Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday reiterated her call to the countrymen to boost food production for their own, urging them to cut dependency on imported products alongside increasing exports to tackle any crisis.
“Dependency on imported products has to be cut down and we all should try it,” she said.
The premier made this call while delivering her valedictory speech at the 20th session of the 11th Parliament in the evening.
Laying importance on intensifying the production, she told the Parliament that her government has been trying to increase the export for earning foreign currency.
“Our (the government) only endeavor is to keep the country's people well and healthy,” she said.
Mentioning that the country now has a storage of 15,73,485 metric tons of food grains, the prime minister said there is nothing to worry in this regard.
Besides, a discussion is going on to import another 530,000 metric tons of rice from India, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam while few agreements have also been done already to this end, she informed.
In addition, works on importing 650,000 of wheat are going on, she said, adding imported rice and wheat have already started to arrive in the country from Ukraine and adjacent regions as Russia lifted the ban on export.
“However, it will take some time as a few more ships are waiting to arrive at our ports,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina noted the good news is that Aman crops in the country are growing well and the production is expected to exceed 1.63 million metric tons beyond the target of 1.49 million metric tons although flood and cyclone hit the country.
She revealed that the government is taking measures to collect the rice from farmers by increasing Tk2.
Similarly, the country is able to yield Aus crop beyond the target while Boro production will also exceed the target, she added.
“Actually, we are laying emphasis on food production,” she said, referring to her call to the people since the Covid-19 pandemic to produce food whatever they can in every inch of land.
“Produce whatever you can and collect your food,” she reiterated, saying that the crisis is the outcome of war and sanction. “I made this call (to the countrymen for food production) as a precautionary measure”, she added.
The premier said that they will not leave any inch of land uncultivated in the upcoming Robi season.
She, however, again made her call to the countrymen to exercise austerity alongside saving.
The head of the government asked the Members of the Parliament to go to their constituency and make aware the people so that they don't waste.
“We can overcome this crisis easily if we practice austerity and stop wastage,” she added.