Dhaka:Agriculture Minister Mohammed Aminur Rashid announced an initiative to construct 80 mini cold storage facilities for farmers in 40 upazilas across 20 districts. This effort aims to enhance the preservation of agricultural produce and reduce dependency on imports.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the minister revealed this information while responding to a question from treasury bench lawmaker M Shahidul Islam Bakul of Faridpur-4 during a session in the Jatiya Sangsad. The project, named 'Project for Establishment of Farmers' Mini Cold Storage Facilities for Climate-Resilient Agriculture,' has already seen the completion of 60 out of the targeted 80 facilities.
Additionally, the minister mentioned another completed initiative, 'Increasing Farmers' Income through the Expansion of Affordable Cold Storage Technologies to Address the Risks of Climate Change,' which set up 100 mini cold storage facilities in 54 upazilas across 26 districts.
Aminur Rashid also spoke about a proposed project titled 'Increasing Farmers' Income through Enhanced Agricultural Produce Preservation, Value Addition, and Marketing System Development Using Natural and Environment-Friendly Technologies.' This project plans to construct 5,000 storage facilities, each with a capacity of 20 metric tonnes, nationwide to modernize storage and marketing facilities for agricultural products.
Furthermore, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) currently has 31 cold storage facilities, including a 1,000 metric tonnes capacity potato seed cold storage in Faridpur Sadar Upazila. However, there are no current plans for new cold storage facilities under the BADC.