GalleryA blood-red sun through fog and dust, and a fisherman on the river
Prothom Alo photographer Supriyo Chakma catches a deep red sun rising through thick fog and airborne dust, reflected in the still water of a river.
The Agro News: Agriculture, farmers, and the rural economy
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Latest news
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CookingGreek chicken salad for a light lunch: yoghurt marinade, lemon and olive dressing
Chicken marinated for 30 minutes in yoghurt, lemon and spices, served over lettuce, tomato, cucumber, capsicum, olives and cheese: a filling salad to make at home.
FlowersA cousin of the hibiscus: Korea's national flower in a Mymensingh nursery
Rose of Sharon has been found in a nursery at Kacharighat in Mymensingh. Despite the name it is no rose but a member of the hibiscus family, and Korea's national flower as mugunghwa.
Cooking
Hill flavours at home: boiled vegetables, green chilli bharta and wild bean mash
Cook Afroza Khanam Mukta shares three hill-style recipes with quantities: mixed boiled vegetables, green chilli bharta and bon shim (wild bean) bharta.
VegetablesBeneficial bacteria grow monsoon brinjal and okra without pesticide, HSTU trials show
Researchers at Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University report raising brinjal and okra with endophytic bacteria and no chemical pesticide or fungicide, and have built a machine for liquid biofertiliser.
Agribusiness"Show me the budget": Fan Shenggen says Southeast Asia underfunds farm research
The former IFPRI head told a Singapore summit that the region's governments talk up food security but spend less on agricultural research than India or China.
EnvironmentMontana finds bison plan a safety concern but no major environmental harm
The state's review of American Prairie's request to graze bison on a 640-acre lease in Phillips County found no significant impact, with conditions, but the grazing itself is not yet approved.
EnvironmentUSDA adds $21 million to open private farmland for hunting and fishing
A second round of the Voluntary Public Access and Habitat Incentive Program funds 10 more projects, taking NRCS awards to $70 million across 29 projects.
LivestockEU dairy feed costs rise 26% in a year as milk prices fall
The European Commission's feed cost measure was 26% higher in July 2026 than a year earlier, the USDA says, while the Middle East conflict has lifted fertiliser and fuel bills.
LivestockUSDA feedlot study: respiratory disease hit 12.2% of cattle, 90% of lots used antibiotics
APHIS's second report from its Feedlot 2021 study shows light calves falling ill most often and large feedlots far more likely than small ones to hold a written biosecurity plan.
AgrotechUK-EU food deal may spare cultivated meat, but the carve-out is unconfirmed
Experts expect a time-limited exemption for novel foods in the draft SPS agreement, which would let UK regulators keep assessing cultivated meat. Neither side has confirmed it before the 20 November summit.
AgrotechIvy Farm wins UK clearance for cultivated Wagyu in pet food
The Oxford spin-out is only the second company allowed to sell cultivated meat for pets in the UK, and it is developing products with manufacturers including Fold Hill Foods.
LivestockSteak study finds huge nutrient gaps and no clear win for grassfed beef
Unpublished research on steaks from four continents found some nutrients varied hundreds of times between samples, with both the best and the worst steaks coming from grassfed cattle.
EnvironmentColombia maps 60,000 hectares to prove farm goods are deforestation-free
A CGIAR-backed monitoring protocol for cocoa, coffee, beef, dairy and oil palm has been taken up by six companies and listed in Colombia's updated climate pledge, while formal national adoption is still pending.
CropsJashore's date molasses season begins: a Tk 111 crore crop short of tappers
Preparations have begun for the GI-listed date molasses of Jashore. Sap comes from only about 3.3 lakh of 22.6 lakh palms, and a shortage of tappers, felled trees and low wages are squeezing the trade.
CropsVanilla takes root in Bangladesh, but cost and processing stand in the way
Begun at the Spices Research Centre in Bogura in 2019, vanilla has spread to several districts. The climate suits it, yet no one has reached commercial output, and 50 decimals can cost Tk 20-50 lakh.
HealthBangladesh targets 1 crore eyeglasses and 10 lakh cataract operations by 2030
Health state minister Dr M A Muhit told a global eye health summit that a 2026-30 national plan aims to bring about 2 crore people into referral eye care.
OpinionWhy is dengue still unchecked after 27 years? Entomologist Kabirul Bashar urges a national body
Writing in Dhaka Post, Professor Kabirul Bashar notes 133,367 hospital admissions and 418 deaths this year to 30 October, and calls for a national institution led by an entomologist.
Crops
Villagers stop 290 sacks of fertiliser in Bhola; UNO seals the godown
Locals at Char Ilisha held 290 sacks of TSP and DAP on the suspicion they were being smuggled. Those involved say the fertiliser was for char farmers. The UNO says no valid papers were found and an inquiry will follow.
