Shawdesh desk:

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday emphasised enhancing collaboration among the Asia-Pacific countries in agricultural research and education for ensuring food security alongside transferring and sharing of cutting-edge technologies.

“For ensuring food security . . . collaboration among the countries of the region in the field of agricultural research and education should be enhanced,” she said.

The premier said this in her first recommendations among three placed at the opening ceremony of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s 36^th Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific.

She, in her second point, said transfer and sharing of cutting-edge technologies like bio-technology, nanotechnology, and robotics in agricultural sector needs to be strengthened among FAO member states in the region.

In the final point, she added: “As modern agriculture needs huge investment, special fund could be created to finance and support the agri-sector.”

Bangladesh, for the first time, is hosting the regional virtual high-breed event. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina joined it remotely from her place of residence in Abu Dhabi.

She said the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the agricultural sector like other sectors. At the initial stage of the pandemic in 2020, the supply chain was disrupted affecting both the producers and consumers, she said.

“However, our timely and effective interventions helped the sector recover fast. We took special measures, including mechanization, to ensure unhindered food production and supply of agricultural inputs,” she added.

Sheikh Hasina continued that the COVID-19 pandemic revealed how vulnerable human beings are in the face of such disaster, and it has also made surfaced how the human race by acting together can face such challenges.

She went on saying, “Food security is surely the most pressing issue for the people. About 305.7 million people in South Asia still suffer from hunger. We can arrange food for them easily if we all make sincere effort.”

Director-General of FAO QU Dongyu and Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim spoke in the conference presided over by Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque.