Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman lost his life in the brutal bullet of the assassin on 15 August 1975. On the National Mourning Day, we pay our respects to the memory of all the martyrs of Bangabandhu and his family. If Bangabandhu had not lost his life, this time we would have celebrated Bangabandhu's birth centenary with great enthusiasm. Coincidentally, on March 26, 2021, Bangladesh will mark the 50th anniversary of its independence. This time Mujib's centenary took shape with these two. Just as Bangabandhu's presence was destroyed by the bullet of the assassin on that day, so this time when the preparations for the celebration of Mujib's centenary were completed, it was only on March 7, 2020 that the outbreak of the virus called Covid-19 wiped out all preparations. And so the celebration of Mujib's centenary is being celebrated, albeit in a limited way, ignoring hundreds of obstacles. The Department of Agricultural Extension is no exception.
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman visited the Bangladesh Agricultural University and said, "The soil of Bengal is purer than gold, so it has repeatedly attracted imperialist power and exploitation from abroad." He further said that the soil of Bengal cannot be found anywhere in the world. It is possible to make golden Bengal by growing golden crop in this soil. Talking about the agrarian revolution, he said, "We have to look after the villages, we have to protect the farmers. People need to be educated to produce more grain. Nothing should be forced. On the same day, he called for a green revolution by planting a coconut sapling on the premises of Bangladesh Agricultural University. He also came up with the announcement of agriculturists as 'Class One' officers. In this way Bangabandhu's relationship with agro-farmers-agriculturists developed.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was an agriculture and farmer friendly man. He dreamed of building a prosperous and self-reliant developed Bangladesh and a golden Bengal. There was no alternative to agricultural development to build the newly independent country. To that end, ensuring food security was one of his tasks. He knew that food and food security were the first needs of the people and he gave more importance to agriculture and development of farmers. Thinking deeply for the development of agriculture and farmers, he took various initiatives and programs to make this war-torn country self-reliant in agricultural economy. Bangabandhu understood that the future of the nation was bleak if the provision for the development of agriculture and farmers could not be ensured. He dreamed of enriching the country's economy through agrarian revolution. For this he focused on higher education research training and the city. He gained worldwide fame for his national foreign policy. In the first budget, Bangabandhu made arrangements to keep the highest allocation in the agriculture sector. Each of the 21 points was in one way or another the welfare of agriculture and farmers. Introduced co-operative agricultural system for the betterment of agriculture. He took various measures to protect the farmers from floods and droughts. Abolished the practice of government leasing.
Recently, the President of the World Bank visited Dhaka and called Bangabandhu a 'world leader', which may be followed by other countries. Hon'ble Prime Minister of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, daughter of Bangabandhu, Sheikh Hasina is also following the path shown by her father. At a time when the death march is increasing day by day in Bangladesh due to the influence of corona, the agriculture of Bengal has emerged as a shield as a tool to get rid of this disease. The skilled soldiers with that shield are the farmers of Bengal, the employees of all levels of the Department of Agricultural Extension. And the successful director of this whole work is currently one of the busiest ministries in Bangladesh, the Ministry of Agriculture, whose main driving seat is a famous personality of this agricultural family. Md. Abdur Razzak, MP. The steps taken by the Hon'ble Minister of Agriculture in tackling the potential food crisis in this epidemic of the country have already been lauded as a world precedent for fulfilling the slogan of the Prime Minister of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, which is agriculture friendly. Bangladesh is now the 3rd largest producer of rice in the world. In the 2018-19 financial year, where the production demand of paddy in Bangladesh was 3.50 crore tonnes, we were able to produce 3.84 crore tonnes. Due to this surplus foodgrains, we have already been able to store 12.75 lakh tonnes out of our capacity of 19.3 lakh tonnes.
In addition to agricultural production, the government has taken multifaceted initiatives keeping in mind the plight of the hard-working, impoverished and floating people who have suffered the most from the corona outbreak. 90,000 tons of rice has been given to low-income people at the rate of Tk 10 per kg across the country. Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has announced free housing, six months food and cash for the homeless and landless in response to Corona. So far, 12 crore 57 lakh rupees and about 48 thousand metric tons of food aid has been provided in 64 districts. In addition to the government's additional responsibilities in all these activities, the field staff of the Department of Agricultural Extension at all levels have declared war on Corona to ensure food security in the country. During the war, on July 12, 2020, 139 employees of the Department of Agricultural Extension were attacked by Corona. Bogra's Deputy Director of Agriculture Mohammad Abul Kashem Azad (56) and a Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer have died in the Corona aggression. The activities of the Department of Agricultural Extension have not stopped even after such horrors. On July 8, 2020, on the occasion of Mujib's centenary, the inauguration of the tree planting program was announced by the Hon'ble Minister of Agriculture. Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated a program to distribute 10 million saplings and plant trees across the country by planting a fruit, a forest and a medicinal plant saplings in the premises of Ganobhaban as part of the Mujib Year celebrations. According to the estimates of 2018-19 in Bangladesh, a total of 6 lakh 26 thousand hectares of land was planted with various fruits, of which mango as the main fruit land was about 1 lakh 7 thousand hectares and production was 22 lakh 26 thousand metric tons, jackfruit was planted 61 thousand six hundred. The yield per hectare of land was 16 lakh 7 thousand metric tons, and litchi was about 31 thousand four hundred, which yielded 2 lakh 26 thousand metric tons. This year, in 2019-20, that target has been increased and mango has been planted in about 1 lakh 79 thousand hectares of land and the expected production is 22 lakh 32 thousand MT.
All the hopes and aspirations of the agriculturists since the independence of Bangladesh have been fulfilled by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's self-interest and later by the head of the present agri-friendly government, his worthy daughter Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. One of the long standing demands of the agriculturists to the Hon'ble Prime Minister was for an agriculturist in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture. Hon'ble Prime Minister, after the formation of the government, handed over the responsibility to implement the hopes of the agriculturists to his highly trusted Dr. Md. Abdur Razzak, MP. From then on he walked tirelessly. Therefore, the Department of Agricultural Extension has taken various programs to celebrate this Mujib Year. Full preparations have already been made to ensure that this agriculturally dependent Bangladesh does not face any food crisis during the Corona period. Accordingly, in the next fiscal year 2020-21, the target for aus cultivation has been set at 13.297 lakh hectares of land and 36.45 lakh m. Tons, Aman 57.95 298 lakh hectares of land 153.6 lakh MT. This agri-friendly government has always thought that agriculture would be the main defense against any disaster. Let this be our pledge to pay homage to Bangabandhu in the year of Mujib.