Experts at a programme Sunday said dissemination of agriculture-based knowledge among farmers helped in boosting the country's crop production.
Use of modern technology like Internet in the dissemination of knowledge about agriculture would be more effective in the coming days, they added.
Agricultural Information Services (AIS) under the ministry of agriculture (MoA) organised the programme at the Gias Uddin Milky Auditorium in the city marking the 75th anniversary of the agriculture-based monthly 'Krishi Kotha'.
Speaking on the occasion as the chief guest, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said many daily newspapers, quarterlies and monthlies had been closed, but 'Krishi Kotha' still existed for setting its goals.
She said the agriculture extension offices' knowledge sharing with the farmers helped a lot in increasing productivity.
The country was now self-sufficient in production of rice, potato and other crops, the minister said, adding that it had been possible for adopting farmer-friendly policies and their implementation.
"But Krishi Kotha will have to adopt up-to-date technologies. It should also go online," she added.
AIS director Mizanur Rahman who presented a keynote paper at the programme said earlier the name of the magazine was 'Krishi Shamachar' which was first published in 1921 as a quarterly.
The magazine was renamed 'Krishi Kotha' and first published in 1941. Yearly sales of the monthly increased from 8,300 in 1998 to 52,400 in 2014.
AIS contributed nearly Tk 1.0 million to the national exchequer in the last financial year from the proceeds of Krishi Kotha.
The price of the monthly is Tk 5 while the government subsidy to the monthly now stands at Tk 4.5-Tk 5 per copy.
Chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the MoA Md Makbul Hossain, agriculture secretary Shyamol Kanti Ghosh, Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) acting director general Sheikh Hemayet Hossain, among others, proposed considering an increase in the publication of the monthly.
Mr Makbul Hossain said more than 50 per cent of the farmers and 90 per cent of their children are now literate. 'Krishi Kotha' should reach the farmers so that they could learn many things from the magazine, he added.
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