Further development of agricultural system essential to increase production

Dr. F.H. Ansarey is a renowned figure in agricultural development. He has been tirelessly working in agricultural development, research, sales, marketing, and multinational integration both at home and abroad. Moreover, he is the director of the Agricultural Research Foundation and a syndicate member of Bangladesh Agricultural University. This leading figure in agribusiness has been involved in the profession for 36 years. He has made significant contributions to various sectors of agribusiness, including seeds, fertilisers, crop care, farm mechanisation, animal health, and integrated poultry. For the past 23 years, Dr. F.H. Ansarey has held a top position at ACI Group. Recently, he spoke with Views Bangladesh about the state of agriculture and the modernisation of the agricultural system in Bangladesh. This is the first part of a three-part interview.
The interview was conducted by economics writer M A Khaleque and Views Bangladesh’s Associate Editor Girish Goiric.

Views Bangladesh: Bangladesh is an agriculture-dependent country; yet we see that due to a lack of necessary agricultural knowledge and technology, the condition of Bangladeshi farmers is not improving like in other countries. What is the reason for this?

Dr. F.H. Ansarey: Indeed, Bangladesh is mainly an agriculture-based country, as you rightly said, and most people here are involved in agriculture—either directly in farming, or in agricultural business. It's true that over the past 50 years, our agriculture hasn't developed as much as it should have. There has been some progress—it would be wrong to say there hasn't been any—but it’s not progressing at the pace or to the extent that Bangladesh needs. In other words, we consume everything we produce. That’s why we have to import a lot from abroad. If we want to reduce imports, we have to increase production. And to increase production, the agricultural system must be improved. To develop agriculture, we must also enhance agricultural knowledge and technology.

In our country, there are two types of agricultural organisations: public and private. Research is being done in government institutions and universities. The problem is that the results of this research often don’t reach the field. Those of us who work in private companies have our own research. We also bring in many research-based materials from abroad. There are over one lakh agricultural workers in the private sector who work directly in the field. As a result, research from both public and private sectors is reaching the field—but this process needs to be faster. We need more new technologies. We must increase communication with farmers—especially fish farmers, egg producers, meat producers, dairy farm owners, and those involved in croplands. If we can increase communication with the people working in different sectors of agriculture and share our research with them, there will undoubtedly be progress in agriculture. This will increase our production, paving the way to self-sufficiency in food.

Views Bangladesh: Land is essential for agriculture; but with the rate at which Bangladesh’s population is growing, housing, factories, and various infrastructures are also increasing. As a result, the amount of arable land is decreasing significantly. If we want to cultivate fish, then rice or wheat production may decline. In that case, what should the state do?

Dr. F.H. Ansarey: About 70 percent of our land is used for field crops, especially rice cultivation. However, our land yields less compared to other countries. Our crop production is relatively lower than Vietnam. I believe that if we can increase the volume of production, it is possible to achieve a balance in everything. If we can produce more fish, poultry, milk, and eggs, proper utilisation of land is possible.

Views Bangladesh: The government often claims that we are self-sufficient in food. How accurate is that statement?

Dr. F.H. Ansarey: The definition of food self-sufficiency is a separate matter. Either you ensure food by purchasing it, or by producing it. Singapore is, more or less, food self-sufficient—because they can buy or import when needed. Alongside that, their food value chain is fully established. So, they are considered food self-sufficient. In Bangladesh, the situation is different. In many cases, we produce, and when needed, we import. Overall, people in our country can buy food or produce it themselves. From that perspective, perhaps it is acceptable.

But we must remember: if we have to exhaust our savings to buy food, many aspects of national development will be hindered—and that’s not sustainable. So, what should be done? We must increase production to achieve food self-sufficiency. For that, we need to establish a complete food value chain—from breeding all the way to the table, everything must be addressed. Whatever innovations arise must be practiced by farmers in the field. All necessary inputs must be provided. Required technologies must be delivered. Mechanisation needs to be increased. As a result, the younger generation in our country will become more interested in agriculture. At the same time, productivity will rise, costs will decrease, and the cost of production will come down.

Then comes the harvest. After harvesting, we must focus heavily on post-harvest. At present, we have no capacity in post-harvest. We can’t store properly. After that, we need to process. The advantage of processing is that it helps reduce food wastage. Alongside reducing wastage, we also need to increase longevity. If you can dry and process food, you’ll be able to store it for much longer. It will decrease wastage and at the same time, food can be stored for extended periods.

