Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque has said that country might see a surplus production of fish, egg, meat and milk in three to five years time.
He said, "One of the main challenges of the current government is to ensure nutrition to all. We recognise that the fisheries and livestock sector can play a vital role in that."
"We are gradually becoming self-reliant in food for the steps taken by the government in the last few years. Not only that, if we keep up the good work, we might have surplus productions of fish, milk, meat and egg in the next three to five years," he continued.
He came up with the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a virtual discussion meeting organised by Bangabandhu Veterinary Council on the occasion of World Veterinary Day 2021 on Saturday, as per a report on UNB agency.
Addressing the veterinarians, the agriculture minister said the sector needs to be taken further through technology expansion and entrepreneurship.
He also advised them to work hard in ensuring nutritious and safe food for all.
The minister added that in order to ensure nutritious food, people's incomes must be increased and employment must be created. Otherwise, even if enough food is produced, people will not be able to buy and enjoy it.
The minister also emphasised the importance of agriculture in alleviating poverty.
"The government is working tirelessly to bring down the poverty rate to 12 per cent and extremely poor to 5.0 per cent......The fisheries and livestock sector can play a huge role in that," he concluded.
