Sukanta Halder

Around 10 lakh agricultural households in Bangladesh, representing nearly 50 lakh people, are projected to need emergency agricultural assistance between June and November 2026, according to the recent report of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Production suffers, cooking at home stalls, power generation plummets

Bangladesh’s insurance sector saw growth in premiums, assets, investments and policies in 2025, driven by improved political and economic stability, the end of agent commissions, higher premium rates and increased returns on fixed-income assets.

For farmers racing against the crop calendar, fertiliser is becoming a source of anxiety.

By most measures, Bangladesh is one of the planet’s great fish-producing nations. It ranks second in the world for fish caught in rivers, lakes and wetlands, and fifth for farmed fish production, according to a June 2026 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Bangladesh’s gas supply situation has improved from the severe shortages seen last week, but industries are yet to see a meaningful recovery as a larger share of the limited supply is now being diverted to power plants.

The gas crisis, which is in its fourth week, took a turn for the worse after Summit’s floating LNG terminal ran out of gas around 5:00pm yesterday.

A recent study, titled “No escaping the heat: Health and economic impacts of heat stress on informal workers in urban Bangladesh”, found that workers exposed to extreme heat outdoors lose an average of 23.7 working days a year.

Smokers increasingly switch to cheaper brands

Reserves of some key fertilisers have fallen below safe levels, raising concerns about shortages during the upcoming cropping season amid the US-Israeli war on Iran and China’s ban on fertiliser export.

Bangladesh’s small-scale farmers, who make up more than half the country’s food producers, earn less than half the reported national average income, according to a new Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics survey published yesterday.

Factories run below capacity while new plants await gas, casting doubt over investment, employment

Over 3,000MW of loadshedding recorded yesterday

Study finds most households borrowing, many exhausting savings and selling assets

People are opting for more than plain milk as demand for value-added dairy products rises

Hanif Chowkidar, a farmer in Patuakhali’s Galachipa upazila, had planned to cultivate Aman paddy on 5.26 hectares this season. He spent around Tk 22,000 on four maunds (1 maund = 37.32kg) of seed and prepared a seedbed.

Exports down 79% since 2002 while production costs rise 78.31% over past decade

Bangladesh's tea industry is under mounting financial strain as estates grapple with years of losses, high borrowing costs, falling exports, rising production expenses and low productivity, prompting a government taskforce to recommend sweeping reforms.

Domestic output meets less than one-fifth of annual demand

Under a gloomy afternoon sky at Karwan Bazar, Abdul Barek stood in front of a vegetable shop, quietly asking the price of one item after another. The 50-year-old finally settled on half a kilogram of okra.