Edible oil imports will be reduced by 40pc in next 3 year

Staff Reporter :
Forty percent of the country’s total demand of edible oil (10 lakh tonnes) will be produced in the next three years and the government has taken an action plan in this regard.
Bangladesh is now producing edible oil, meeting 12 per cent of the country’s total demand. The country’s annual demand of edible oil is 24 lakh tonnes.
Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzque told reporters at the beginning of a meeting on the three-year work plan to reduce the foreign dependency of edible oil held at the Secretariat on Tuesday.
“Bangladesh is now producing three to four lakh tones of edible oil and the rest is imported from abroad. Bangladesh had to spend Tk 16,000 crore in the last financial year to import edible oil, while Tk 20,000 crore has been spent on the import of edible oil due to the increase the price of edible oil in the last 10 months in the current fiscal years. The total cost of importing edible oil in the remaining two months will need Tk 24,000 to 25,000 crore,” the Agriculture minister said.
The Prime Minister asked the ministry concerned to reduce dependency on the imported edible oil, he added.
Considering the reality, the ministry concerned working on how to increase the oil production in the next three to four years, the Agriculture Minister said adding that they don’t want to disrupt the production of paddy.
“Our scientists have come up with many productive varieties in the last 10 years. Edible oil is now a crying need and oil prices increased abnormally. As a result, the cost livelihood has increased. This is affecting the foreign exchange reserves too,” he added.The scientists have developed high yielding varieties of mustard, Razzaque said, adding that it would be possible to increase the production if we these varieties can be popular among the people.
The earlier variety Tori-6 usually can produce 700 kg of oil but the new variety can produce more than two tonnes.
The new varieties of Aman rice ripen in 110 to 115 days, while it usually takes 140 to 160 days, the Minister said adding that the new variety of mustard will come in 80 to 85 days.
The area of such land pattern is 20 lakh hectares, Razzaque said if they can give mustard at 25 per cent of the land huge production can be possible to increase.
The farmers will be able to earn Tk 30,000 to Tk 40,000 additionally, the Agriculture Minister observed.