Agriculture to be mechanised through multipurpose cooperatives: PM Hasina

Prime Minister sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said the government will  mechanise the agriculture through multipurpose rural cooperatives to boost production of food and other crops.

“We are taking an initiative to mechanise the agriculture through multipurpose rural cooperatives system which was initially taken up by the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib,” she said.

The prime minister was addressing the three-day first-ever National Land Conference 2023 along with launching seven initiatives of the land ministry.

The programme was held at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) with Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury in the chair.

The conference (March 29-31) will focus on the role of the land ministry in building a smart Bangladesh and to find out the future challenges of digitization of land services.

Other objectives of the conference include informing citizens, government agencies, and stakeholders about the steps taken by the land ministry, creating awareness among them about land management, and giving an idea about the existing laws and regulations related to land.

One of the 7 initiatives that the prime minister is set to inaugurate is the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Monument and the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Guchchagram Complex.

The remaining 6 initiatives include Registration-Mutation Interconnection, Smart Land Map, Smart Land Records, Smart Land Pedia, Smart Land Service Center, and Union Land Office.

Hasina said that under the planned cooperatives system one portion of the harvest will go to the owners of the lands, one portion to the engaged labourers while one portion to the government.

She mentioned that the government will utilise its portion for the land preservation and maintenance.

“Already, the cooperatives ministry has been instructed to make a policy regarding this matter. We want that,” she said.