"Farmers must play a leading role in improving the overall environment by protecting the country's hills, mounds and forests. They must come forward to conserve canals, beels, rivers and streams to tackle the negative effects of climate change. Trees must be planted in large numbers to make the environment liveable."

Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Md Shahab Uddin said this on 11 April while speaking as chief guest, joining online from his official residence in Dhaka, at the inauguration of the distribution of free aus seed and chemical fertiliser to small and marginal farmers in Barlekha and Juri upazilas of Moulvibazar. The distribution came under the aus incentive programme for the Kharif-1 season of the 2021-22 financial year, along with farm machinery at subsidised prices under development assistance.

The minister said the government was working to a plan to make Bangladesh a developed country by 2041. The country's overall development and progress depends on the development of agriculture. The present farmer-friendly government is doing everything possible to meet the country's needs and turn it into a food-surplus country, and will continue to supply farmers with fertiliser, quality seed, modern farm inputs and everything else they need.

Barlekha Upazila Nirbahi Officer Khandaker Mudachchhir Bin Ali, Juri Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sonia Sultana and elected representatives of the Barlekha and Juri upazila parishads also spoke.

At the event, each of 3,600 farmers in Barlekha and Juri upazilas received 5 kg of aus seed, 20 kg of DAP fertiliser and 10 kg of MOP fertiliser. In addition, nine combine harvesters, four power threshers and two reapers were handed over at subsidised prices.

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