Agency

The World Bank has said the avian influenza is a major challenge to the poultry industry of Bangladesh and it has already hurt the sector as 41 out of the 64 districts have so far been affected.

In a recent report presented at a seminar in the past week, the World Bank said the occurrence of avian influenza and destruction of the birds hit the industry which was playing a significant role in the country's fight against poverty.

The report said small-scale commercial producers needed improved technical knowledge of intensive poultry production to save the birds from endemic diseases.

The report, 'High value agriculture in Bangladesh: an assessment of agro-business opportunities and constraints,' has also laid emphasis on increasing productions of fruit, vegetables, spices, fish and livestock. It has forecast that the country will have an additional demand for such products worth $8.00 billion by 2020 at current price.

The report has spoken about improving the productivity, upgrading post-harvest technology and infrastructure to better treatment of high-value farm products. Referring to shortcomings in such areas, it has said the post-harvest loss of fruit and vegetables in the country stands at two million tones annually compared with 30,000 tonnes of exports.

The annual post-harvest loss of potato alone stands at Tk 489 crore, the report has pointed out. Such items require better market information and improved processing facilities, including reliable power supply, the report said, adding that the export of such items could be increased from the current average of $20 million a year by improving the market access.

As for dairy production, it has said the average yield of milk per cow in Bangladesh per year is 0.7 tonnes compared with 1.2 tonnes in India and 1.1 tonnes in Pakistan.

There is also lack of quality control of milk and milk products as individual suppliers are remaining outside the testing coverage, the report said, adding that the price of milk in the country was higher at $43.52 a 100 litres compared with $28.69 in India.

As prioritised action plan, the report has suggested upgrading the enabling environment for agro-business, enhancing the knowledge for running agro-business, taking proactive stance towards food safety and quality management. It has also suggested improving market linkage and strengthening institutions and organisations to create better networking for trading agricultural inputs and supplies.

Some of such actions would require removing policy distortions and pursuing business-friendly policies and their legislation, it said. The report said many regulations were outdated and others were just absent with regard to food safety and quality of animal feed and inputs.

A review of the current market legislation, including market leasing policies, is required, it said. Further reforms are also essential to improve business environment in agricultural sector. It also requires rationalising subsidies, export incentives and tax benefits, already formulated to promote agro-business, the report said.