Agriculture ministry secretary Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian at a seminar at the Gazipur Agricultural University on Thursday said that the government would provide Tk 39,000 crore in agricultural loans in current fiscal year.
鈥榃e have many entrepreneurs who ask for support. The government will provide Tk 39,000 crore agricultural loans in the agricultural sector for them this year. Now, we will try to find out who needs support to become real entrepreneurs. We will try to help them,鈥� he said.
He made the remark while speaking as chief guest at the seminar titled Innovative Power of Youth, Driving Force of Agricultural Transformation at the Begum Sufia Kamal Auditorium of Gazipur Agricultural University.
Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council organised the seminar as part of the Youth Festival 2025.
Mentioning that this is the first time the government has fixed the price at the cold storage gate to support potato farmers, he said, 鈥楢lso, the government has decided to purchase 50,000 tonnes of potatoes for the first time.鈥�
鈥業f we do not get a fair price for our products, we have no chance to be satisfied,鈥� he noted.
He said that the young students of today were the future resources with immense potential. 鈥榃e have to utilise this resource.鈥�
Emdad Ullah Mian also said that for the first time, the Ministry of Agriculture was working on formulating a 25-year action plan. 鈥業ts goal is to ensure safe and nutritious food for all by 2050.鈥�
Chaired by BARC executive chairman Nazmun Nahar Karim, the sponsor of the seminar was Professor GKM Mostafizur Rahman, vice-chancellor of Gazipur Agricultural University.
Professor Md Shafiul Islam Afrad, treasurer of Gazipur Agricultural University, was present as special guest at the seminar.
Md Mosharraf Uddin Mollah, convener of the Youth Festival 2025 organising committee, delivered the welcome speech while Md Abdus Salam, chief scientific officer, agricultural economics and rural sociology department, BARC, presented keynote at the seminar.
About 500 participants, including final year undergraduate and master鈥檚 students of Gazipur Agricultural University, young agricultural entrepreneurs and innovators, university teachers, officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and BARC, scientists, representatives of various NGOs and private sectors were present at the seminar.
The success stories of 11 entrepreneurs in various fields of agriculture were presented to encourage the youth to become young agricultural entrepreneurs. They are Muhammad Sajjad Hossain Tulip, Shahida Begum, Abdul Halim, Md Mobarak Hossain, Md Milon Mia, Md Ismail, Al Mamun, Md Tajammul Haque, Md Nazmus Shakib, Kazi Kawsar Hossain Pritam and Md Rezwanul Islam.
