Bangladesh considering providing potatoes to SL during ongoing crisis

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said yesterday that despite being a country with a huge population, Bangladesh may provide potatoes to Sri Lanka during this crisis.

The prime minister made this remark when Secretary General of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) Esala Ruwan Weerakoon paid a courtesy call on her at Ganabhaban.

She said Bangladesh has taken steps to grow more foods amid the global food problem following the Covid-19 pandemic and Ukraine-Russia war.

Bangladeshi researchers are making efforts to develop different saline and drought-tolerant varieties of rice, said Sheikh Hasina.

Weerakoon highly praised Bangladesh for its contribution to Saarc Agriculture Centre.

He said the pandemic is also responsible for the ongoing economic crisis in his country and appreciated the support Bangladesh has extended towards the island nation.

Sri Lanka now needs fertilizer as the rice production dropped by 50% there, he added.

Prime Minister Hasina urged the South Asian countries to work together in the fight against poverty, describing it as the main enemy in the region.

“We, the countries in this region, should cooperate with each other. Many problems can be solved bilaterally,” she said.