"Taka 500m pineapples wasted annually" was a recent headline in the papers. The waste is due to the lack of storage. marketing and distribution infrastructure in the rural areas. The situation Is not new; even in the other agricultural and rural-based sectors.

Later press reports indicated that the UN bodies and the foreign aid agencies are paying attention to the sectoral weaknesses. The government is aware of the institutional weaknesses for many decades, but the leaking of official interest and follow-through is slow outside the metropolis. Everything is being conducted from Dhaka, hence hoary Dhaka has become the Sindbad carrying the old man on the back who refuses to come down.

The Upazila Parishad is supposed to set things right, but even this institution (formerly the Union Council) is playing the hide and seek role in our ever-changing political sce-

While drums are beaten about higher yields and production. the marketing mechanism from the rural to the urban areas continues to be weak. This is a fundamental problem in the LDCs and DCs — the whole system does not work even tolerably well; there are too many weak chains causing bottlenecks and overall inefficiency.

It has to be realised that the huge systems loss Is greater in undertaking BMRs of projects which are new and passing through the initial teething s*age (BMRs are for old established systems). How many times we have to start from zero?

It is not that the planners do not know their lob or the local environment, out something goes wrong somewhere In the planning, allocation, or implementation chain, retarding \the pace of development in all

the national sectors. There are many examples: sudden shortage of gas feeding the established or new industries; the shortage of power could not be forecast during short-term reviews; neglect of IWT and undeveloped ferry ghats: neglect of controlled expansion of the megacities; weak uncoordinated development of the rural coops; mysterious short supply of butter and milk: the amateurish running of the stock exchanges: the defaulter culture: the outmoded banking and legal systems, the over-crowding in the Jails (population growth there also!).

From time to time, there have been proposals for the quick development of canning and cold-storage facilities (in new areas) for perishable agri products such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, and fish; but the take-off period always seems to linger Into indifference. The yield rate of green vegetables in Bangladesh is one the highest in the world (even without the modernised methods), considering the soil, water and climate. A little official patronage and some private Investment can work wonders in this long-neglected sector.

There is a tendency to publicise the low production cost and cheap retail prices, ignoring the mobility factor from the producer to the consumer (whether in the local or export market) Quality-control is seen only in the papers and documents Also the middleman has to be targeted for modernisation practices: he is a big bug.

It is hoped that the coming Upazila elections will set into motion the proper administrative machinery lor integrated development of rural marketing iin and oul) The farmers cannot prosper living in non-

marketing islands, cut off from the business interactions. The producers have to interface with the sellers and the market, which is not the case traditionally — exploitation has been the name of the game for generations.

The sad truth is that the agriculture sector is not attracting private Investment. Rural marketing cannot be left to the public sector in the 21st century. With official encouragement of agricultural modernisation. the private sector will not feel shy. Without an attractive mechanism for the circulation of money in the rural areas. the investment-wallas will seek other pastures (having burnt the finger at the crazy stock exchange).

It is vicious circle. At the moment the government machinery is engaged In attracting foreign investment for consumers and services mainly for the urban areas. The rural coops need be reorganised in a big way to react quickly to the market forces. The government is engaged in this exercise, but the results are not noticeable in a big way.

Reorientation is urgently needed through the announcement of high-level policy tailored to spotlight investment to benefit the rural infrastructure. This is a big virgin field, without much competition, for years to come.

More Juice needs to be injected into the proposed Accelerated District Approach (ADA) of the government in coopera tion with some UN agencies In Bangladesh The WTO implications are looming before the developing countries; hence increased activities in the rural sector cannot be overemphasised for building up a solid base and background with rural foundations to assist the local and foreign markets, not oniv cost wise, but also quality wis