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LivestockBroiler chicken costs Tk 190 a kg and brown eggs Tk 155 a dozen in Dhaka, but farm-gate prices are Tk 134 and Tk 102; with feed and medicine costs rising, small poultry farmers are losing money.
IslamGiving gifts is a Sunnah of the Prophet; a pure intention, lawful earnings, no reminders of the favour, a sincere gift within one's means and fairness among children are the five points Prothom Alo sets out from the Quran and hadith.
GalleryWith the monsoon over, hog plum (amra) trading is in full swing at the canal and river markets of Jhalokati and Pirojpur; fruit brought by boat at dawn is sorted, sacked and trucked to Dhaka and Chattogram at Tk 900 to 1,200 a maund.
CookingHoney's high sugar and very low available water stop most microbes growing, but water or damp getting in can start fermentation, and honey must not be given to babies under one year old.
CookingChicken breast, potato, carrot, onion and celery are simmered, and the strained stock is thickened with a mixture of sour yogurt, egg and flour for a simple home-made soup.
HealthMUST-CloudNet, an internet-connected trap built by University of Dhaka researchers, mimics the wingbeat of female mosquitoes to draw in male Aedes, photographs them and uses artificial intelligence to identify and count them.
FruitsGourinathpur market in Maheshpur, Jhenaidah, known as the capital of dragon fruit, is trading fruit worth crores of taka a day through more than a hundred wholesale stalls at the height of the season.
FisheriesSeasonal fishers are catching hilsa during the ban along about 25 km of the Padma and Jamuna at Shibalaya, Manikganj, and selling it on the riverbanks at dawn and at night; drives have seized 4.7 million metres of current net.
VegetablesPotatoes are selling at Tk 12 a kg at cold-storage gates in Rangpur; growing and storing a 55 kg sack costs about Tk 825, but it fetches Tk 660.
EnvironmentSolar panels floated on discarded plastic drums on a pond at Walton Hi-Tech Park in Chandra, Gazipur, generate 2.25 megawatts while fish are farmed in the same water, so no extra land is needed.
LivestockThe Teesta chars of Sundarganj, Gaibandha, are now grazing land; researchers say carcasses of anthrax-killed animals dumped in the river make spores in the char grass more likely, so animals must be vaccinated every year.
IslamExercise to stay healthy and fit is in principle permissible, Banglavision's religion desk explains from the Qur'an and hadith, provided the awrah is covered, obligatory prayers are not neglected, modesty is kept and harmful supplements are avoided.
CropsRangunia's Gumai Beel in Chattogram has a record 3,500 hectares of Aman rice now coming into ear, but encroachment, urban growth and brick kilns have taken about 50 hectares of its farmland in a decade.
EnvironmentVolunteer group Prayas in Pakundia, Kishoreganj, gave one fruit, timber or medicinal sapling for every three plastic bottles or set amount of plastic waste, handing out about 700 saplings on Friday.
Daily lifeProfessor John Tregoning of Imperial College London says a plant gives off a few litres of oxygen a day while a person uses about 500, so ventilation matters more for indoor air, though plants can ease the mind.
FisheriesFishers keeping the 8 to 29 October ban say brood hilsa are being caught openly on the Sugandha, Bishkhali and Halta; 226 drives in 15 days led to three arrests, and the district fisheries officer denies the allegations.
AgribusinessJamuna Fertilizer Factory in Jamalpur, restarted on 6 October after about eight months without gas and stopped the next night by a boiler fault, resumed urea production on the morning of 23 October.
CropsIn Shalla, Sunamganj, haor water has drained in Ashwin instead of Kartik, and farmers fear the Boro land will dry hard before seedbeds can be sown, needing extra irrigation.
OpinionIn a SciDev.Net column, Amref Health Africa group CEO Githinji Gitahi argues that commitments made in New York and Berlin must become trusted, reliable health services, and that next year's AHAIC conference in Kigali should end with owners, timelines and money.
OpinionMd Sanaullah, senior assistant editor at Prothom Alo, writes that shifting heat and rain are changing both the familiar feel of the seasons and the farming calendar, and that the answer starts with putting science into local decisions.
EnvironmentAbout a thousand monkeys in Nayachar and Char Mugaria, Madaripur, are entering homes for food since the government's food allocation stopped in June 2025; the social forestry office has asked for funds but not received them.
EnvironmentOpenbills, egrets, whistling ducks, cormorants and other birds are arriving on Chalan Beel's wetlands; locals and conservationists want a sanctuary and tighter watch against hunting.
VegetablesFarmers in Dimla, Nilphamari, have early cauliflower, cabbage and other vegetables on 203 hectares; fertiliser, seed and labour cost more this year, but the first pickings are fetching good prices.
FisheriesKenya and Ghana want to copy the Bangladeshi system that breeds fast-growing GIFT tilapia and takes it to farmers, with research institutes, universities, private hatcheries and fish farmers working as one.
Watch
VideoIn 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.
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.
In pictures
GalleryIn pictures: the hog plum season at the boat markets of Jhalokati and Pirojpur1 photos
GalleryGlimpse, 23 October: jhum crops at a hill market, brinjal for Dhaka, cauliflower at Tk 801 photos
GalleryBangladesh in pictures, 21 October: Aman harvest, idle trawlers and railway creeper1 photos
GalleryColours of the Rangamati hills: sunbirds, orioles, a barbet and a leafbird1 photos
GalleryBangladesh in pictures, 22 October: beans for market, water lilies and a sunbird1 photos
GalleryGlimpse: ambarella by boat, bean fields and wading to the Jamuna chars1 photos
GalleryBento, banchan, meze, thali: how seven countries turn serving food into an artSection
EnvironmentA CSIRO and University of Melbourne study of more than 7,500 forecasts shows that predictions started during La Niña stay reliable 12 months out, which could give farmers and governments earlier warning.
EnvironmentIn its first response to a specific disaster, the UN climate fund has provisionally earmarked money for the August Bhote Koshi floods, less than 0.5% of Nepal's estimated $4.77 billion recovery needs.
CropsIndia's weather office expects a low over the Bay of Bengal to become a depression by 25 October and possibly a cyclonic system, just as Odisha and Andhra Pradesh harvest their kharif rice.
