AGENCIES, DHAKA - The agriculture ministry has been processing the 'Plant Variety and Farmers Rights Protection Act' with a view to promoting biotechnological innovations in the country.

Agriculture Minister M K Anwar disclose this while he was addressing an international seminar on "Food policy in Bangladesh: Issues and perspectives" jointly organised by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and Bangladesh Rice Foundation (BRF) at a city hotel as chief guest.

Director General of BIDS Dr Q. Shahabuddin presented the keynote paper while member of Board of Trustees of IFPRI Mandivamba Rukuni was in the chair. Emeritus Fellow of IFPRI Dr. Raisuddin Ahmed and former Agriculture Secretary Dr A M M Shawkat Ali took part in the discussion.

The agriculture minister said his ministry in collaboration with the FAO has made a study report titled 'Assessment of Utilisation and Potential of Biotechnological Advancement for Agriculture Development in Bangladesh.

On the basis of the study, he said, the ministry has initiated steps for Biotechnological Research on Agriculture Advancement in Bangladesh and straightening the regulatory framework in this regard.

He said the recent increase in price of diesel has aggravated the sufferings of the farmers. Normally, irrigation cost in Bangladesh is the highest compared to other neighbouring countries, the minister told a seminar. "Irrigation accounts for 28 per cent of the variable costs of rice cultivation in Bangladesh, which is 13 per cent in Punjab of India, 8 per cent in Thailand and 6 per cent in Vietnam," he informed.

M K Anwar said high subsidy in agriculture and dumping of agriculture products in the developed countries as well as lack of adequate resources were causing widespread poverty, growing inequality, rising unemployment in the agriculture sector in other countries.

"Agriculture in developed countries is protected either behind the tariff- wall or through heavy subsidy both in the input and output markets", he said.

All developed countries, who agreed to cut down all tariff and subsidies on agriculture under the Uruguay Round of the GATT negotiation, are reluctant to comply with the rules, he added.

"In some countries, the government hands out up to 69 cents for every dollar earned by a farmer," M K Anwar said adding that Bangladesh despite many adversities made significant progress in food production and increasing per capita food availability over the past three decades. Rice production in Bangladesh has increased from 9.5 million tonnes in 1971-1972 to more than 26 million tonnes in 2003-04, although the area of rice cultivating land remained steady at around 10 to 10.5 million hectors, he said.