The government today launched a Tk 7,000 crore project to boost the commercialisation of farming and accelerate agricultural exports by facilitating the expansion of safe food production.

The project -- Program on Agricultural and Rural Transformation for Nutrition, Entrepreneurship, and Resilience in Bangladesh (PARTNER) -- was inaugurated through a programme at Krishibid Institute of Bangladesh in Dhaka.

Mostly financed by the World Bank, the initiative aims to expand the cultivation of fruits and vegetables following good agricultural practice (GAP) to 3 lakh hectares of land, according to project officials.

While presiding over the event, Agriculture Secretary Wahida Akter said this project has aggregated all the agriculture-related institutions concerned.  "It will work as an umbrella project," she said.

She also urged the officials concerned to give their highest effort to accomplish the project successfully.