Archive for April, 2010

BR’s low-cost transportation can reduce vegetable price in Dhaka

Courtesy: The Financial Express           

RANGPUR, Sept 10 (BSS): Low-cost carrying of vegetables by intercity trains with two luggage vans in each from the northern districts to the capital since February, has been gradually becoming popular to arrest price spirals in the capital city in recent days.

Vegetable prices would mark drastic falls in Dhaka when the newly introduced 350 tonne capacity Parcel Express Train on the Parbotipur-Tejgaon route becomes popular through joint efforts and publicity of the concerned authorities and administrations.

Officials in Bangladesh Railway (BR), administrations, traders, businessmen, common people and local observers said this while talking to the national news agency Thursday as transportation costs would reduce.

According to the officials, the BR took special steps for carrying vegetables and other essentials by three intercity trains of Lalmoni Express, Ekota Express and Drutojan at lower costs from northern part of Bangladesh to the capital city from last February.

The steps were taken following instructions of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Ministry of Communications to expedite smooth transportation of vegetables and keep their prices at reasonable level in the retail markets of Dhaka city.

After initial successes, one more luggage van was later attached to each of the three intercity trains running from Lalmonirhat and Dinajpur to Dhaka for further facilitating low-cost vegetables transportation during the month of Ramadan.

“We are getting good response from the vegetable traders as they are using the luggage vans of intercity trains and it might take some more time to popularize the Parcel Train”, director general (DG) of BR Mohammad Belayet Hossain told the news agency Thursday.

Joint Director General (JDG, Operations) of BR M Shahjahan said that massive steps have been taken to popularise carrying vegetables and other essential commodities by the traders at quicker time to Dhaka from the northern region using the Parcel Train.

The steps include round the clock announcement-using loudspeakers in and around all 14 stoppages in between Parbotipur and Bangabandhu Bridge involving BR officials to convincing the vegetable traders for using the Parcel Train for carrying their vegetables at low-cost.

The BR authorities at the national and local levels have been continuing massive publicity works like advertisements in the newspapers to attract the vegetable traders in availing of the golden opportunity.

Commercial Manager of the BR’s Western Zone M Akhteruzzaman told the news agency that adequate steps have already been taken to disseminate the information among the traders in the Western Zone to popularise the Parcel Express Train as soon as possible.

Divisional Commercial Manager of Western Zone of BR Ashok Kumar Dey, Lalmonirhat Divisional Railway Manager Kazi Rafikul Alam and Divisional Traffic Superintendent Syed Jahurul Islam and BR officials are exchanging views with all concerned everywhere for the purpose.

Meanwhile, vegetable traders Shamsul Haque of Lalmonirhat, Hafizar Rahman of Gazipur, Abdul Jabbar of Rangpur, Nasir Uddin of Joypurhat, Shamsul Alam of Naogaon and others said that the initiatives could be effective soon if the district administrations were properly involved.

“Our vegetables and essential commodities’ transportation costs using the Parcel Train would become less than half, no extortionist can realise tolls on the way and the goods will reach the capital intact and without any risks in shorter period,” the traders expressed their hope.

Assistant Station Master of Parbotipur Arif Hossain, Inspector Bayezid Ahmed of the Parcel Train, Santahar Station Master Chhoimuddin and his Parcel Assistant Anwarul Islam and Joypurhat Station Master Abdul Karim narrated brighter prospects of the Parcel Train from the next winter.

Environmental impact study before launch of coal-mining
Courtesy: The Financial Express

November 5, 2009

M Azizur Rahman

The government will carry out a study to assess social and environmental impacts of coalmining before the launch of long-awaited mining in the northern region of the country for extracting coal, officials said Tuesday.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has already been requested for funding the study, a senior official of the energy ministry told the FE.

He said the study would help extract maximum quantity of coal utilising the world’s most modern technology.

It would be accommodative with the proposed national coal policy and ensure that coalmining would not be detrimental to the environment and society.

