Dhaka, Sept. 13 -- Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Sunday stressed the need for reducing Bangladesh's dependence on imports of agricultural and food products by increasing domestic production of crops that can be grown in the country.

He also asked officials of the Ministry of Agriculture to take effective measures to boost the production of locally viable agricultural commodities, while ensuring food security and making farming more productive and profitable, said a release issued by the PM's Press Wing.

The Prime Minister gave the directives at a meeting with officials of the ministry at its conference room in the Bangladesh Secretariat in the afternoon.

He directed officials to focus not only on increasing agricultural productivity...