Bangladesh is entering one of the most critical periods in its agricultural history. Over the last five decades, the country achieved remarkable success in food production through irrigation expansion, high-yielding varieties, fertilizer use, and the hard work of millions of farmers. From a food-deficit nation after independence, Bangladesh has now become one of the world’s leading rice producers.
Yet the challenges ahead are enormous.
Climate change, shrinking cultivable land, labour shortages, rising production costs, groundwater depletion, salinity intrusion, floods, and increasing pest and disease pressure are threatening future food security. To sustain production for nearly 180 million people in the coming decades, Bangladesh must embrace a new scientific revolution in agriculture.
The future of Bangladeshi agriculture will likely be driven by biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), drones, precision agriculture, smart irrigation, robotics, and climate-smart farming systems.
Bangladesh produced an estimated 38 million tons of rice in 2025, according to FAO forecasts, largely driven by strong Boro and Aman harvests. However, cultivable land continues to shrink every year because of urbanization, industrialization, river erosion, and infrastructure expansion. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, farmland has been declining at around 0.19% annually.
Biotechnology and gene-edited crops
One of the biggest breakthroughs for Bangladesh may come through advanced genetics and biotechnology.
Bangladeshi agriculture already suffers from:
- salinity in coastal districts;
- flash floods in haor regions;
- drought in Barind areas;
- heat stress;
- blast disease;
- bacterial leaf blight;
- stem borer attacks.
Traditional breeding methods are often too slow to respond to rapidly changing climate conditions.
Modern technologies such as CRISPR gene editing can now develop:
- flood-tolerant rice;
- salinity-resistant rice;
- heat-tolerant wheat;
- drought-resistant maize;
- disease-resistant crop varieties.
For example, ultra-short-duration rice could help haor farmers harvest before flash floods arrive, while salt-tolerant varieties could revive agriculture in coastal regions increasingly affected by sea-level rise.
Climate threat is already visible
Recently, severe flooding in northeastern Bangladesh damaged more than 46,000 hectares of standing Boro rice, threatening losses exceeding 200,000 metric tons.
Precision agriculture and artificial intelligence
Most farmers in Bangladesh still apply fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation using generalized methods. This causes:
- unnecessary input costs;
- groundwater wastage;
- lower productivity;
- environmental degradation.
Precision agriculture uses:
- AI;
- drones;
- satellite imagery;
- soil sensors;
- GPS mapping;
- IoT devices;
- machine learning.
These technologies allow farmers to apply the exact amount of fertilizer, water, or pesticide required.
Research shows precision agriculture can significantly improve productivity.
Table: Potential benefits of precision agriculture
AI systems can also provide:
- flood warnings;
- disease alerts;
- irrigation recommendations;
- yield forecasts;
- pest outbreak predictions.
Satellite-based agricultural intelligence
Satellite technology combined with AI can revolutionize national agricultural planning.
Bangladesh can use satellite systems to:
- monitor crop health;
- map flood damage;
- estimate yields;
- identify river erosion;
- track land loss.
Recent AI-based satellite mapping studies in Bangladesh have shown remarkable accuracy in identifying erosion-prone farmland and disappearing settlements.
Future outlook: Bangladesh 2035
If Bangladesh aggressively adopts modern agricultural technologies over the next decade, the transformation could be dramatic.
Table: Possible agricultural transformation by 2035
The way forward
Technology alone will not solve Bangladesh’s agricultural challenges. The country must also:
- strengthen BRRI, BARI, and agricultural universities;
- modernize extension systems;
- train AI and biotechnology experts;
- improve farmer access to digital tools;
- invest heavily in agricultural research;
- create fast and science-based regulatory systems.
Bangladesh once achieved a historic Green Revolution through irrigation, improved seeds, and farmer resilience. The next revolution will likely come through science, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, precision farming, drones, robotics, and climate-smart innovation.
The countries that dominate future agriculture will not necessarily have the most land -- they will have the smartest farming systems.
Bangladesh now has an opportunity to become not only food-secure, but also a global example of climate-resilient scientific agriculture.
Dr SB Naseem is Former Head, Rice Farming Systems Division, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). He can be reached at [email protected].
