Govt to take action against unscrupulous traders

Egg day 2022 observed

The government will take action against the unscrupulous traders who attempt to increase commodity prices through different mechanisms, warns Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim.
“If any business community tries to make the commoners hostages through collusion, definitively the government will not spare them,” he said.
He also said market monitoring is not within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MoFL) but they will talk to the agencies concerned to thwart the syndicate, if there is any.
The minister came up with the warning while replying to a question from journalists on the unusual hike in prices of eggs in the local markets recently.
“On one hand we cannot force the producers to sell eggs at lower price than their operating cost, on the other we cannot spare the profiteering traders,” he said.
He was speaking as the chief guest at a seminar to observe the World Egg Day organised jointly by the Directorate of Livestock Services (DLS), World’s Poultry Science Association (WPSA) Bangladesh chapter and Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council (BPICC) at a city convention centre on Friday.
Professor Dr Md Bazlur Rahman Mollah of Bangladesh Agricultural University presented the keynote paper at the seminar.
MoFL Secretary Dr Nahid Rashid, DLS Director General Dr Monjur Mohammad Shahjada and President of BPICC and WPSA local chapter Mashiur Rahman spoke on the occasion, among others.
The Department of Livestock Services (DLS) and Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council (BPICC) brought out a procession from Manik Mia Avenue in Dhaka to mark the day.
The DLC and the BPICC brought out the procession with the aim to make people aware of the nutritional value of eggs and encourage them to eat eggs every day for increasing immunity.
Around 20,57,64,000 eggs were produced in the country in the 2021-22 fiscal year, DLS sources said.
The country produced 17,36,43,000 eggs in the fiscal year 2020-21 and the data shows that egg production increased by 3.21 crore.
According to the World Health Organisation (WTO), a person should eat at least 104 eggs per year to meet his or her demand for nutrition.
Livestock experts said the poultry sector is thriving fast to improve rural economy alongside increasing egg production to meet nourishment of the population contributing to attaining the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
“Consumption of egg is also contributing a lot to ensuring sound health for the people of all ages, including children, adolescents, pregnant mothers and women,” they added.
They said eggs are being produced abundantly in Bangladesh by adopting latest scientific technologies maintaining maximum safety for public health to meet nourishment of the population.
The minister in his speech also said prices of egg will be balanced through coordinated efforts of all stakeholders.
It is also necessary to keep in mind that the cost of production in the poultry sector has also increased in recent times, said the minister.
Dr Nahid Rashid said egg is like a ‘super food’ considering its nutritional value for human health.
“Egg is the most affordable animal protein,” she said, adding production cost of the essential item has increased in the country by several times in the recent years.
She also said the government is taking different schemes to make it affordable so people from all walks of lives can avail it.
There is also need for focusing on the scopes to export value added products made from eggs, she added.