Be ready to face possible second wave of Covid-19: Agriculture minister

Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque has instructed officials of the ministry and its various departments to be fully prepared to deal with a possible second wave of Covid-19.

He said the second wave of Covid-19 had been seen in many European countries.

If the second wave comes to Bangladesh, the agricultural sector will be affected the most, said the minister.  

"In that case, we have to continue working by dealing with any kind of situation and we need to be fully prepared."

The agriculture minister made the remarks while reviewing implementation progress of the Annual Development Project (ADP) online from the conference room of the ministry on Tuesday.

Razzaque said farmers had worked in fields risking their lives since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country in March and continued to produce and harvest crops.

"As per the instructions of the prime minister, the ministry and its officials also stood by the farmers, risking their lives."

As a result of timely and effective measures taken by the government, Bangladesh has continued the trend of food production by coping with Covid-19, cyclone Amphan, and long-term floods, he added.

"So far, there has been no food crisis in the country. I hope there will be no food crisis in the coming days. Even then, we must have all the preparations in place to deal with a possible second wave of the novel coronavirus so that we can continue the trend of agricultural production," the minister said.

It was informed at the meeting that Tk2,361 crore had been allocated for 68 projects under the ministry in the ADP for fiscal year 2020-21.

Implementation progress of the projects has been 9% till September, the minister said.

Md Mesbahul Islam, secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, conducted the meeting. Project officials, including senior officials of the ministry, were present at the programme.