Farmers Can Store Crops and Sell Them at a Convenient Time: Education Minister

Farmers will no longer have to sell their produce at low prices at the end of the harvesting season, as they will be able to store agricultural products in cold storage facilities and sell them when market conditions are favorable, Education, Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr ANM Ehsanul Haque Milan has said.
He said the initiative would help ensure fair prices for farmers, increase storage capacity and make agriculture more profitable.

The minister made the remarks on Friday afternoon while speaking as the chief guest at a programme to distribute and inaugurate free hybrid solar-operated mini cold storage facilities in the Sachar area of Kachua upazila in Chandpur under the Agricultural Rehabilitation Assistance programme for the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Describing the pilot project as a new opportunity for agricultural development in Kachua, Milan said the area is one of Bangladesh's major potato-producing regions. A variety of crops are also produced in the area during the Rabi season, he added.

The government has introduced the mini cold storage facilities on a pilot basis to address the long-standing storage crisis faced by farmers, he said.

“Genuine farmers will be able to store potatoes, seeds, eggs and other agricultural products in these cold storage facilities. They will no longer have to sell their produce at low prices immediately after the harvest. Instead, they can store the products and sell them at a convenient time,” the minister said.

He said the initiative would increase farmers' income and contribute to strengthening the country's agricultural economy.

Addressing local traders, Milan called for greater unity to improve markets, protect the legitimate rights of businessmen and collectively pursue their demands.

He said market associations should be operated democratically, with decisions taken through consensus among their members. Each market association, he said, should function as the “parliament” of its respective market.

The minister also said the government wants to establish a socially developed and discrimination-free society. He claimed that people are now experiencing the difference between the past and the present and that traders are able to conduct business in a safer environment without unnecessary harassment.

Criticizing the previous Awami League government, Milan said he was a native of Kachua and had personally witnessed how people in the area were subjected to repression during the previous regime.

Referring to the July Mass Uprising, he said the brutal killings during the movement must not be forgotten. The experiences and painful memories of the past should be used as lessons to build a better future, he said.

“We must move forward by understanding where we were, where we have come from and where we want to go,” he added.

The programme was chaired by Mahmudul Hasan Russell, Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Kachua.

Upazila Agriculture Officer Tupu Ahmed, Agriculture Extension Officer Saikat Das, local BNP leaders, youth and farmers' organization representatives, as well as local farmers, traders and community leaders, attended the event.

Hybrid solar-operated mini cold storage facilities were distributed among farmers at the programme, followed by the formal inauguration of the project.