Govt banks on agriculture to keep inflation in check

The government continues to rely on agriculture to give people some respite from the stubborn high inflation, as the proposed national budget for fiscal 2023-24 has announced the continuation of all forms of subsidies and the introduction of some tax benefits for this critical sector.

To promote agricultural development, the budget proposes maintaining existing duty rates on agricultural inputs such as fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, staple food items, and other daily commodities. Moreover, it proposes maintaining a 20% rebate on power bills for irrigation and a 20% cash incentive on exports of agro-products.

To modernise the agriculture sector, the government has been providing farmers up to 50%-70% in subsidies on the purchasing prices of 12 types of agro machinery.

In a bid to accelerate farm mechanisation efforts, the budget proposes withdrawing the 5% advance tax on the import of rice transplanters, agricultural drier machines, sprayers, and potato planters. This move aims to encourage farmers to invest in agricultural machinery, ensuring timely planting and harvesting while addressing concerns about the availability of farm workers.

To safeguard the agro-processing industry, the finance minister proposed increasing the duty rate on processed cashew nut imports from 15.23% to 43%.

The Finance Ministry has proposed an allocation of Tk43,700 crore for the agriculture sector in the new budget, which Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presented at the Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday. The allocation for the agriculture sector was Tk42,108 crore in the initial budget for FY23.

Meanwhile, Tk25,122 crore has been allocated for the agriculture ministry for FY24 in the proposed budget. The allocation was Tk24,224 crore in FY23.

The finance minister in his budget speech stated that synchronised cultivation techniques have been introduced to prepare, transplant, and harvest rice seedlings, leveraging the benefits provided by mechanisation in the agricultural sector. He added, "We have taken initiatives to promote short-duration rice varieties instead of long-duration ones during the Boro season. Hopefully, this will contribute to an additional approximate one tonne of rice per hectare."

Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and global crisis, Bangladesh has witnessed continued growth in agricultural production, thanks to timely government initiatives and farmer-friendly policies. The finance minister highlighted the country's achievements in various agricultural sectors, including rice, maize, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, jute, tea, fish, hilsa, onions, mangoes, goats, and mutton production.

Efforts are underway to achieve self-sufficiency in onion production, reduce edible oil imports, increase potato exports, and boost the production of cashew nuts and coffee for export, said the minister. He added that the production of horticultural crops like mango, guava, jujube, banana, and papaya is increasing, with the establishment of family vegetable gardens contributing to improved nutrition.

Farmers are provided with agricultural inputs and smart credit facilities through the "Krishi Upokoron Sohoyata", benefiting approximately two crore farmers, he maintained.

The government is actively promoting the establishment of modern storage facilities, packaging houses, cold chains, and other infrastructure at both public and private levels. Efforts are also being made to enhance the export of agricultural products through improvements in plant quarantine laboratories and the export of over 70 vegetables and fruits.

The finance minister emphasised the need to increase food storage capacity, targeting an increase from the existing 21.8 lakh tonnes to 37 lakh tonnes by 2025. Infrastructure repair, the establishment of new facilities, premix kernel machines, and laboratories to ensure food grain quality, and the distribution of family silos are part of the ongoing initiatives.

In the fisheries sector, the government is implementing plans for fish conservation through artificial breeding, qualitative research for fish species development, fish vaccines using Molecular Biology, hatchery management using Nano Technology, and modernization of marine fisheries resource extraction, preservation, and processing.

The livestock sector is also undergoing modernisation, focusing on disease control for cattle and poultry. Bangladesh has achieved self-sufficiency in meat, egg and milk production, and efforts are underway to increase per capita milk availability, develop cattle breeding and conservation, and distribute poultry at subsidised prices.

The sacrificial animal market has become self-sustaining, meeting demand from domestic sources, said the finance minister. He stated that the government's targets for FY24 include increasing daily per capita milk availability, semen production for cattle breeding, artificial insemination, and chicken production in government poultry farms at subsidised prices.