Special priority given to agri uplift, rural development

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FE Report
The budget for fiscal 2007-08 has given special priority to the development of agriculture sector and rural development, aiming to meet the country's growing demand for food and to keep inflation within tolerable limit.
To achieve the goal, the Finance Adviser AB Mirza Azizul Islam in his speech said the proposed budget has provided for the creation of an endowment allocation of Tk 3.50 billion for agricultural research and development activities for the next budget.
He also proposed an allocation of Tk 7.50 billion in the news budget to subsidise the extra cost that farmers will have to bear on account of diesel price hike.
The payment against such subsidy will only be made to cardholder farmers, the finance adviser mentioned.
"Due to recent diesel price-hike the production cost of paddy per kilogram has increased by Tk 0.50," he said.
The adviser further said although the farmers using electricity-powered pump receive 20 per cent subsidy against their electricity bills, no subsidy is given for diesel-driven irrigation.
About 3.3 million out of the total 4.8 million hectares of land under irrigation are irrigated through diesel-powered pumps during the 'Boro' season, he added.
Beside, the adviser also proposed to allocate Tk 15 billion as subsidy to fertiliser sub-sector in the budget for FY 2007-08.
In the current fiscal year, there was an allocation of Tk 11 billion for agriculture subsidy, which was increased to Tk 15.41 billion in the revised budget, he noted.
Highlighting the importance of fisheries and livestock sub-sector in the rural economy, the government remains focused on prevention of 'jhatka' fishing and quality control of fish and fishery-products.
Immediate and emergency measures have been taken to tackle the situation arising from the attack of avian influenza virus, he said,
Moreover, a special project costing Tk 200 million has been approved in addition to the allocation made from revenue budget to ensure constant monitoring, payment of compensation and hygienic production and marketing of poultry products, said the adviser.
In this backdrop, the adviser proposed to allocate Tk 1.0 billion to the Fund for Disaster Affected Small Farmers for FY 2007-08.