The government has planned to build a comprehensive database for the country's agriculture sector aiming to boost agricultural production and exports.
"A comprehensive database will be created to make information available to all farmers, traders and other investors," said Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque while speaking at a 'media dialogue on agriculture 2019' on Monday.
Agricultural Information Service (AIS) under the agriculture ministry organised the dialogue at a city hotel, said a press release.
The country has achieved a tremendous progress in terms of agricultural production, the minister said.
"This has been possible due to farmers' great efforts with formulation of suitable government policies," he added.
The government's continuous incentives for the farmers and collective efforts of its agencies concerned have greatly contributed to such high production, he said.
"But for further development of the farm sector, we need to commercialise agriculture to maximise exports."
Dr Razzaque said farmers, traders, investors, researchers and policymakers need proper data on agriculture.
"We have many skilled agencies in this regard. But we will create a comprehensive database where all info on the sector would be stored," he said.
Agriculture Secretary M Nasiruzzaman said the ministry was also considering awarding Agricultural Important Person (AIP) status to the people who have made significant contributions to the country's farm economy.
Farmers, processors, exporters, businessmen, journalists and other relevant people could get AIP status, he said.
Director of Agricultural Information Service (AIS) Dr Md Nurul Islam presided over the programme while Md Abdul Mannan, a member of the parliamentary standing committee on agriculture, spoke on the occasion.
SM Shameem Reza, associate professor of Mass Communication and Journalism at Dhaka University, presented the keynote at the dialogue.
Media people, however, expressed their concern over lack of proper data, insufficient market monitoring for safe food drives and fair prices for the crops the farmers produce, said the release.
