Shoring up agriculture
Wednesday, 20 January 2010
AGRICULTURE continues to be a dominant player in the Bangladesh economy despite continuous decline of its relative share in gross domestic product (GDP). Over 60 per cent of the country's population is still dependent on agriculture and related farm and non-farm activities for their livelihood. Besides, agriculture does play a central role in ensuring food security at the national, regional and household levels. The global food price-shock in the years 2007 and 2008 and its fall-outs have, again, highlighted the importance of agriculture in maintaining food price stability and combating inflation.
As far as Bangladesh is concerned, a fall of 2.0 and 3.0 per cent in annual growth rate of industrial or services sector does not have much of any destabilising effect on the economy. But a similar decline in the case of agriculture sector, particularly in food production, gives rise to lots of problems. So, any improvement in the performance of the farm sector is bound to generate many positive developments, including additional employment generation and poverty alleviation. The other areas of the economy do also gain from a vibrant and dynamic agriculture sector.
In this backdrop, the recommendations made by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) during its meeting held last Sunday with Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury to help raise the contribution of agriculture sector from the existing 21 per cent to 30 per cent of the GDP are time-befitting. The actions that the MCCI has suggested does not otherwise go much in line with those that the trade bodies usually urge the government to implement. The chambers and associations of traders are usually found to be more interested in trade and investment facilitation measures, including tax and interest rate-cut or loan-waivers. However, a few of the MCCI's recommendations, if accepted and implemented by the government, would, directly or indirectly, benefit the businesses involved in food processing and marketing of farm inputs, including seed. But that should not be a reason enough to cast any doubt on the well-intended suggestions of the MCCI to help raise the overall share, in relative terms, of the agricultural sector in the country's GDP.
Through its suggestions, the MCCI has reminded the government of its responsibilities about ensuring timely availability of farm inputs, including seed, fertiliser, power or fuel oils, procurement of food grains directly from the farmers and disbursement of credit on easy terms. More importantly, it has urged the government to make the farmers aware of the modern farming techniques, to improve the quality of research works at the level of public sector research organisations and to extend incentives to private organisations engaged in innovative research and development activities.
The MCCI has put forward its suggestions to the incumbent agricultural minister who is otherwise known for her sincerity and sense of purpose. Yet managing affairs of a vast sector such as agriculture is not that easy because of a non-responsive and rent-seeking bureaucracy and others involved in service-delivery mechanism. But for reasons of food security and poverty alleviation, there must be determined efforts, backed by a strong political will, to help bring about a radical change in the overall management and development of the agricultural sector. Since the country's arable land has been shrinking to accommodate housing and meet infrastructural needs, there is hardly any alternative to increasing production of food grains and other crops through the application of modern farm techniques.
However, growers would feel themselves encouraged to adopt such technology if only they are assured of fair price for their produce. Here, the private sector has also an important role, particularly in marketing of agricultural goods, marketing and storage of a large part of the food grains and other farm products and inputs. So, it is equally important that the private sector plays a pro-active role in all areas of the agriculture sector. Otherwise, the share of agricultural sector in the GDP can hardly be raised under the given circumstances.
As far as Bangladesh is concerned, a fall of 2.0 and 3.0 per cent in annual growth rate of industrial or services sector does not have much of any destabilising effect on the economy. But a similar decline in the case of agriculture sector, particularly in food production, gives rise to lots of problems. So, any improvement in the performance of the farm sector is bound to generate many positive developments, including additional employment generation and poverty alleviation. The other areas of the economy do also gain from a vibrant and dynamic agriculture sector.
In this backdrop, the recommendations made by the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) during its meeting held last Sunday with Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury to help raise the contribution of agriculture sector from the existing 21 per cent to 30 per cent of the GDP are time-befitting. The actions that the MCCI has suggested does not otherwise go much in line with those that the trade bodies usually urge the government to implement. The chambers and associations of traders are usually found to be more interested in trade and investment facilitation measures, including tax and interest rate-cut or loan-waivers. However, a few of the MCCI's recommendations, if accepted and implemented by the government, would, directly or indirectly, benefit the businesses involved in food processing and marketing of farm inputs, including seed. But that should not be a reason enough to cast any doubt on the well-intended suggestions of the MCCI to help raise the overall share, in relative terms, of the agricultural sector in the country's GDP.
Through its suggestions, the MCCI has reminded the government of its responsibilities about ensuring timely availability of farm inputs, including seed, fertiliser, power or fuel oils, procurement of food grains directly from the farmers and disbursement of credit on easy terms. More importantly, it has urged the government to make the farmers aware of the modern farming techniques, to improve the quality of research works at the level of public sector research organisations and to extend incentives to private organisations engaged in innovative research and development activities.
The MCCI has put forward its suggestions to the incumbent agricultural minister who is otherwise known for her sincerity and sense of purpose. Yet managing affairs of a vast sector such as agriculture is not that easy because of a non-responsive and rent-seeking bureaucracy and others involved in service-delivery mechanism. But for reasons of food security and poverty alleviation, there must be determined efforts, backed by a strong political will, to help bring about a radical change in the overall management and development of the agricultural sector. Since the country's arable land has been shrinking to accommodate housing and meet infrastructural needs, there is hardly any alternative to increasing production of food grains and other crops through the application of modern farm techniques.
However, growers would feel themselves encouraged to adopt such technology if only they are assured of fair price for their produce. Here, the private sector has also an important role, particularly in marketing of agricultural goods, marketing and storage of a large part of the food grains and other farm products and inputs. So, it is equally important that the private sector plays a pro-active role in all areas of the agriculture sector. Otherwise, the share of agricultural sector in the GDP can hardly be raised under the given circumstances.