BSS-48 Govt. to recruit farm engineers for aiding growers: Dr Razzaque

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ZCZC

BSS-48

FARM-MECHANIZATION

Govt. to recruit farm engineers for aiding growers: Dr Razzaque

DHAKA, Jan 7, 2021 (BSS) – Agriculture Minister Dr M Abdur Razzaque
said today the government in an attempt to modernize the farm sector
has initiated a process to employ farm engineers to promote and
popularize farm machineries at the grassroots for cost-effective crop
production.

“Initiative has been taken to modernize the farm sector along with
process is underway to employ the farm engineers at the field level
under the agricultural extension department,” he told a seminar on
‘Farm Mechanization in Bangladesh: Present and Future’ at Engineers
Institution, Bangladesh (IEB) here.

The government is providing farm machineries to the growers with 50
to 70 percent subsidies, he told the seminar arranged by the IEB’s
farm engineering department.

“Even to popularize, expanding and guiding to the farmers,
initiative has been taken to recruit farm engineers under the
Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) at the field level across
the country,” he added.

Razzaque said most of the farm machineries imported from abroad are
costlier, adding that “so we have taken steps to supply farm
equipments to the farmers at cost-effective price.”

To encourage manufacturing of farm machineries locally, he said
discussions have already been made with much more foreign companies
including Japanese Yanmar Company and Mahindra of India who will set
up their manufacturing plant locally.

The Japanese Yanmar has assured the government to set up a assemble
plant in Bangladesh, the minister informed the seminar.

If the farm machineries are manufactured locally, it would reduce
the price of the machineries and create huge employment of the local
people, the minister explained.

Chaired by IEB’s Farm Engineering department Chairman Engineer M
Moazzem Hussen Bhuiyan, the seminar also was addressed, among others,
by IEB president Engineer M Nurul Huda, Bangladesh Agriculture
University Professor Engineer M Manjurul Alam, Engineer Shahadat
Hossen Siblu and Engineer Misbahuzzaman chandan.

The key note paper was presented by Bangladesh Agriculture Research
Institute (BARI)’s chief Engineer M Iyub Hossen.

Bss/pr/og/MRU/2118hrs