By Xinhua
Dhaka : Bangladesh Tuesday sought assistance of 500,000 tonnes of food-grain from the donor countries to meet the deficit and maintain food security as cyclone Sidr extensively damaged standing crops.
Food and Disaster Management Adviser Tapan Chowdhury sought the assistance during a meeting with envoys of the donor countries here Tuesday, private news agency UNB reported.
Talking to reporters, the adviser said at present the government has a stock of 700,000 tonnes of food-grain, of which 200,000 tonnes will be sent to the cyclone-affected areas.
To keep the minimum food stock of one million tonnes, the government needs immediate assistance of 500,000 tonnes.
He also requested the donor countries, which want to provide food assistance, to purchase the food-grain from outside Bangladesh so that it did not affect the domestic market.
Cyclone Sidr was one of the fiercest to hit Bangladesh in the last 131 years, affected 30 of the country’s 64 districts, leaving more than 3,000 people dead and millions homeless. Crops on about 725,000 hectares of land were damaged.