Desk Report:
Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles and Jute Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said that the immense potential of agriculture in Sylhet region should be utilized to bring fallow and single-crop land under cultivation, eliminate waterlogging, expand irrigation facilities and increase cultivation of new and unconventional agricultural products. Increasing productivity and farmers’ income by ensuring maximum utilization of agricultural land should be one of the goals of the future.
He said these things while speaking as the chief guest at the district workshop on formulating the annual action plan for the 2026-2027 fiscal year and evaluating the implementation of the previous year under the ‘Agricultural Development Project in Sylhet Region through Modern Technology’ organized by the Department of Agricultural Extension at the conference room of Hotel Metro in Sylhet city on Saturday (August 15, 2026).
The minister said that there is still a significant amount of fallow and single-crop land in the Sylhet region. Due to its geographical location, water accumulates in the haor and low-lying areas at a certain time of the year. If arrangements are made to drain water in these areas, it will be possible to bring much land under cultivation. Similarly, if irrigation facilities are ensured in the lands that remain uncultivated at a certain time of the year due to lack of irrigation, it is possible to convert single-crop land into two-crop land and two-crop land into three-crop land. Digging canals can be an effective solution in draining waterlogging and ensuring irrigation water in the dry season. He cited the success of watermelon cultivation in Sylhet as an example of the potential of new and unconventional agricultural products and said that farmers in Sylhet are getting special benefits in the domestic market through the production of watermelon in advance.
Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said that the possibility of beet cultivation can be verified in cold areas including Moulvibazar and Srimangal in Sylhet. Since it is possible to produce beet in a short time, there is an opportunity to cultivate other crops on the same land. It is necessary to undertake a pilot project to assess the potential of such agricultural products. He also said that a special program will be organized in Sylhet next week with the Director General of the Department of Agricultural Extension and the Secretary of Agriculture and other concerned officials on the future prospects of agriculture and livestock in Sylhet Division, adoption of area-based projects, training of farmers, supply of agricultural inputs and government cooperation. He said that in addition to industrial and infrastructure development, a large part of employment and economic activities in the country’s rural areas depend on agriculture. Therefore, maximum production and return must be ensured by ensuring maximum utilization of each agricultural land. If productivity can be increased, it is possible to increase the country’s overall food production many times over and there is an opportunity to make Bangladesh a stronger producer and exporter of food, especially rice, in the future.
The minister also said that farmers who take risks in cultivating new crops are showing the way to new possibilities in agriculture. Those who have taken risks in cultivating new crops including watermelon and onion are brave farmers and Sylhet agriculture should be taken forward on the path shown by them. He called for utilizing the potential of Sylhet agriculture through training farmers, expansion of modern technology, supply of agricultural inputs and area-based planning.
Sylhet Divisional Commissioner Md. Mashiur Rahman presided over the workshop. Additional Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension Dr. Md. Mosharraf Hossain, Chairman of Sylhet Development Authority Rezaul Hasan Koyes Lodi, Administrator of Sylhet District Council Abul Kaher Chowdhury Shamim, Vice Chairman of Sylhet Red Crescent Society Badruzzaman Selim, General Secretary of Sylhet Metropolitan BNP Emdad Hossain Chowdhury, Project Director Md. Rakib Uddin, along with agricultural officers from various levels of Sylhet Division, farmers and media personnel were present.
