Agriculture Secretary Dr Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian unveiled the Agriculture Future Outlook Plan 2025 at the Bangladesh Agriculture Summit 2025, held in the capital over the weekend. This strategic roadmap aims to revolutionize the sector by extending modern technology to the grassroots level, with a particular emphasis on the upcoming Khamari App. Designed to provide farmers with crop management tools and real-time market information, the app is set to become a game-changer in improving decision-making and market access for rural farmers.
The summit, jointly organized by LightCastle Partners and the Switzerland-based Sustainable Agriculture Foundation (SAF), brought together key stakeholders in the agricultural sector. Notable speakers included farm economist Dr MA Sattar Mandol, DAE Director General Md Saiful Alam, and representatives from various agricultural associations and universities. The event served as a platform to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing Bangladesh’s agriculture sector, which employs 36.9% of the country’s total labor force.
Dr Emdad highlighted the government’s vision for inclusive agriculture and expanded technological integration in farming. He acknowledged that while food production has increased to meet the needs of a growing population, the fragmentation of agricultural land poses a significant barrier to development. The Agriculture Future Outlook Plan 2025 aims to address this issue by enhancing productivity on limited land resources.
One of the pressing challenges revealed at the summit was the substantial post-harvest losses in the vegetable sector. Shubham Ray of LightCastle Partners presented a paper indicating that 20-44% of Bangladesh’s annual vegetable production is wasted, resulting in an estimated loss of $2.4 billion per annum. Other major obstacles to export growth include a lengthy chain of intermediaries, low profit margins, shipment delays, lack of cold storage facilities, weak emphasis on certification, and high air freight premiums.
Despite these challenges, the agriculture sector has shown promising growth. Between July and March of the current financial year, Bangladesh’s agriculture sector generated $821.06 million in export earnings, marking a 6.21% year-on-year growth. This growth trajectory underscores the potential of the sector and the importance of initiatives like the Agriculture Future Outlook Plan 2025 in driving further progress.
The implications of these developments are far-reaching. By leveraging technology and addressing key challenges, Bangladesh can significantly reduce post-harvest losses, improve market access for farmers, and boost export earnings. The successful implementation of the Agriculture Future Outlook Plan 2025 could not only transform the agricultural landscape but also contribute substantially to the country’s economic growth. As the sector continues to evolve, the focus on innovation and sustainability will be crucial in shaping its future.