Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury on Sunday said the ministry has taken an initiative to enact a law titled "Arable Land Protection and Land Use Bill 2019" to save croplands and ensure their best use.
"Revising the draft (of the bill), it'll soon be sent to the Cabinet Division for approval by the Cabinet," he said at the parliament in reply to an unstarred (written) question from treasury bench MP M Abdul Latif (Chattogram-11).
Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdur Razzaque said the government provided Tk 632.63 billion as subsidy to the agriculture sector since 2009-2010 fiscal year, reports UNB.
Of the amount, Tk 611.23 billion was given against fertilisers, he said replying to an unstarred question from the same MP (Abdul Latif).
The Agriculture Minister said the production of food grains increased in the country to 41.3 million metric tonnes in the 2017-'18 fiscal year from 33.3 million in 2008-'09 fiscal year.
The fertiliser production increased in the country and Bangladesh attained food autarky, said Dr Razzaque.
In replying to a question from opposition Jatiya Party MP Shameem Haider Patwary (Gaibandha-1), the Agriculture Minister said the tobacco production came down to 74,382 metric tonnes in 2017-'18 fiscal year from 104,480 metric tonnes in 2015-'16 fiscal year.
Dr Razzaque said the tobacco production and lands on which lands are produced are declining gradually.