The proposed study would also deal with the compensation issue to ensure smooth and uninterrupted coalmining for safeguarding the country’s future energy security.

It might recommend necessary compensation packages for those affected by both open-pit and underground coalmining across the country.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth several billions of dollars remained pending for the past several years due to indecisiveness of the successive governments over coalmining.

“But this time the energy ministry has moved to tap the country’s huge coal reserve potentials on completion of the study,” the energy ministry official said.

Coal policy would also be adopted subsequently, he added.

Apart from the UK-based Asia Energy, South Korean Luxon Global and US-based Global Vulcan Energy have submitted proposals to the Board of Investment (BoI) for investment in the country’s coal sector.

Several local and international companies have recently sought permission to develop the coalmines.

The Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) reveals that the country has high quality coal reserves of over 2.7 billion tonnes, equivalent to 70 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas, which is five times more than the country’s proven gas reserve of 14 Tcf.

Discovery of coal in the country was first reported in late 1950s when an exploratory oil well was being drilled through coal beds in Bogra.

Subsequent explorations resulted in the discovery of the Jamalganj coal deposit at a depth of about 1000 metres from the ground level, having an estimated reserve of 1053 million tonnes of coal.

In 1984-85, the GSB located another coal deposit at Khalaspir (Pirganj) of Rangpur at a shallower depth, with an estimated reserve of 685 million tonnes of coal.

Extractable coal deposit was then discovered at Barapukuria of Parbatipur in Dinajpur at a reasonably shallower depth with an estimated reserve of about 389 million tonnes, where the country’s lone coal-fired power plant is in operation.

Coal deposit of around 572 million tonnes was located by Asia Energy at Phulbari in Dinajpur in 2005.

Food security: Some points to ponder
Courtesy:The Financial Express

27.11.2009

Emdadul Haque

More than 71 per cent of the capital city’s nearly one million rickshaw-pullers were farmers prior to their migration to the city and taking up this health-decaying profession. Eighteen per cent of them were in abject poverty as they were landless peasants, according to a study of the Social Science Research Council of the Planning Ministry, the ‘Livelihoods of the Rickshaw Pullers of Dhaka City’. Good Earth, a non-governmental research organisation, conducted the study under the supervision of the council.

The free encyclopedia Wikipedia defines food security as the availability of food and one’s access to it. A household is considered food secure when its members do not live in hunger or fear of starvation.

A recent study shows that 45 per cent people of Bangladesh live below poverty line. So, it is not unlikely that a large number of the poor cannot arrange required food round the year.

The poor fail to earn their livelihoods on a regular basis due to lack of job opportunities. That is why the landless villagers and floating city dwellers starve sometimes as they cannot procure food though it may not always be too costly.

The farmers did not get fair price of their paddies during the last Boro seaso. So, they are a little frustrated. This may be one of the reasons why the Aman acreage fell short of target by over 0.2 million hectares.

Moreover, the country experienced a drought-like-situation.Due to the dearth of rainfall, many farmers could not cultivate crop in time. Farmers in the 16 northern districts had no alternative but to go for a delayed plantation with the help of a special irrigation progarmme, launched in the Barind areas by the government. The delayed plantation of Aman may lead to significant losses to its per hectare yield.

However, agriculture experts hope that the revival of large-scale farming of the short-duration indigenous varieties of paddies during off-seasons can ensure food security.

The Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS), an NGO, conducted an on-station research on 11 extinct indigenous varieties of paddies for three years. Based on the results of the research, the short-duration ‘pariza’ variety of paddy, per hectare yield of which is 3.5 tonnes, has been cultivated in greater Rangpur this year.

Pariza paddy can be harvested in 70 days during the completely off-season, between late May and mid-August, when the fields remain fallow after Boro harvest and before the plantation of T-Aman seedlings. Experts think that the prospect for the cultivation of the pariza paddy is bright in the greater Rangpur region.

The harvest of pariza completes by August 15, without facing any flood and paving the way for planting T-Aman seedlings in time to get three paddy harvests annually in the same land.

