Editorial
Farm output
Pragmatic policy needed to attain food security
THE occasion of World Food Day provided the opportunity for local and UN agriculture experts and the government top executives to take a deep look at the prevailing conditions in the agriculture sector of the country. Though we have heard of some success stories like bumper Boro cultivation past season to inspire us, yet we believe a great deal still remains to be achieved to reach the desired goal. There is no denying that with the rapid growth of our population the necessity to pay more attention to increasing domestic food output is but a stark reality that has to be addressed with more dynamism in thoughts and action. Food being the daily requirement of the fifteen crore people of the country, there is no scope to push the issue behind other less important ones. Boosting domestic farm output has become more pertinent today as the price index of food items in the international markets fail to remain at a stable level. From our past experiences we strongly feel the country needs a pragmatic and sustainable agricultural policy backed by government and non-government support to farmers to ensure food security. It needs no emphasising that Bangladesh, because of the lack of a stable agriculture policy, is faced with multifarious problems that need immediate attention of the government.
There are also other factors associated with cultivation that need to be addressed by the experts. For example, it is common knowledge that rampant use of chemicals as fertilisers and insecticides is damaging the soil quality of the farmlands and these chemical agents are polluting water resources in the nearby water bodies. Therefore, agriculture experts will have to find alternatives to these harmful chemicals to ensure safety of food that we eat. The amount of loss of crops in natural calamities like cyclones and floods is another area that needs to be looked into by the experts. The loss of crops under such circumstances must be reduced to the minimum through adopting modern harvesting and storage methods.
A pragmatic policy will benefit the farmers only when the relevant agencies will ensure timely supply of seeds, fertiliser, water and other inputs. A break in the chain will prove to be disastrous for the sector. We support the views of the experts that vigorous attempts have to be made to attain the much needed food security through enhancing domestic farm production with the application of low-cost technologies suitable for our country.
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