Agribusiness Sector in Bangladesh

Agribusiness covers all aspects of trade and services associated with the production and processing of agricultural commodities, from input supply through to primary production to processing and finally marketing.

 In theory, agribusiness follows the same basic principles as other industrial sectors, with two attributes that make it different and increase its complexity.

v  Firstly, primary production is often seasonal whilst demand is much more constant this gives seasonal fluctuations in price and the need to store the product for find sources from different locations).

v  Secondly, in many developed countries government often provide considerable agricultural subsidies and intervene in both the marketing and input supplies - which often lead to considerable market distortions.

There are two sectors are playing an important role in development of Agribusiness in Bangladesh namely:

1.      Government sector

2.      NGO’S and Private sector

Future Prospects of agribusiness in Bangladesh

1.      Sustainability and rapid growth in agribusiness sector will depend on how well agribusiness can cope up in a more liberalized trade regime under the WTO framework.

2.      The business environment of Bangladesh is characterized by insufficient infrastructure facilities in the rural areas, regulated credit market, lack of standardization of products and inadequate airfreight for export of perishables.

3.      Irregular power supply, lack of appropriate technology and market related information and access to poor business development services aggravate the situation.

4.      Agribusiness in Bangladesh however has the potential for growth both in local and overseas markets.

5.      The quality of agro-products is of quite a high standard in Bangladesh.

6.      With appropriate measures, the country will have a better edge in its agro-based production, processing and marketing.

7.      Various studies indicate how local agricultural products have significant demand in the ethnic markets of UK, Middle East and the USA.

8.      The present practice of trade is concentrated on export to expatriate Bangladeshi importers who in turn sell to the Bangladeshi communities. To break this chain and increase exports, Bangladesh should strictly follow the rules and regulations for international standards and promote marketing of its agribusiness products directly.

For example, super market chains in the developed countries. With the rise of per capita income and growth in the population of about 1.86% annually demand for quality agricultural products, and processed foods have been increasing in the local markets.

There are some regulatory institutions are involved in this system

Regulatory institutions are as follow

1.      Fertilizer Act                                                                 

2.      The Pesticide Ordinance and Rules                                           

3.      Quarantine act and Rules                                                                   

4.      The Bangladesh Veterinary Practitioners Act

5.      Animal Quarantine Act

6.      Soughter House Act

7.      Fishery Conservation And regulation Act

8.      Bangladesh Standard & Testing Institution(BSTI)

9.      Customs Authority of Bangladesh

10.  All Agriculture University Laboratories in Bangladesh

11.  All Agriculture  Related  Research Laboratories in Bangladesh

12.  International Standard Institution(ISO)

13.  Pre-shipment Inspection

14.  Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Points(HACCP)

## Author : Collected from BSMRAU