During the past 10 years, five late floods, including three devastating ones, occurred in Bangladesh in the period between August 26 and September 14, causing severe damages to the flowering T-Aman crops.

The country can ensure its food security and become a rice-exporting nation if the short-duration indigenous pariza paddy is cultivated in 3.5 million hectares of suitable land and an additional 9.0 million tonnes of paddy is produced annually.

The variety is cost-effective as a farmer needs only Tk 10,000 for cultivating pariza in one acre against Tk 20,000 for Boro and Tk 15,000 for T-Aman paddy.

There is another good news. The cultivation of BINA dhan-7 has created a new hope among the people across the five ‘Monga’-hit districts in the northern region of the country. The short-duration of BINA dhan-7 ripens earlier than that of the existing Aman varieties. This has opened up the opportunities to cultivate winter crops in proper time. The RDRS will distribute 150 tonnes of seed of this variety in the northern districts next year.

The cultivation of BINA dhan-7 has also reduced the trend of the landless peasants in the Monga-hit areas to leave the region and migrate to towns in search of work during the ‘Monga’ period as they now find work during the harvesting of this variety of rice.

Cambodia has showed keen interest in BINA dhan-7 and wants to introduce the same in Cambodia with technical assistance from RDRS Bangladesh. There should be mutual cooperation such as exchanging information and technology among the rice-producing countries so that food security is ensured around the globe.

The first-ever high-yielding Aman hybrid developed by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) will be cultivated in the next Aman season. The production rate of BRRI dhan-48, BRRI dhan-50 and Hybrid-2 are 5 tonnes, 6.5 tonnes and 8.50 tonnes respectively per hectare.The average production of rice in the country is 4.01 tonnes per hectare. The same in China, Japan and Korea is 5 to 6 tonnes per hectare.

BRRI has also developed flood- and salinity-tolerant varieties to bring fallow lands under rice cultivation along the coastal belt and in the low-lying areas. The variety of BR-11-sub1, if submerged by floodwaters, can survive for even 15 days.

Farmers can get a good harvest if the weather is favourable, there is no excessive rain, if fertiliser and power for irrigation are available at affordable rates.

The government should fix the rice procurement price at such a level that farmers can get at least a profit margin of Tk 8-10 per kg.

The government has announced further reduction in the price of non-urea fertilizer, providing an additional subsidy of Tk 5.0 billion.

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury recently said the government would play a supporting role in increasing food production in the country. The minister said the present government has taken an initiative to ease loan procedures for farmers to increase their financial ability, which will help boost crop production in the country.

If the government plays such a supportive role, only then the farmers will be benefited and the country will become self-sufficient in food production. The government can thus ensure food security in the country.

The writer can be reached at _ HYPERLINK “mailto: ehaque63@gmail.com”

Orange cultivation starts in Dinajpur

Courtesy: The Financial Express

21.12.2009

Our Correspondent

NILPHAMARI, Dec 21: Commercial cultivation of Darjeeling variety of orange has started in greater Dinajpur, particularly in Panchagarh district.

Sources said, it is expected that the plants would bear fruit from 2011 and the cultivators would start supplying it across the country from the year 2013.

Now orange cultivation is spreading rapidly everywhere, specially in all the union parishads of Tetulia upazila in Panchagarh district. A single tree bears 200 to 500 oranges.

In the year 2003 ministry of agriculture directed Bangladesh

Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) to provide a feasibility study report on orange cultivation in the prospective districts. Consequently, greater Dinajpur was found to be feasible for it, the sources said.

Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has so far trained 1,500 farmers and provided them with orange saplings. In Panchagarh district there are 93 gardens in 108 hectares of land in which around 35,000 orange trees have grown.

Potato growers lament lack of cold storages in Rangpur, Dinajpur

Courtesy: The Financial Express

13.04.2010

Our correspondent

RANGUR Apr 5: Potato growers in eight districts of Rangpur division are facing serious problem in preserving their produce owing to shortage of cold storages.

According to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), a total of 31,32,500 tonnes of potato was produced in 1,70,700 hectares of land in Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts.

