Modern technology is essential to advance Bangladesh's agriculture, and quality, durable farm equipment is one of the most important parts of that progress. Young entrepreneur Md. Shariful Islam Akash is working on modern farm tools to make farm work easier and raise production.

Shariful, son of Md. Mojibur Mollah of Deobaria village in Sarisha union, Pangsha upazila, Rajbari, left his job in 2020 to become an agri-entrepreneur, and for the past two years he has focused on farm tools.

Digging soil, making holes, weeding and harvesting used to take farmers hours; modern hand tools and household farm implements now do the same work in much less time, reducing labour and increasing efficiency. Shariful currently works with more than 45 modern tools, including various ploughs, special hand tools for making holes in soil easily, machetes, sickles, crowbars, bontis and household implements.

The tools are made with local technology, combining blacksmithing and lathe work, and blend local and foreign designs. They are sold offline and online, with most sales through the online platform "Agro Mart".

"I grow jujube, guava and other fruit and vegetables myself," he said. "Working in the field, I saw how hard and slow land preparation and hand work are, and felt something had to be done to make farmers' work easier." Tools sell for Tk 150 to Tk 2,500 depending on quality, and 25,000 to 30,000 pieces have been sold so far, worth about Tk 1.5 crore to Tk 2 crore. Sales have grown significantly in recent months.

He said many Chinese-made tools used in Bangladesh are less durable, hard to maintain and often cannot be repaired, while locally made tools can be repaired in local markets, cutting farmers' costs. Both commercial farmers and home gardeners use his products, and several young people work with him part-time. Profit is not his only goal, he said; he wants to strengthen agriculture and make farmers' work easier, and he plans to make heavier and more effective farm machinery to lower production costs and increase output from limited land.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.