POBNEWS24, Dhaka, June 10, 2022: There is no wailing about food in the country, said the Minister of Agriculture. Abdur Razzak said, we are very self-sufficient in food. There will be no famine or wailing for food, Inshallah. People’s income has increased now. So those who used to eat one meal now eat two meals
He made the remarks at a post-budget press conference at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital on Friday (June 10) afternoon.
The minister said the price of fine rice has gone up. Because the people of the country now eat thin rice. The price of that rice is 74-75 rupees. The price of coarse rice has not increased. It is between 45 to 48 rupees. A large number of people in rural Bengal eat fine rice. 70-80 percent people live in villages. The government is helping 70-80 percent of the people.
The agriculture minister said the price of fertilizer has quadrupled. So far we have spent 24,000 crore rupees on subsidies. The huge amount of money that is being spent is being received by the people of the village. Going to the farmers. It is given through the dealer so there is no chance of nine-six with it. If we did not give it, where would the state of agriculture be? Farmers’ income would have decreased along with production. They were in various crises including food and money.
Mentioning that dependence on rice should be reduced, he said that one person used to eat 417 grams of rice. Now it has come down to 360 grams. That’s a good sign. No country in the world, including Japan, eats more than 200 grams of rice.
He said the people of Bangladesh do not want to work more than 8 hours now. In this context, I have seen that if you compare it with income, then of course the price has gone up. There is a food crisis. At the moment, farmers are not able to sell onions and potatoes because the prices are low. Farmers are facing problems due to low price of chicken. Again, the prices of some products are lower.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Health Minister Zahid Malek, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Sham Rezaul Karim, Education Minister Dr. Dipu Moni, Minister of State for Planning. Shamsul Alam, Governor Fazle Kabir, NBR Chairman Rahmatun Momin, Finance Secretary Abdur Rauf Talukder and others.