DAE source said there are 62 cold storages in the region with the preservation capacity of 4,72,000 tonnes, which is quite insufficient for the large quantity of potato produced in the region this season.

Failing to ensure preservation of the potato harvest in cold storages, growers are being compelled either to sell their produce at lower rate or take it back home.

Anisur Rahman (45), a potato grower of Mithapukur Upzila under Rangpur district said hoarders are getting priority from the cold storage facility owners, which has created serious problem for the poor growers.

Many potato farmers said as the capacity of the cold storages was not adequate, government should take steps to help preserve their produces.

Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, owner of a cold storage said some cold storages should be set up in the region at government initiative as the private cold storages have limited capacity.

Experts suggest multi-pronged strategy to ease energy crisis

Courtesy: The Financial Express

13.04.2010

M Azizur Rahman

Energy experts have recommended for implementing multi-pronged strategies simultaneously to ease the unprecedented energy crisis the country is now facing as a consequence of imprudent planning by the authorities for long.

The government should work rigorously for ramping up natural gas and electricity output, ensure optimum use of gas fields and power plants, implement energy-mix in consumption they suggested, while talking to the FE Monday.

The country is now reeling under acute gas and electricity crisis leading to production cessation in scores of manufacturing plants, closure of compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations, suffering to households and damages to electrical appliances.

The government has stopped providing new gas and electricity connections, introduced holiday staggering in industries, banned usage of air-conditions during peak hours and changed official dress code to avoid wearing suits by government officials during office for the first time in the country.

It officially admits electricity supply shortfall of around 1,500 megawatts and gas production deficit of around 300 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd).

But actual demand is much more than the official figures the energy experts argues saying the electricity supply shortfall would be around 4,000 mw, the same quantity the country is now generating, and gas at least around 1000 mmcfd, half of the current total output.

“The government must go for oil and gas exploration in onshore and offshore gas fields simultaneously to ensure the country’s future energy security,” said professor M Tamim of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

“The absolute dependence on natural gas for generating electricity must go”, he said.

“The government should divert the fuel source to coal, nuclear power and renewable energy apart from natural gas,” said Mr Tamim, who is also an adviser of the previous caretaker government.

Currently 80 per cent of the power plants are run by natural gas. But it should be around 40 per cent, with another 30-40 per cent by coal and remaining by oil, nuclear power and renewable energy, he suggested.

The BUET professor also opined for import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and popularise the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as alternatives to the existing piped gas.

For augmenting electricity generation Mr Tamim suggested for adopting long-term action plan apart from the ad-hoc plans to ease the crisis.

“It seems that the government has no intention to resolve the country’s energy crisis,” said professor Anu Muhammad of Jahangir Nagar University.

He blamed the government for allowing the international oil companies (IOCs) sit idle for long without conducting any exploration works under the pretext of ‘absence of market.’

Though the IOCs signed PSCs for over a dozen gas blocks they are now operational in less than half of their assigned blocks, said Anu Muhammad, who is also a rights group leader, alleged.

He suggested for engaging the state-owned entities for oil and gas exploration.

“The IOCs are pressing to raise gas price pushing the government to an awkward position,” he alleged.

Professor Anu Muhammad urged the government for utilising the country’s coal-reserves through setting up coal-gasification units.

“It would save the locality and conserve environment as well,” he added.

Professor Anu Muhammad blamed the ‘dubious’ role of the multilateral donor agencies -World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) – during mid 1990s by stopping funding which, he said, led to the current catastrophic electricity crisis.

“The government should shun their prescription and let the local entrepreneurs build plants,” he added.

Former director general of Power Cell BD Rahmatullah said: “By renovating the aged power plants, that are now running at de-rated capacity, the government can add around 600 mw of electricity to the national grid by next six months.”

Installing capacitor banks at power plants can save around 250 mw and setting up intelligent motor controller (IMC) with motors can save 500 mw, he said.

Reduction of systems loss can straight way save around 400 mw of electricity, he added.