{"id":878,"date":"2025-10-20T08:49:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T02:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reflectionnewsbd.com\/?p=878"},"modified":"2025-10-20T08:49:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T02:49:51","slug":"seminar-on-world-food-day-bangladesh-lags-behind-in-milk-egg-and-vegetable-consumption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reflectionnewsbd.com\/?p=878","title":{"rendered":"Seminar on World Food Day Bangladesh lags behind in milk, egg, and vegetable consumption"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>RN Desk: A seminar held today at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) auditorium in Dhaka, marking <strong data-start=\"371\" data-end=\"394\">World Food Day 2025<\/strong>, highlighted that Bangladeshi consumers are still far behind the recommended intake of milk, eggs, and vegetables. The event was organized by the <strong data-start=\"541\" data-end=\"568\">Ministry of Agriculture<\/strong> in collaboration with the <strong data-start=\"595\" data-end=\"660\">Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"665\" data-end=\"1059\">According to the keynote presentation, while the recommended daily intake of vegetables is <strong data-start=\"756\" data-end=\"769\">300 grams<\/strong>, Bangladeshis consume only <strong data-start=\"797\" data-end=\"810\">202 grams<\/strong> on average. For eggs, the daily standard is <strong data-start=\"855\" data-end=\"867\">30 grams<\/strong>, but consumption is only <strong data-start=\"893\" data-end=\"905\">13 grams<\/strong>. The gap is even wider in milk and dairy products\u2014against the requirement of <strong data-start=\"983\" data-end=\"1004\">130 grams per day<\/strong>, the average Bangladeshi consumes just <strong data-start=\"1044\" data-end=\"1056\">34 grams<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1061\" data-end=\"1424\">The keynote paper was presented by <strong data-start=\"1096\" data-end=\"1128\">Professor A H M Saiful Islam<\/strong> of Bangladesh Agricultural University. He compared food consumption patterns in 2016 and 2022 with recommended dietary standards. The data showed some improvements in fruit consumption\u2014from <strong data-start=\"1319\" data-end=\"1358\">36 grams per person per day in 2016<\/strong> to <strong data-start=\"1362\" data-end=\"1382\">95 grams in 2022<\/strong>, nearing the recommended <strong data-start=\"1408\" data-end=\"1421\">100 grams<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1426\" data-end=\"1947\">Rice consumption, once above the standard, has declined slightly. In 2016, daily rice intake was <strong data-start=\"1523\" data-end=\"1536\">367 grams<\/strong> against the recommended <strong data-start=\"1561\" data-end=\"1574\">350 grams<\/strong>; by 2022, it fell to <strong data-start=\"1596\" data-end=\"1609\">329 grams<\/strong>. Fish consumption, however, exceeded the benchmark: while the recommended intake is <strong data-start=\"1694\" data-end=\"1714\">60 grams per day<\/strong>, the actual average was <strong data-start=\"1739\" data-end=\"1751\">68 grams<\/strong> in 2022, up from 63 grams in 2016. Oil intake also remains slightly higher than the recommended <strong data-start=\"1848\" data-end=\"1860\">30 grams<\/strong>, with consumers averaging <strong data-start=\"1887\" data-end=\"1899\">31 grams<\/strong> per day in 2022 compared to 27 grams in 2016.<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"1954\" data-end=\"1988\">Guest Speakers\u2019 Observations<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"1989\" data-end=\"2320\">Chief Guest <strong data-start=\"2001\" data-end=\"2037\">Food Secretary Md. Masudul Hasan<\/strong> praised the contributions of farmers and agricultural scientists to the country\u2019s production success but noted that producers remain poorly connected to markets. \u201cFarmers\u2019 condition is like the song of Hasan Raja\u2014\u2018land belongs to others, property belongs to others,\u2019\u201d he remarked.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2322\" data-end=\"2740\">Special Guest <strong data-start=\"2336\" data-end=\"2398\">Fisheries and Livestock Secretary Abu Taher Muhammad Jaber<\/strong> raised concerns about the soaring price of hilsa fish. \u201cHilsa requires no fry release, no feed\u2014and yet why is it so expensive? Even before taking office, I had this question. The explanation is always high fishing costs and middlemen. By the time the fish reaches Dhaka, the price doubles. Clearly, there is more work to be done,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2742\" data-end=\"3006\">He also noted that the excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides in paddy fields has reduced natural fish availability, calling for more research to curb such practices. Rising costs of animal feed, he added, were driving up the prices of fish, milk, and eggs.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3008\" data-end=\"3253\">Quoting a newspaper report, he further pointed out, \u201cI read that imported cat food now costs Bangladesh around <strong data-start=\"3119\" data-end=\"3146\">400 crore taka annually<\/strong>. But in our time, we never needed to buy special food for cats. Such products must be produced locally.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 data-start=\"3260\" data-end=\"3280\">Other Insights<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"3281\" data-end=\"3763\"><strong data-start=\"3281\" data-end=\"3318\">Dr. Khondaker Md. Iftekharuddoula<\/strong> of the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute warned that <strong data-start=\"3373\" data-end=\"3425\">76% of Bangladesh\u2019s land is moderately infertile<\/strong>, and the proportion is increasing. On average, food waste per person is <strong data-start=\"3498\" data-end=\"3523\">82 kilograms per year<\/strong>. \u201cIn a disaster-prone country like ours, ensuring food security must be a continuous effort. No single institution or group can do this alone\u2014it requires collaboration between teachers, researchers, the government, and farmers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3765\" data-end=\"3945\"><strong data-start=\"3765\" data-end=\"3807\">FAO Bangladesh Representative Dia Sano<\/strong> noted that the world produces <strong data-start=\"3838\" data-end=\"3875\">1.5 times more food than required<\/strong>, but mismanagement and economic inequalities cause food insecurity.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3947\" data-end=\"4115\">Earlier, <strong data-start=\"3956\" data-end=\"3982\">Dr. Nazmun Nahar Karim<\/strong>, Executive Chairman of BARC, delivered the welcome address. <strong data-start=\"4043\" data-end=\"4065\">Valentine Achancho<\/strong>, IFAD Representative in Bangladesh, also spoke.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4117\" data-end=\"4329\">The seminar concluded with a prize distribution ceremony for winners of a painting competition. Officials from government agencies, private organizations, researchers, teachers, and students attended the event.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RN Desk: A seminar held today at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) auditorium in Dhaka, marking World Food Day 2025, highlighted that Bangladeshi consumers are still far behind the recommended intake of milk, eggs, and vegetables. The event was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business","category-national","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionnewsbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionnewsbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionnewsbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionnewsbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionnewsbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionnewsbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":879,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionnewsbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878\/revisions\/879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionnewsbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionnewsbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reflectionnewsbd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}