Latest
VegetablesNurseries in Kamalganj, Moulvibazar, graft tomato shoots onto hardy wild brinjal roots, producing 6.5 to 7 million disease- and rain-tolerant seedlings a season worth Tk 5 to 6 crore.
AgribusinessA 50 kg sack of urea costs farmers Tk 1,350 at home but sells for about Tk 9,000 in Myanmar; the Coast Guard seized 255 tonnes of fertiliser between July and 25 September.
EnvironmentBangladesh produces about 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste a day, much of it ending up in rivers; microplastics have been found in Buriganga fish and crabs, while the polythene ban and court orders go unenforced.
GalleryIt is still sharat, yet fog is settling over many parts of the country at dawn, most of all in the north; a Prothom Alo picture story from Panchagarh, Rangpur, Pabna, Naogaon and Sajek.
HealthEast Bardhaman drug control officials raided pharmacies in Bardhaman town over complaints that buyers were forced to buy whole strips beyond their prescription, warning that licences could be cancelled.
HealthHarvard-trained dermatologist Neera Nathan says that after losing nearly half her hair she relied on scalp care, minoxidil, light therapy and correcting nutrient deficiencies, while urging people not to start treatment without a doctor.
Leftover kneaded dough keeps for a few hours in a clean bowl under a lightly damp cloth in a cool, shaded spot; if its smell, colour or texture changes, it should not be used.
HealthSharmin Akter, an associate professor of plastic surgery at NITOR, writes that she left her own lump after a reassuring FNAC; cancer-free after seven months of treatment, she now insists on core biopsy and a tumour board.
FisheriesSome 15,000 people in at least 18 villages of Nesarabad, Pirojpur, make, sell or fish with the bamboo trap known as the chai, which sells for Tk 300 to 400.
IslamA hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari says Friday holds a brief hour when a Muslim's prayer is granted; here are four supplications from the Quran that can be recited that day, with their meanings and sources.
FlowersSabdi, a village near Narayanganj city, is known for flower farming; as winter begins its fields fill with sunflowers, marigolds and roses, and it makes an easy day trip from Dhaka.
CookingSoft pancakes of spinach, ripe banana, flour, egg and milk, cooked on a low flame, are an easy way to put greens into a child's breakfast; babies under one need no added salt or sugar.
Zakat in Bangladesh could reach Tk 20,000-25,000 crore a year, yet the government fund takes in about Tk 10 crore; Professor M Kabir Hassan argues for using the ibn al-sabil and fi sabilillah categories for the displaced, with institutional reform.
Daily lifeThe regulated price of a 12 kg LPG cylinder rose from Tk 975 in April 2021 to Tk 1,940 in April 2026; September's fixed price is Tk 1,585, yet shops charge Tk 2,150 to 2,500.
CropsMeherpur's aman and winter vegetables need about 3,656 tonnes of DAP and TSP, but September's allocation was 2,197 tonnes, and farmers queue at dealers without getting what they need.
GalleryHemanta is still about 15 days away, yet chhatim trees across Sylhet are in flower, and after dusk their sweet scent drifts through the city's lanes.
EnvironmentA day after cracks appeared near Sureshwar fish market in Naria, Shariatpur, about 20 metres of the three-year-old Padma bank-protection embankment slid into the river on Thursday evening.
EnvironmentThe radio collar fitted to a three-year-old tigress caught in Bihar for release in West Bengal's Buxa Tiger Reserve came off within minutes, and she had to be sedated twice in two days.
EnvironmentDr A N M Aminur Rahman has seen both the pale and dark forms of the changeable hawk-eagle, a rare resident of Bangladesh, in the Sundarbans and Sherpur, including a mixed pair sharing a nest.
VegetablesIn Homna, Cumilla, farmer Wali Ullah raises fish in a 16-decimal pond beside his house and grows vegetables on its banks, feeding his family and earning extra income.
EnvironmentEncroachment, silting, pollution and dams at their sources are killing Jhenaidah's 12 rivers, including the Nabaganga, Chitra and Kumar, disrupting irrigation and raising the risk of waterlogged farmland.
EnvironmentLiquid waste from several automatic rice mills in Santahar, Bogura, is reaching canals and cropland without treatment; tests found just 1.2 milligrams of dissolved oxygen per litre in canal water.
CropsAbout 47 hectares of sugarcane were planted in Sharsha, Jashore, this season, mostly in Putkhali near Benapole, where farmers say a bigha costing Tk 30,000 to 40,000 can earn Tk 1.5 to 2 lakh.
CropsIn Matiranga, Khagrachhari, Forkan Uddin grows lemongrass as a companion crop in the gaps of his mango orchard; fresh lemongrass sells for Tk 250 to 300 a kilogram.
Watch
VideoAt 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.
VideoShykh Seraj examines the government's first 180 days in agriculture, from farm loan waivers and farmer cards to crop insurance and canal excavation.
VideoAfter leaving a garment job, H M Forwardi Palash planted an acre of year-round guava in Bhaluka, Mymensingh, and is working towards GAP certification to supply supershops.
In pictures
GalleryFog arrives early on autumn mornings across Bangladesh's north1 photosGalleryChhatim blossoms scent Sylhet's evenings as the seasons turn1 photos
GalleryMalta prices climb in Chattogram as dengue lifts demand, imported fruit up to Tk 5001 photos
GalleryBangladesh in pictures, 1 October: jute prices, pomelo boats, cauliflower under bananas1 photos
GalleryAutumn rain brings out balsam, allamanda and crepe jasmine in Rangamati1 photos
GalleryKites cool off in a Suhrawardy Udyan pond as heat grips Dhaka1 photos
GalleryA day in Bangladesh: fishing on Kaptai Lake, cauliflower fields and lotusSection
LivestockWorld Farmed Animals Day falls on 2 October; World Animal Protection says about 80 billion land animals are used in farming each year, a large share of them in industrial systems.
EnvironmentA mobile court in Pirganj, Thakurgaon, jailed two men for a year for trapping egrets beside the Kalupir-Thumnia sal forest under the wildlife protection law, and about 15 caged birds were released.
EnvironmentThe Swiss glacier monitoring network's annual report says glaciers thinned by 2.5 to 4 metres on average in 2026, and Switzerland has lost 19.4 percent of its glacier ice in five years.
