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NAOGAON, July 2, 2023 (BSS) - Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder today said the government has taken up a plan to build a silo with a capacity of 35 lakh metric tons in the coming days.

"The government has a plan to build a silo with the storage capacity of 35 lakh metric tons by increasing the current storage capacity of 21 lakh 80 thousand metric tons of food grains in the country," he said.

The minister said this while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the newly constructed silo with a capacity of 1,000 metric tons in Saraswatipur area of Mahadevpur upazila of the district as the chief guest.

"If this plan is implemented, the government will be able to ensure fair price for the farmers while purchasing their additional crops," he added.

Describing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led government as a pro-farmer one, Sadhan said a plan to construct 200 more paddy silos across the country at a cost of Taka 1500 crore is being implemented.

Of these, the construction process of 30 silos has already started, he added.

These silos are being built in a fully digitalized process, he said.

The food minister also said that the construction of a buffer silo in Naogaon will start soon.

With Regional Food Controller of Rajshahi Division Zahirul Islam Khan in the chair, the ceremony was attended, among others, by local lawmaker Salim Uddin Tarafder, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Khalid Mehdi Hasan and Superintendent of Police Muhammad Rashidul Haque as special guests.

In view of the long-standing demands of rice mill owners of Mahadevpur upazila, the Directorate General of Food constructed the Saraswatipur LSD silo on an acre of land in Saraswatipur area at a cost of more than Tk 2.92 crore, a press release said.