Bangladesh’s homegrown line up of agro-machineries adds to progress

The agro machineries produced in Bangladesh can be divided into several categories such as—ploughing machines, seeding plantation machines, irrigation machines, fertilizer and insecticides applying machineries, harvesting machineries, threshers, and post harvesting machinery. DAE’s Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Ashok Kumar Biswas said that currently the internal market size of farm machineries was more than Tk10,000 crore. Of them, the country’s local entrepreneurs provide 20-25 percent of the products. “The local entrepreneurs mostly import the machinery parts from China, Japan, Korea and other countries and assemble them locally. Although they are producing almost all kind of machineries except diesel engine and certain number of high technological machines,” Ashok told the Dhaka Tribune. Though the amount of homegrown machineries are less in quantity, the local entrepreneurs claim that the quality of their products were better than Chinese products while a number of products were being exported aboard. Md Nurul Islam, the general secretary of Bangladesh Agricultural Machinery Merchant Association (BAMMA), said: “The quality of home grown products is often better than the Chinese machineries. But due to lack of resources and high technological support, the cost of our products is higher than the foreign products.” Photo: Dhaka Tribune“However, the local entrepreneurs have to face uneven competition against the foreign products in the market due to high duty on imported machinery parts,” he said, adding that the duty on machinery parts should be withdrawn. Earlier on March 1, the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a programme at Osmani Memorial Auditorium said that the government started farm mechanization with 30% subsidy which had been currently increased to 50% while the subsidy for Haor region was 70%. She said the cultivation process has been modernized and agricultural production has been increased due to government initiatives. “We have started cultivating through modern system and mechanized the country’s agriculture. Farmers nowadays do not need to cultivate with theirs hands anymore and they can plant seedling with a machine. Land cultivation, harvesting, separating crops— all of these can be done with machines. We are introducing new technologies from around the world,” the prime minister said.

The new agricultural machines are as follows:

Ploughing Machine Power Tiller: About 2.25 acres of muddy land paddy field with average soil can be prepared for planting in one day.Seeding Plantation MachineriesDrum Seeder: Farmers can save 50%-80% of seeds compared to broadcast seeding. Power Tiller Operated Seeder: Increase 10%-15% productivity and save time. Used for tilling, seeding and leveling at the same time. Multi Crop Planter: Seed and fertilizer application in variable row spacing. Achieve improved flexibility for multi crop planting and adjustable spacing for rows. Bed Planter: Can be used for seeding of many different types of vegetables and crops.Irrigation MachineriesLow Lift Pump: Easy operation, versatile use and operated by single person. Centrifugal Pump: Easy operation, versatile use and operated by single person. Axial Flow Pump: Easily moves stored water and high performance on surface water.Fertilizer and Insecticides Applying MachineriesUrea Super Granule (USG) Applicator: Easy operation with hands, two rows of USG could be applied, saves time and minimizes labour cost, reaches up to 6-7 cm deep in muddy land. Foot Pump Spray: High pressure sprayer, suitable for foliar fertilizer and pesticides spraying on mango, litchi, banana and rubber garden. It is also suitable for spraying on seed and food warehouse. Hand Sprayer: Long lasting portable sprayer with easy operation. Used in spraying different chemicals and pesticides on vegetables and crops.Harvesting Machineries- Hand Reaper: Small and light weight, each refuel provides two hours operation, saves time and cost. Power Reaper: Run by patrol engine, comes with two different types of wheels, saves time and money. Power Tiller Operated Reaper Header: Can be attached to any power tiller, speeds up the harvesting process, saves time and cost.Threshing Machineries-Power Thresher: Used for large scale threshing, attached wheels and driving functionality gives easy mobility. Open Drum Thresher: Powerful and long lasting, economical and easy to operate and transport, keeps the hay intact. Post Harvesting Machineries- Ventilating Dryer: Reduces moisture level of crops and seeds; reduces 8%-10% moisture per hour, capacity 250-300kg per hour.