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Free seeds, fertiliser for 25 lakh farmers from Aug 15

Staff Corresponded
The government will distribute seeds and fertilisers free of cost among 25 lakh small and marginal farmers against one bigha land from August 15 to help the flood-affected fanners go for cultivation immediately after the recession of floodwaters.
The floods have damaged agriculture on 8.30 lakh hectares in 46 districts and 295 upazilas, affecting 46.50 lakh farmers and making the farm sector count as much as Tk 1,780 crore in losses, according to an estimate of the agriculture ministry.
The ministry earlier decided to help rehabilitate 12 lakh small and marginal farmers. 'The government has earmarked Tk 130 crore for the programme and the Finance Di vision has released Tk 48 crore.
A meeting of the agriculture ministry yesterday presided over by Agriculture Minister MK Anwar took the decision in the wake of warnings by agriculture experts that the Aman
crop maybe severely damaged if the farmers do not get seeds by this month.
The experts also warned if further floods take place in the middle of the month, entire Aman crop will be destroyed. In that case, they suggested, the government should have a contingency plan in place. The experts asked the ministry to closely monitor the seed and fertilisers distribution among the farmers making sure that no irregularities take place.
State Minister for Agriculture Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Finance Secretary Zakir Ahmed Khan, Agriculture Secretary ASM Abdul Halim and chiefs of the departments under tire ministry attended the meeting.
The vice-chancellors of the agriculture universities and agriculture experts were invited al the meeting for their opinions on the government's agricultural rehabilitationprogramme.
Emerging from the meeting, Anwar told reporters they have sufficient stock of seeds and if needs be, the government will go for import. He added they would know the status of the seeds in stock by August 15.
The minister said they are testing the quality of the seeds and the testing would be complete by that time.
Anwar said the government would distribute the seeds and fertilisers through the rehabilitation committees at the districts, upazilas and unions. The district and upazila administrations will monitor the operations of the rehabilitation committees, he added.
The agriculture secretary has sent letters to the district administrations asking them to monitor and extend support to the distribution process, the minister said.
The meeting was told joint secretaries have been sent to the flood-hit districts to keep a close eye on the distribution.