The project aims to ensure the country’s food security, ensure better nutritional quality, and promote climate-resilient sustainable agriculture, reads a press release.
A discussion meeting was organised in the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) conference room on the project implementation plan on Monday (27 February).
Ruhul Amin Talukder, additional secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, was the chief guest at the meeting. Sheikh Mohammad Bakhtiar, executive chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council and Bangladesh Bank Agricultural Credit Department Director (ACD); Md Abul Kalam Azad were present as special guests.
Arif Qadri, managing director and CEO of United Commercial Bank, presided over the event.
UCB Deputy Managing Director ATM Tahmiduzzaman presented the project plan in the meeting. Former Agriculture Secretary and leader of BSAFE Foundation Anwar Farooq, A2I head of Innovation Cluster Manik Mahmood, UCB Agro-CSR project coordinator, agriculturist, and media personality Rezaul Karim Siddiqui and various government institutions, research institutes, experts, agri-entrepreneurs related to agriculture spoke in the sharing meeting.
Speakers of the event said that for the development of commercial agriculture, it is necessary to improve the skills of agricultural entrepreneurs across the country and provide them with easy conditions.
In order to implement the Smart Agriculture Declaration, and to increase the use of modern technology in the overall agriculture sector, support should reach the farmers’ doorsteps. In addition to increasing production, market management should also be developed to protect the interests of producers.
For this, different government departments and private institutions have to work together. If everyone works together, it is possible to bring revolutionary changes in the field of agriculture.
It is to be noted that the programs that have been planned to be implemented in the agricultural assistance project of UCB include identifying the right agricultural and food entrepreneurs and providing training according to their needs, taking initiatives to increase the skills of about 13,000 agricultural entrepreneurs from almost all the upazilas of the 64 districts of the country.
BSAFE Foundation and A2I will be implementing this project of UCB.
