The government will honour 22 farmers with 'Agriculturally Important Person (AIP)' status for their outstanding contributions to the development of the country's agriculture sector in 2021.
The AIP status was introduced in 2020 and is similar in level to the Commercially Important Person (CIP) ranking.
A selection committee has picked up the new AIPs for the 2021 calendar year based on their significant role in the country's overall agriculture sector.
The agriculture ministry has already finalised and completed all kinds of procedures including the Prime Minister's approval.
A senior official of the agriculture ministry said that a good number of applications were received from interested people.
After scrutiny, 22 of the applicants were selected for the AIP status.
The home ministry and the Bangladesh Bank also scrutinised applications of those selected.
The state honour and other facilities for the AIP farmers are similar in status to those of the CIP awardees.
However, the CIP card holders are not eligible for the AIP status.
A source said the agriculture ministry is set to honour the 22 farmers as AIPs as soon as possible.
The selection committee has selected the AIPs as per the AIP Policy-2019.
The award will be given in five categories: 10 on agricultural production/commercial farming and agricultural processing industries; two on production of exportable agricultural items; four on agricultural innovations on technology or breed; three government recognised organisations (crop, fish, livestock and forestry sectors) and three Bangabandhu Gold Agriculture Award recipients.
For the first time, the government honoured 13 farmers with the AIP status for their outstanding contributions in agriculture in 2020.
Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdus Shahid is expected to hand over the awards as the chief guest at a programme with the agriculture secretary in the chair.
The ministry has already distributed responsibilities among its officials for preparation and holding the award-giving ceremony soon.
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