FruitsMalta orchards spread in Dimla; Nur Alam earns Tk 4 lakh a year from 65 decimals
Farmers in Dimla, Nilphamari, are moving to malta as returns from traditional crops shrink. Nur Alam of Sundarkhata grows BARI-1 malta on 65 decimals and earns about Tk 4 lakh a year.
Environment
A rain tree in Sundarganj becomes home to hundreds of migratory birds
Flocks have reached Sundarganj in Gaibandha ahead of winter. Thousands of birds have settled in trees and bamboo clumps around the upazila, and local traders are keeping watch over them.
VegetablesRadish at Tk 10 a kg at Mahasthan Haat: Bogura growers cannot cover costs
Prices of newly harvested radish and cauliflower have collapsed at Bogura's Mahasthan wholesale market, and farmers say they must also hand over 42-44 kg for every 40 kg maund.
VegetablesMulch film lifts early tomato in Kamalganj to 75 hectares, Tk 90-100 a kg
Growers in Kamalganj, Moulvibazar, lay mulch sheets on raised beds to curb weeds and disease and hold soil moisture. The early tomato area rose from 60 to 75 hectares in a year.
LivestockFrom 40 ducks to Tk 25-30 lakh a year: two friends' farm in Pirganj
Abdul Majid and Nazrul Islam of Thakurgaon began three years ago with 40 ducks. They now hatch ducklings in an incubator and raise fish, and say they earn Tk 25-30 lakh a year.
Watch
Video
VideoVideo: Cork's Troy family farm wins Ireland's top quality milk award
Robert and Mary Troy, the fifth generation milking at Newtownshandrum, won the 2026 NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards with 425 cows, an SCC of 89,000 cells/ml and a herd in the national top 1% for breeding.
VideoVideo: can BRICS deliver export markets for South African farmers?
In the latest AgriView episode, agricultural economist Wandile Sihlobo asks whether the enlarged BRICS bloc is opening real markets for South African produce, or mostly producing talk.
VideoBlack Baby watermelon on trellises pays off for Joypurhat farmers
At Bindhara in Panchbibi, Joypurhat, small dark-skinned Black Baby watermelons hang from bamboo trellises. The 60-day crop needs 50 grams of seed a bigha, yields 1,200 to 1,500 fruits or 4 to 4.5 tonnes, and at Tk 30 a kilo earns far more than other field crops.
In pictures
Image & Gallery
1 photosGalleryA blood-red sun through fog and dust, and a fisherman on the river1 photos
GalleryGlimpse, 3 November: fields, haors and nature in pictures1 photos
GalleryBangladesh on 1 November: paddy cut in the mist, hilsa back, whistling ducks1 photos
GalleryGlimpse, 31 October: pangas in the Padma, aus rice drying, a hill paddy path1 photos
GalleryEarly cauliflower floods Bogura's Mahasthan market and prices halve1 photos
GalleryCyclone Arnab flattens ripening paddy and idles fishers on the Andhra coast1 photos
GalleryIn pictures: Dumuria's wholesale vegetable market, from gher-dyke papaya to early beans
GalleryA blood-red sun through fog and dust, and a fisherman on the river1 photosGalleryGlimpse, 3 November: fields, haors and nature in pictures1 photosGalleryBangladesh on 1 November: paddy cut in the mist, hilsa back, whistling ducks1 photosGalleryGlimpse, 31 October: pangas in the Padma, aus rice drying, a hill paddy path1 photosGalleryEarly cauliflower floods Bogura's Mahasthan market and prices halve1 photosGalleryCyclone Arnab flattens ripening paddy and idles fishers on the Andhra coast1 photosGalleryIn pictures: Dumuria's wholesale vegetable market, from gher-dyke papaya to early beansSection
Environment
CropsCyclone Murasu destroys crops on 30,661 hectares across 15 Andhra Pradesh districts
The severe cyclone crossed the coast near Ongole. Early estimates put crop losses on at least 30,661 hectares in 15 districts, with paddy, cotton and maize worst hit.
OpinionJudge COP31 by delivery, not pledges, writes former BRRI chief Shahjahan Kabir
In a Prothom Alo column, former BRRI director general Dr Md Shahjahan Kabir argues that the 9-20 November summit should be measured by emissions actually cut and money that actually reaches affected people.
EnvironmentBreathing Dhaka puts air monitors in eight low-income parts of the capital
From December monitors will go up at eight sites including Korail and Kamrangirchar under a project by Avijatrik Foundation, with technical support from CAPS and 18 months of readings planned.
LivestockEPA ends a 20-year effort to estimate air emissions from US livestock farms
The agency says 2005-2007 monitoring data are too old and too limited to support methods for nearly 14,000 hog, poultry and dairy farms and facilities.
EnvironmentFive crocodiles die in 27 days at Bhitarkanika, raising illegal fishing fears
The toll from unnatural deaths in and around the Odisha park has reached 22 in six years, and a conservationist blames prohibited nets and weak protection.