Agriculture Minister Dr M Abdur Razzaque on Sunday said the country will be self-reliant in jute seed production within the next three years as a roadmap has been formulated to this end.
“We hope that the country will be self-reliant in jute seed production by next three years and then the country will no longer need to import jute seed from India,” he said.
He made the remarks while addressing a discussion and prize distribution ceremony marking the National Jute Day-2022 at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka as the chief guest.
Dr Razzaque said his ministry has formulated a roadmap as the country will never be dependent on other countries for jute seed as it is usually being produced in India on the infertile land and then gets exported to Bangladesh.
“Even our local farmers are not interested to cultivate jute seed compared to other crops. But our scientists of Jute Research Institute have developed a jute variety which is comparatively better than the one that India produces,” he added.
The minister mentioned that the government has been relentlessly working to make the newly innovated jute seed popular among the farmers.
“We will not import jute seeds from India when our newly innovated jute variety becomes popular.”
Talking about the jute industry, the ruling party leader said the industry was on the verge of destruction when the BNP-Jamaat alliance government was in power.
The jute production was only 10 lakh tonnes in the 2005-2006 fiscal year, he observed.
During the last 12 years, Dr Razzaque said the country’s jute production has increased to nearly double by producing about 17 lakh tonnes under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Chaired by Textiles and Jute Secretary M Abdur Rauf, the function was also addressed by Textiles and Jute Minister Golam Dastagir Gazi as a special guest.
Director General of the Department of Jute M Ataur Rahman gave the welcome address at the function.