Farmers and agriculture-sector analysts stressed the need for more pragmatic approach and wider policy support in the upcoming national budget to boost the country’s agriculture sector. They recommended for introducing ‘agriculture safety fund’ and ‘crop insurance’ in the next fiscal to help increase agricultural output. They also suggested forming a commission to ensure fair prices of agricultural products, forming an effective agriculture cooperative society, implementing bio-agriculture schemes and comprehensive dredging of river and canals, establishing more fertilizer factories, modernizing the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in the next fiscal. “Our economy is still based on agriculture. Although the sector had seen remarkable progress in the last few years, still there is much to do since the major portion of our farmers are using traditional mode of cultivation while they are suffering from shortage of seeds, fertilizer, capital for seasonal cultivation. The farmers are also being deprived of fair prices due to a faulty marketing system etc,” said the analysts. Former Food Minister Dr. Abdur Razzak told daily sun that mismanagement in marketing is the only reason for deprivation of farmers from due prices of their hard grown crops. “Although the government had undertaken some steps to improve the marketing management of agricultural products and had provided subsidy, distributed agriculture equipments to farmers, still the farmers are not getting due profit from their produce,” he added. He also stressed the need for more budgetary allocation for comprehensive pest control program instead of being dependent on foreign aid for such schemes. “We must have to come to a solution regarding the agriculture credit. There is mismanagement involving this credit and it has become very hard to take agriculture loan from both the public-sector or private-sector banks, which is forcing the farmers to go to ‘Mohajon’ for taking loan at higher interest. The government has to take this issue in serious consideration,” Dr. Razzak added. A recent study conducted by a private organisation in five districts across the country revealed that 5.6 percent of farmers receive government loan facility, 76 percent farmers receive private sector or NGO loan facility, 16 percent farmers get ‘Krishi Card from the government, 13 percent farmers opened Tk 10 bank accounts, 11 percent use the BADC seeds and 35 percent are deceived by seeds supplied by private companies. The study also found that 73 percent of the farmers are aware of union information service, 91 percent subscribed to mobile phone, 2 percent taking service from the UIC, 60 percent demand declaration for separate budget for agriculture sector, 80 percent want union-wise dealers, 60 percent want the fallow land across the country to be used. The study was conducted among the major portion of farmers in six districts, including Pabna, Bhola, Sylhet, Brahmanbaria and Jamalpur, which are known as the hub of agriculture production in the country. The farmers of all those areas widely demanded to make proper coordination among the demand, import and marketing of agriculture products, eliminating import dependence on various seeds, including jute seeds, introducing electricity-run irrigation system instead of Diesel-run irrigation pumps, special allocation for the farmers of ‘Char’ area, activating the Union Information Centers (UIC), undertake program to rapid expansion of the agriculture technology, special allocation for agriculture, introducing more disaster tolerant variety of crops, take steps for saving agriculture and environment from industrial waste, ensuring accountable and examined use of IT in agriculture and establishing specialized cold storage for vegetables and fruits to be considered in the upcoming national budget. Finance Minister AMA Muhith recently said the government has allocated a Tk 500 crore endowment fund for agriculture research, so there is no plan of fund allocation in agricultural research in the next FY. Agriculture development activist Shykh Seraj told the daily sun that that there is no effective utilization of the endowment fund for research in the agriculture sector, adding that “more fund needs to be allocated for agricultural research.” “We have placed a 56-point recommendation to the government generated from the core feelings of the marginal farmers in different parts of the country. Of the recommendations, there are 20 recommendations for agriculture sector, 12 for poultry sector, 13 for fisheries sector, and 11 for livestock and dairy industry”, Shaikh Siraj said. He mentioned that at least 60 percent of the farmers demand separate budget for the agriculture sector but the government does not take it into serious consideration. He said the large rivers are loosing their navigability, Brick kleins and structures are being built on the cultivable lands while highly potential poultry industry is on the verge of collapse due to lack of proper policy support and planning of the government.