The agriculture sector's contribution to the country's GDP (gross domestic product) has declined over the last five years, according to the Economic Review-2014 of the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The share of the broad agriculture sector, including crops, vegetables, forests, livestock and fisheries, declined by 1.87 percentage points in the FY '14 from that in the FY '10.
The MoF data shows the farm sector's contribution, measured using the new base year 2005-06, was at 15.13 per cent of the Tk 13.5 trillion GDP at the current price in the FY '14.
The contribution was 17.001 per cent of the Tk 7.97 trillion GDP in the FY '10.
In the previous fiscal year, 2012-13, the share of the sector was 15.49 per cent of the Tk 11.98 trillion GDP.
But the growth of the sector in terms of GDP increased in the FY '14 despite falling gradually over four consecutive years since the FY '10.
Crops, vegetables, livestock and forests jointly achieved 2.46 per cent growth in the FY '14 against 1.47 per cent in the FY'13, the Economic Review revealed.
Fisheries achieved 6.49 per cent growth in terms of GDP in the FY '14 against 6.18 per cent in the previous fiscal, the MoF data showed.
When asked, an agriculture ministry official told the FE that the share of the broad agriculture sector in the GDP was 18.7 per cent in the FY '13, when measured based on the earlier base year 1995-96.
"The new base year cuts the agriculture sector's share by 3.2 percentage points, But it is still the biggest employment generating sector accounting for 47.5 per cent of the total manpower employed," he pointed out.
Professorial Fellow of the state-run think-tank Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Dr Asaduzzaman said growth of the agriculture sector in terms of GDP should be 3.5 to 4.0 per cent at least.
"The country is yet to see that much use of technology in farming, though it could bring about a revolution in the farm sector. The government should increase the fund allocation for the farm sector every year," he said.
He pointed out that nearly 15 per cent farmers in the country passed higher secondary exams.
"Imagine how our agriculture could benefit, if these educated farmers can buy modern equipment at reasonable prices," he said.
Farm economist Golam Hafiz Kennedy said the subsidy for the agriculture sector was 1.14 per cent in terms of GDP in the budget for FY '12. The subsidy declined to 0.75 per cent in the FY '13 and again to 0.66 per cent in the FY '14.
The finance minister in his budget speech for the next fiscal (2014-15) allocated 4.96 per cent of the total budget for the agriculture sector against 5.68 per cent in the FY '14 and 8.52 per cent in the FY '13.
Agriculture\\\'s share in GDP on the wane
Yasir Wardad | Published: June 09, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: June 08, 2014 22:15:30
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