Examining the Production Performance of Vegetables for Business Development in Bangladesh

Examining the Production Performance of Vegetables for Business Development in Bangladesh

Nur Mohammed Mezbahul Quddus

Summary Production of vegetables is a key factor in ensuring a continuous supply of raw materials for the development of agribusiness in horticulture. It is often argued that vegetable production in Bangladesh has comparative advantages, but despite these opportunities, agribusiness in horticulture is not flourishing commercially, especially for vegetables. This article, therefore, examines why the horticulture sector has not developed as a business in Bangladesh, in relation to fresh vegetables. This article analyzes the present conditions for fresh vegetable production from the point of view of the supply side for developing agribusiness. Primary data collection was carried out in four districts in Bangladesh, namely Dhaka, Gazipur, Jessor, and Thakurgaon, in order to estimate financial performance, as well as to identify constraints that exist at the levels of both production and marketing. This study shows that the domestic supply of vegetables is limited by the seasonal nature of production, as well as the unavailability of production inputs on time. Furthermore, high production costs also discourage farmers from producing vegetables in a large scale. However, the utilization pattern of locally produced vegetables suggests that domestic vegetable production has the potential to support the development of business in horticulture. Introduction Bangladesh is one of the major horticultural countries in South Asia (Ali. 2000: 1). Agriculture, including horticulture, is the largest single sub-sector of the economy, accounting for about 13 percent of the country’s GDP (Government of Bangladesh, 2006: 67). Several studies have pointed out that there is considerable potential for growing horticultural crops in Bangladesh (FAO, 1997; Ateng, 1998; Bouis, 2000; Shahabuddin and Dorosh, 2002; Alam, 2005). Farmers who are engaged in the production of...