The New Nation - Internet Edition

Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury stressed the need for changing food habit for making the country self-reliant in food and making the nation healthy.

The minister made the stress while inaugurated a workshop on review of internal research and introduction of programme yesterday at Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute at Kazi Badruddoza auditorium at Joydevpur.

Mrs. Chowdhury urged people to plant fruit bearing trees on both sides of roads from which she added people could be benefited. These fruit bearing would meet the shortage of protein of the children.

The agriculture minister urged the scientists to evolve methods, which would Reduce the time for sugarcane growing.

He said only production of hi-breed paddy And rice will not meet our food requirement of the country. For this Matia Chowdhury referred to food habit of other countries. She said people of the other countries take more wheat and other foods and keep rice as the last of the menu, but people of Bangladesh start with rice and finish with rice.

Director General Dr. Khirod Chandra Roy presided over the workshop, which was addressed, among others, by Lawmaker of Gazipur seat No.1 Advocate Alhaj AKM Mozammel Haq, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Land Ministry.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. Khirod Chandra Roy said the institute has evolved 615 technologies, including 305 hi-breed of 103 crops. With the proper use of these technologies, poverty of the country could be removed.