alike are to bear the brunt of unaffordable losses. Disruption of supply-chain has hit the vegetable growers the most. According to the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), around 40,000 tonnes of vegetable got wasted daily due to disruption in transportation. This has, no doubt, seriously jolted the rural economy, especially rural savings which, according to the recent data, has been growing at a commendable pace. According to the Economic Census 2013 of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the country's economic units in the rural areas have seen a robust growth over the past one decade.
As for the farm-based production units such as poultry and fisheries, the situation is no less precarious. And because of relatively high investments, substantially catered to, by banks in the form of credits, the owners of poultry and fishery units are not only faced with losses but also foresee a disaster, as many of them are not capable to ride out under the prevailing circumstances. Poultry industry insiders say that the sector has incurred losses worth Tk 40 billion in the last quarter of 2013. The feed industry, integrally linked to the survival of the poultry industry, has reportedly suffered losses of about Tk 10 billion in the aforementioned period. As a single sector rooted mostly in rural locations, poultry in Bangladesh has its own success story, despite the many odds it is faced with. The sector is estimated to contribute 4.0 per cent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The sector has so far invested around Tk 250 billion and its annual turnover is Tk 300 billion.
Given the state of things, it is indeed difficult to suggest any effective bail-out mechanism for the agricultural and farm-based industries. The poultry owners, in a rally organised in the capital recently, have sought a bail-out package from the government by way of interest waivers for six months from October last year. The fisheries and other allied farm-based entrepreneurs have also voiced their similar concern for survival in the absence of some supportive actions by the government. The authorities concerned should consider an appropriate mechanisms to mitigate the sufferings and losses for the sake of the survival of the crucially important rural production units.
