Move to execute agricultural master plan for coastal dists

The government has taken a fresh move to implement its master plan for agricultural development in 14 coastal districts of the country's southern region, officials have said.
As per the move, all relevant ministries will sit tomorrow (Sunday) at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) to devise its implementation and funding mechanism, they have said.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith and Minister for Agriculture Begum Motia Chowdhury will be present at the meeting as chief guest and special guest respectively. It will be chaired by Secretary of the ERD Mohammad Mejbahuddin.
 "The master plan for agricultural development in the southern region of Bangladesh has already been prepared and developed. We will meet next week to review its various aspects and financing issue," a senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) told the FE.
"We look forward to the successful implementation of the plan so that the southern region could move ahead keeping pace with the socio-economic development of the country," he added.  
The objective of the master plan would to provide a roadmap for integrated agricultural development in the 14 coastal  districts aimed at sustainable food security, poverty reduction and livelihood development for the coastal poor, he also said.
The total investment for the 26 programmes across 10 components of the plan is estimated at Tk 570 billion and it will cover the period from 2013 to 2021.
Major components of the plan are crops, horticulture and agro-forestry, fisheries, livestock, nutrition, water management, drainage management, polder improvement, agri-business, agricultural credit and capacity building etc.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the MoA jointly launched the master plan for agricultural development in the southern region of Bangladesh on July 30, 2013.
Implementation of the plan for agricultural development in the southern region would help pull about one-fifth of the population of the country out of poverty despite constraints with multiple challenges, sources concerned have said.
The southern region constitutes one-third of the country's total area and the government efforts for the region are focused on optimised use of natural resources for increasing productivity of all sectors of agriculture including crop, fisheries, livestock and forestry.
With the technical and financial support from the FAO, the Ministry of Water Resources, the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, the Ministry of Environment and Forests and other concerned ministries have provided invaluable support to formulation of the plan, MoA sources have said.
The natural resources in the southern region could be utilised to boost production of food grain, vegetables, fruits, livestock, forestry and fisheries, according to the master plan.
It could contribute to enhancing export earnings from shrimp and marine fisheries. The master plan has identified the immense development potentials of the region keeping in view the challenges in the region and the current scenario.