Govt firm to make country self-sufficient in food: Matia
FE Report | Friday, 6 March 2009
Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury Thursday said the present government is determined to turn Bangladesh into a food-sufficient country as it was during 1996 to 2001.
'The country is now import-dependent. So the government is working hard to be a food-sufficient country like in the past,' she said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the '6th International Poultry Show and Seminar 2009' at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the city.
World's Poultry Science Association- Bangladesh Branch (WPSA-BB) has organised the three-day show to create an opportunity for the stakeholders to exchange ideas about the most recent technologies developed in the field.
A number of poultry farms, medicine and equipment manufacturers, importers, scientists, specialists and entrepreneurs from both home and abroad are expected to attend the biennial event.
Speaking as the chief guest, Matia said the country was self-sufficient in food during the tenure of 1996-2001 government. 'But it became dependent on food import later. The present government is determined to make the country food-sufficient again.'
She also said her government has reduced the price of fertiliser and diesel so that the cost of farming declines.
'The prices of food items have also started to decrease and the government is also committed to keeping the prices within the reach of the people,' she added.
The agriculture minister said the availability of animal protein is shrinking as the number of water-bodies and grazing-grounds in the country has decreased.
'We can go for vertical development in this sector. It can play an important role in meeting our protein need,' she mentioned.
She said it could be possible to meet the protein demand if the poultry sector was founded on a sound footing.
Matia also criticised the immediate past government's move to destroy all poultry farms within one kilometre of an affected area.
'When Bird Flu battered neighbouring West Bengal of India, the affected farms were only destroyed. But here all farms within one kilometre of the affected area were destroyed. I don't understand why it was done.
'The poultry industry that has employed thousands of people has reached the brink of destruction by creating a panic among the stakeholders.
'If money was provided to protect the farms, then we might not have to buy every four eggs at Tk 30 today.'
The agriculture minister also urged scientists and manufacturers to produce vaccine instead of just depending on import. The government would also come forward with assistance in this regard, she added.
Matia informed contribution of the livestock sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) is over 3 per cent, 25 per cent of which comes from the poultry industry.
'So the government will take all necessary steps so that the poultry farmers can again get back to their business.'
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdul Latif Biswas said a modern and effective Poultry Policy has been passed for this booming sector.
He assured all stakeholders of the government's allout support to restructure the affected sector. Action against the middlemen would be taken, the minister added.
Dr Piet Simons, former president of WPSA, said poultry meat now accounts for about 33 per cent of all meat consumed and the average annual per capita consumption of poultry meat has increased by 2.4 per cent over the last 20 years. Egg consumption has also increased rapidly and now stands at over 150 eggs per person per year, he informed.
Moshiur Rahman, president of WPSA-BB, said poultry industry has been making its contribution to the economy for over a decade and around 5-6 million people are linked directly or indirectly with it.
He informed that the sector annually added around Tk 500 million to the GDP and it was 10 per cent of the agro-GDP. Apart from creating employments, it had also offered an opportunity for some related business like maize cultivation, he added.
Organisers informed about 171 stalls have been allotted and 37 local and foreign technical papers have been selected for presentation at this year's event.
Rahman also said 50 per cent poultry farms had to be shut down and the industry lost around Tk 50 billion due to the Avian Influenza outbreak in the last two years.
'The farmers were the worst affected. The retail price of poultry egg and meat has increased a bit due mainly to mischievousness of the middlemen.'
He proposed setting up of retail poultry products sales centres across the country including Dhaka to get rid of it.
He also requested the government to exempt interests on previous loans taken by the farm-owners and provide them loans at less interest rate to make currently inoperative farms functional as most of the 5-6 million people involved in the industry are out of work now.
WPSA-BB has been working as a member of the Holland-based WPSA that has 6500 members in 55 countries around the globe and has been organising this international show and seminar regularly since 1999.
