Everyone wants to eat cheaply, but no one wants to understand the suffering of farmers, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder has said.

He was speaking as chief guest on Tuesday (30 May) at the opening of mango harvesting and marketing at the Godownpara mango orchard in Sapahar, Naogaon.

The food minister said farmers are the lifeblood of the country, and their interests must be protected whether they grow mangoes or rice. The government's aim is to stand by farmers.

He said there had been a bumper Aman harvest, a bumper Boro harvest and a bumper mango crop. Farmers are getting a fair price for paddy, and he hoped they would get a fair price for mangoes too.

Saying he wanted to ensure farmers get a fair price, the minister added: "Everyone wants to eat cheaply. No one wants to understand the pain and hardship of farmers. To grow crops they have to burn in drought and get soaked in the rain."

Sadhan Chandra Majumder said there is now a plentiful supply of local fruit. If fruit does not have to be imported, dollars will be saved, and local fruit is also more nutritious.

He said there are opportunities to export fruit. Bangladeshi mangoes are now going abroad and mango growers are profiting. The biggest obstacle to mango exports is that foreign buyers want to know whether the mangoes are safe, and "we cannot show a certificate". In future, with certification from the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority, it will be possible to export more mangoes.

The event was chaired by Sapahar Assistant Commissioner (Land) Sharmin Jahan. Upazila parishad chairman Md Shahjahan Hossain, upazila Awami League president Md Shamsul Alam Shah Chowdhury and agriculture officer Shapla Khatun were present, along with mango growers and wholesalers.

The minister then inaugurated a fish square at Jobai Beel and the Joy Bangla square on the upazila parishad premises.

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