A parliamentary body yesterday recommended subsidy for dieselrun irrigation .

The parliamentary standing committee on agriculture ministry observed subsidy to diesel-run irrigation will lower its production costs to the level of production of power-run irrigation.

The government should provide subsidy to reduce the difference of production costs between the two, Abdul Mannan, chairman of the committee, told newspersons after a meeting of the committee held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

The parliamentary committee also asked the finance ministry to

allocate Tk 310 crore to provide financial assistance to a section of farmers who irrigate cropland by diesel-run shallow tube wells, as their production cost is 30 per cent higher than that of farmers who use electricity-run pumps.

It also asked the government to provide more loans to the farmers and keep the interest rate below 10 per cent.

It also asked the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) to monitor its 10,500 block supervisors across the country, as the committee observed that most of the officials are not performing well.

The committee also asked the DAE to set up five monitoring cells and monitor their activities regu-

larly.

Earlier, the Ministry of Agriculture demanded Tk 310 crore from the finance ministry to give subsidy to the farmers. But the finance ministry did not approve, which actually prompt the parliamentary body raising the subsidy issue again.

Echoing the chairman, another member of the committee, Golam Mohammad Qauder, said, "The subsidy must be given to the farmers and there is no scope to neglect them."

The parliamentary body also formed a sub-committee to monitor Barendra Irrigation Project.

Committee members and other officials concerned were present at the meeting.