RAJSHAHI: Need-based agricultural reformation could be the effective means of infrastructural transformation in the country’s agricultural system besides boosting its farming outputs, reports BSS.
“The reformation can also play vital role towards accelerating production capacity of the farming system,” said Prof Abul Barakat from Department of Economics of Dhaka University while addressing a seminar. He was presenting his keynote paper titled “Agriculture Reformation’s Political Economy in Bangladesh” held at Kazi Nazrul Islam auditorium in Rajshahi University (RU) here today. He was also delivering the ‘Professor Dr Mosharraf Hossain Memorial Lecture’.
Department of Economics of RU and Bangladesh Economic Society (BES) jointly organized the seminar styled “Bangladesh’s Seventh Five Year Planning 2016-2020: Dreams and Reality”.
Prof Abul Barakat says symptoms of agriculture reformation are land reformation coupled with ownership changes, distribution of surplus land among poor and marginalized people and necessary changes in land related laws, rules and regulations.
He added that a sound structure of economics and politics can play vital role in the reformation. Main things are to be intensive integration of the marginalized and disadvantaged population in the development process. To this end, political will is very important.
RU Vice chancellor Prof Md Mijanuddin and Pro-VC Prof Dr Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan addressed the seminar as chief and special guest respectively with Prof Ashraf Uddin Chowdhury, President of BES, in the chair.
Seminar Organizing Committee convener Prof Moazzem Hossain Khan, BES General Secretary Prof Jamal Uddin Ahmed and RU Economics Prof Prof Muhammad Ali also spoke.
The discussants mentioned that an integrated agriculture reform program has become an urgent need for food security, employment generation and economic prosperity everywhere in the society and the nation as well.
In the working session of the seminar, six research papers were presented. Large number of economists including policy planners, researchers and students from various universities and professional bodies in the country joined the daylong seminar.