Mohammad Shah Alam, secretary of Fisheries and Livestock Ministry, Dr Bob Pym, president of WPSA, and Dr MA Saleque, secretary of WPSA-BB, also spoke on the occasion.
'The country is now import-dependent. So the government is working hard to be a food-sufficient country like in the past,' she said while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the '6th International Poultry Show and Seminar 2009' at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the city.
World's Poultry Science Association- Bangladesh Branch (WPSA-BB) has organised the three-day show to create an opportunity for the stakeholders to exchange ideas about the most recent technologies developed in the field.
A number of poultry farms, medicine and equipment manufacturers, importers, scientists, specialists and entrepreneurs from both home and abroad are expected to attend the biennial event.
Speaking as the chief guest, Matia said the country was self-sufficient in food during the tenure of 1996-2001 government. 'But it became dependent on food import later. The present government is determined to make the country food-sufficient again.'
She also said her government has reduced the price of fertiliser and diesel so that the cost of farming declines.
'The prices of food items have also started to decrease and the government is also committed to keeping the prices within the reach of the people,' she added.
The agriculture minister said the availability of animal protein is shrinking as the number of water-bodies and grazing-grounds in the country has decreased.
'We can go for vertical development in this sector. It can play an important role in meeting our protein need,' she mentioned.
She said it could be possible to meet the protein demand if the poultry sector was founded on a sound footing.
Matia also criticised the immediate past government's move to destroy all poultry farms within one kilometre of an affected area.
'When Bird Flu battered neighbouring West Bengal of India, the affected farms were only destroyed. But here all farms within one kilometre of the affected area were destroyed. I don't understand why it was done.
'The poultry industry that has employed thousands of people has reached the brink of destruction by creating a panic among the stakeholders.
'If money was provided to protect the farms, then we might not have to buy every four eggs at Tk 30 today.'
The agriculture minister also urged scientists and manufacturers to produce vaccine instead of just depending on import. The government would also come forward with assistance in this regard, she added.
Matia informed contribution of the livestock sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) is over 3 per cent, 25 per cent of which comes from the poultry industry.
'So the government will take all necessary steps so that the poultry farmers can again get back to their business.'
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdul Latif Biswas said a modern and effective Poultry Policy has been passed for this booming sector.
He assured all stakeholders of the government's allout support to restructure the affected sector. Action against the middlemen would be taken, the minister added.
Dr Piet Simons, former president of WPSA, said poultry meat now accounts for about 33 per cent of all meat consumed and the average annual per capita consumption of poultry meat has increased by 2.4 per cent over the last 20 years. Egg consumption has also increased rapidly and now stands at over 150 eggs per person per year, he informed.
Moshiur Rahman, president of WPSA-BB, said poultry industry has been making its contribution to the economy for over a decade and around 5-6 million people are linked directly or indirectly with it.
He informed that the sector annually added around Tk 500 million to the GDP and it was 10 per cent of the agro-GDP. Apart from creating employments, it had also offered an opportunity for some related business like maize cultivation, he added.
Organisers informed about 171 stalls have been allotted and 37 local and foreign technical papers have been selected for presentation at this year's event.
Rahman also said 50 per cent poultry farms had to be shut down and the industry lost around Tk 50 billion due to the Avian Influenza outbreak in the last two years.
'The farmers were the worst affected. The retail price of poultry egg and meat has increased a bit due mainly to mischievousness of the middlemen.'
He proposed setting up of retail poultry products sales centres across the country including Dhaka to get rid of it.
He also requested the government to exempt interests on previous loans taken by the farm-owners and provide them loans at less interest rate to make currently inoperative farms functional as most of the 5-6 million people involved in the industry are out of work now.
WPSA-BB has been working as a member of the Holland-based WPSA that has 6500 members in 55 countries around the globe and has been organising this international show and seminar regularly since 1999.
Mohammad Shah Alam, secretary of Fisheries and Livestock Ministry, Dr Bob Pym, president of WPSA, and Dr MA Saleque, secretary of WPSA-BB, also spoke on the occasion.