President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday said inadequate earnings from farming were a major reason for the growing shortage of agricultural workers, stressing the need to make the sector more profitable to retain its workforce.
“Have you noticed that workers are becoming difficult to find? The reason is that the income people earn from agricultural work is not enough to sustain their livelihoods,” the president said at an exchange of views meeting during his visit to the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) in Gazipur.
He said the shortage of agricultural workers should not be viewed merely as a labour supply problem, stressing the need to address the underlying economic factors discouraging people from remaining in the profession.
“Since agriculture is no longer profitable, people are leaving the profession. You have to adjust to this reality and find ways to make agriculture profitable,” he said.
The president also referred to the deterioration of institutions across the country, saying the time had come to overcome the damage and work towards rebuilding them.
He said the sacrifices of young people and the mass uprising had created a rare opportunity to establish a democratic system.
“We must utilise this opportunity. If we all remain patient and work steadily to move forward, I believe we will certainly succeed,” he said.
Agriculture Minister Mohammed Amin Ur Rashid, Gazipur-2 lawmaker Manjurul Karim Rony, Agriculture Secretary Md Selim Khan, BARI Director General Md Manjurul Kadir and Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) Director General Md Rafiqul Islam attended the meeting.
The BARI director general delivered the welcome address, while the agriculture minister also spoke.
The president arrived at BARI at 10:15am and received a guard of honour from a contingent of Bangladesh Police.
He later visited the institute’s gene bank and various stalls before planting a BARI Kathal-6 jackfruit tree at the Plant Genetic Resources Centre.
