Agro economists, representatives of agro-based industries, business leaders and development partners at a workshop on Sunday called for introducing crop insurance facilities to save farmers facing crop-damage risks during natural calamities.
They stressed revamping the agriculture sector through mechanisation and commercialisation of the agriculture production to make it economically vibrant.
At a workshop, they also called for more local and international investments including by the country’s diaspora in Europe and America to develop the potential agribusiness sector in Bangladesh.
The Board of Investment in collaboration with International Finance Corporation organised the workshop titled ‘Agribusiness Industry: An Emerging Potential for Investment’ at a city hotel.
Speaking on the occasion, BOI executive chairman SA Samad said traditional agriculture in the country is a ‘high risk’ undertaking as there is no system of insurance coverage for the farmers.
Describing agriculture as a predominant sector, he said although the elite segment of society undermined the agriculture sector but it has kept on providing food to the millions of people.
Welcoming more investments in the agribusiness sector, Samad said there are only 4-5 products dominating the country’s exports including readymade garments, textile, seafood, diversified jute goods and tea.
Bangladesh Cold Storage Association president Jasim Uddin said potato, one of the major agricultural products, should be properly preserved for commercial utilisation of its diversified forms.
The government should ensure some facilities including uninterrupted electricity, soft loans for agribusiness and easy transportation, he said, adding that huge amount of potatoes were being damaged due to poor preserving system.
DD Ghosal, head of marketing at Bombay Sweets and Co., said crop insurance facilities adopted in India have been encouraging the farmers to grow more crops without feeling tensions for natural disasters.
The government should immediately introduce ‘crop insurance facilities’ for the farmers to boost agricultural production and agribusiness in the country, he said.
Ferdaus Ara Begum, chief executive officer of Business Initiative Leading Development, said there are huge potentials of agri-based industries for mango juices, jute goods, dairy-product and poultry product industries in Bangladesh.
Market-wise research should be done to further develop the agribusiness in the country, she added.
IFC consultant Andrew Sergeant presented a keynote paper at the workshop where he said BoI should have encouraged research to evaluate trade data for opportunities, to benchmark competitiveness against other countries, lobby other ministries, to seek international strategic partners and to solve cross-cutting problems to drive the agri-business investment forward.
IFC country manager Kyle F Kelhofer and BoI executive member Nahash Chandra Mandol also spoke at the function.
-With New Age input
