One hundred mini cold storages will be built in the country to preserve fruit, vegetables and other crops, home and agriculture adviser Lieutenant General (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has said.

He said this at a meeting after opening a paddy harvest festival in Biral, Dinajpur, on Thursday afternoon, which the report dates 8 April.

The agriculture adviser said the Barind authority must bring the price of irrigation water for Boro production down further, and arrangements must be made to cut production costs. Corruption among those who work in food must also be reduced, he said, adding: "We are considering a new law to protect farmland."

He said mini cold storages would be built to preserve mango, litchi, tomato and other crops so that farmers get a fair price for what they grow.

Mango, litchi and jackfruit will also be exported, the adviser said. As with mangoes, air-conditioned train carriages will be provided for litchi if needed, so that farmers can easily send litchi to different parts of the country.

Mango and litchi must not be grown on paddy land under any circumstances, he said. "Grow more rice; if necessary it will be sent abroad. The more paddy you produce, the more paddy and rice the government will buy."

Agriculture Secretary Dr Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian, Barind Multipurpose Development Authority chairman Dr Md Asad Uz Zaman, Dinajpur Deputy Commissioner Md Rafiqul Islam, Superintendent of Police Md Marufat Hussain and Md Afzal Hossain, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Dinajpur, were present.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.