Environment
The Bengal fox that keeps rats down is slipping towards extinction
The IUCN says the Bengal fox, currently listed as near threatened, could move into the endangered category in its ongoing reassessment.
Source
BBC Bangla
Reporting from this source, summarised, rewritten or translated and published under its name · 147 stories
Environment
Lemurs stolen from Gazipur traced to Gujarat, but no DNA record to prove it
CID says the two trafficked ring-tailed lemurs are now at a private wildlife centre in Gujarat, but the safari park cannot supply the evidence needed to claim them.
Crops
No fertiliser at the counter, 1.3 million tonnes in the government's books
Growers from Kurigram to Jashore say they cannot buy fertiliser at any price, while the agriculture ministry reports stocks higher than last year.
Crops
Jute thin at the Kurigram market as growers allege cross-border sales
Despite a good harvest, supply at the Jatrapur market has fallen and traders say middlemen are buying jute at a premium and moving it to India by river.
Bangladesh
New mutation rules put inherited land on a single joint record first
Under the Ministry of Land's new rules, inherited land that has not been divided will stay on one khatian carrying every heir's name jointly.
Environment
Fires lit to clear land for palm oil blanket Southeast Asia in haze
More than 50,000 people have been admitted to hospital in Indonesia with respiratory infections as smoke from the fires drifts into Malaysia and the Philippines.
Fisheries
A slender sunfish comes up in a Kuakata net, and no one will buy it
The 2.7-kilogram fish was landed at an arat at the Mahipur fish landing centre in Patuakhali, but went unsold because nobody recognised it.
Health
How a shopper can tell whether a packaged product meets the standard
After ordering spices and ghee off the shelves, BSTI says scanning the QR code on the wrapper is the quickest way to separate genuine from fake.
Market Management
Sugar up 20% in a month in India, and sweet shops are feeling it
Sugar has reached 70 rupees a kilogram in several West Bengal districts, and many on social media are blaming ethanol made from sugarcane.
Environment
How a flash flood happens, and how far ahead it can be seen
After heavy loss of life in Nepal and Tibet, the question is whether a flood produced by three or four hours of rain can be forecast at all.
Crops
Government says 1.365m tonnes of fertiliser in stock; farmers say they cannot find a bag
At the start of the aman season farmers in Rajshahi, Jhenaidah and Kurigram are paying above the fixed price because dealers have no fertiliser, while the government insists 1.365 million tonnes are in stock; agricultural economists say the two accounts cannot both be true.
Crops
Turmeric: a spice with thirty varieties and a very large set of claims
About 30 varieties of turmeric are used in the cooking of Asia, Africa and South America, and sales of turmeric supplements in Western markets are rising fast.
Environment
Bangladesh forms a committee to put vetiver grass to work on slopes
A technical committee will review which projects can use binna grass, the vetiver that grows untended on fallow land across the country.