Next, we need forward linkage. We do have a retail chain in our country, but it is very limited compared to demand. Only two percent of the total retail outlets are part of the chain. In the next five years, this needs to be raised to at least ten percent. Then, the entire food value chain—from collection to the table—will face no barriers. Food will be available throughout the year. It will be possible to buy food at stable prices. There won’t be sudden shortages or price hikes. Achieving food self-sufficiency will then no longer be difficult.

Views Bangladesh: You mentioned food wastage. A UN study says that in Bangladesh, each person wastes 53 kilograms of food annually. If this food were not wasted, it could save over two months’ worth of food. How can we prevent this wastage?

Dr. F.H. Ansarey: This is a very important issue. In fact, since independence, the government in Bangladesh has been saying, "increase production, increase production." A lot of food is being produced; but merely increasing production is not enough—we also have to focus on food preservation. Post-harvest capacity needs to be increased. Over the past 50 years, not much attention has been given to post-harvest. We have given subsidies on fertiliser, diesel, electricity—but post-harvest hasn’t received that kind of support.

If we can increase capacity in the post-harvest stage, what will happen? The wastage of what we produce will decrease. As I mentioned earlier, if we can process food properly, it won’t rot, spoil, or expire. As a result, a significant amount of food can be saved. Then we might not need to import two months’ worth of food from abroad. We could manage with what we have.

Views Bangladesh: Seed collection is very important in agriculture. In the past, our mothers and aunts used to store seeds in glass jars. Now that practice has significantly declined, and people have to purchase seeds—sometimes even import them. With the declining trend of seed preservation, how is our agricultural production being affected?

Dr. F.H. Ansarey: We must understand one thing—good seeds lead to good yields. Good seed doesn't only mean genetically modified seeds; it can also be hybrid seeds or inbred seeds. Even in the case of inbred seeds, if they are properly processed and stored, productivity can increase. In the past, that traditional method existed because so many seeds weren’t available then, and it wasn’t possible to buy seeds internationally. Now, we can import quality seeds from the international market.

If we take our local, non-hybrid inbred seeds and process, dry, and store them properly, their germination power will improve. The quality of the yield from those good seeds will also increase. In that case, we can preserve good seeds ourselves. However, some people tend to say, “I will only plant seeds from my own harvest,” but if that practice leads to lower yields, it won't work. Since the cost of good seed is only about 2–3% of the total production cost, we must invest in good seeds. So, I believe we should preserve seeds from our own crops when possible, and when needed, we should import quality seeds from abroad. In the past, importing seeds wasn’t possible—but now we can bring them in from the international market if necessary.

Views Bangladesh: Research shows that after purchasing high-yielding seeds from various companies, crop production has increased significantly. However, this has also led to the disappearance of many native seeds—for example, Bt brinjal. Isn't there a risk that more native seeds will disappear?

Dr. F.H. Ansarey: What is important is not what remains or what disappears, but the fact that we need to produce enough to feed ourselves. So, we have to cultivate high-yielding crops and vegetables. The same applies to livestock—we must focus on areas with higher productivity.

That said, it's also true that genetic resources need to be preserved. For this, our agricultural research institutions, rice research institutes, and even some private institutes have storage facilities where these native varieties must be preserved. The varieties that seem to be disappearing might one day be valuable for crossbreeding. They may have good disease resistance, and when crossed with other varieties, that trait could be passed on. Crossbreeding could lead to salt-tolerant varieties, drought-resistant crops, or crops that can be cultivated in winter. These have high potential. So, preserving them is essential. I believe that when needed, we will be able to use them to develop high-yielding varieties.

Views Bangladesh: Let’s shift topics a bit. You were the first to introduce vacuum-processed salt production in Bangladesh. It was in 2004. How did that journey begin?

Dr. F.H. Ansarey: We noticed that the salt market in Bangladesh had good potential, but the salt available at the time was just simply refined—it often contained bacteria and was unhygienic. Since the overall living standard of the people was improving, there was a growing demand for quality salt. A person only needs about 15 grams of salt per day; a family needs around 60 to 70 grams daily.

When we introduced this salt, the market price for regular salt was quite low—about TK 7-8 per kilogram. We entered the market with our product priced at Tk 8-10 per kilogram. We realised that even with this small economic impact, if we could bring in good technology and provide clean, white salt, it would help improve public health hygienically. Plus, since we were mixing in iodine, it also contributed to brain development.

We saw that people in Bangladesh were very enthusiastic about adopting this. As a result, our production increased significantly. We were able to capture up to 30 percent of the market share. Our initiative was widely appreciated. Even now, ACI Salt remains the number one salt brand in Bangladesh.

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Second part: Further development of agricultural system essential to increase production