Election winds are blowing, and parties have begun announcing their manifestos. Shykh Seraj considered what they should include for agriculture. Bangladesh's farming has made revolutionary progress, but a few more important steps would add a different kind of success. Drawing on farmers' demands gathered through the annual "Agriculture Budget, Farmers' Budget" programme, he hoped these points would be prioritised and reflected by the new government:

• Modern markets for farmers. Beans selling at 10 taka a kilogram in a remote Jashore village sell for 100 taka in Dhaka. China's farm progress rests on bringing farmers into modern markets, including online sales and auctions.
• Mechanisation and crop insurance, given the climate change hitting farming.
• Trust that Bangladeshi food is safe. Abroad there is a perception that Bangladeshi produce carries excessive chemicals, and Bangladeshi betel leaf has been seen exported via India; effective government steps are needed.

• Agro-processing industries. The 2014 Awami League manifesto promised to encourage agro-based industries, but farmers' hopes were not met. Jhalakathi guava growers want a jam and jelly factory, and Munshiganj potato farmers lose money while Indian potato chips sell freely.
• Evaluate how far research reaches farmers, and make machines and technology at home rather than importing them, encouraging private machinery makers.
• Keep inputs, especially quality seed, within reach, and give farmers hands-on training in new crops, technology and export standards.

• As industrialists invest in farming, a policy for partnership between farmers and entrepreneurs, so farmers do not lose land or become labourers on it.
• Easier access to information, turning digital centres into farmers' information centres with officials accountable.
• Urban farming: rooftop farming could be made a condition for approving residential and commercial building designs, as cities worldwide adopt it.
• Continued subsidies and quick, easy farm credit.

Source: Shykh Seraj. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.