Status of research-extension linkages in Bangladesh

Agriculture accounts for 20 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Bangladesh, with fisheries and livestock contributing another 3.7 and 4 per cent, respectively, to national income. “Agricultural growth has helped bring down the incidence of poverty in the country from more than 80 per cent in the 1970s to 31.5 per cent in 2010,” stated Dr. Wais Kabir, Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Centre (BARC) in today’s presentation on ‘Status of Research-Extension Linkages in Bangladesh’. 

The main agricultural produce in Bangladesh include rice, jute, maize potato, fruits, vegetables, pulses and spices. The country is made up of nearly 80 per cent plain alluvial land and 8 per cent hill terrain, with a very high cropping intensity of about 191 per cent in 8 million hectares.

The government ministries responsible for the agriculture sector include the Ministry of Forest, Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock, and the Ministry of Forest and Environment. The main challenge to the sector is the rapidly increasing land degradation due to depletion of soil and water resources. This requires major focus on safety and quality of the resources.

In Bangladesh, agricultural research and extension is the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture which organizes an annual workshop on research and extension. Both public and private sector are involved in research and extension. The CGIAR initiative and the Farming System Research Intervention (FSRI) are also involved in research and extension. The NARS system in Bangladesh is served by different Ministries dealing with agriculture. Various national-level projects are helping enhance institutional capacities.

The National Agriculture Technology Programme (NATP) is crucial for enhancing the research-extension and farmer linkage to promote farmer-to-farmer information exchange and is maintained through National Coordinating committees. The R-E (Research-Extension) development of supply chain component includes strengthening farmers-market linkage and enhancing institutional efficiency.

“There are, however, some constraints to planning, monitoring and evaluation activities, including lack of operational mechanisms and inadequate resources,” Dr. Kabir concluded. Overall, the country is shifting towards climate-smart agriculture and there is urgent need for capacity-building at national level in various agricultural sectors.

Prepared by Suraj Pandey, Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT), India