Current Situation

Agro processing could be defined as set of techno economic activities carried out for conservation and handling of agricultural produce and to make it usable as food, feed, fiber, seed production, drying paddy, fish farming, oilseeds, livestocks, poultry, poultry, vegetables, fruits, jute fuel or industrial raw material. Hence, the scope of the agro-processing industry

encompasses all operations from the stage of harvest till the material reaches the end users in the desired form, packaging, quantity, quality and price.

The private agribusiness sector in Bangladesh emerged during the 1990s and exhibited a sustained growth well into the early 2000s. It is estimated that the sector contributes over 10 percent to total GDP and its growth is almost double the growth of agricultural GDP. Nevertheless there is scope for accelerating growth further in light of several opportunities in the sector and also the fact that growth is still low when compared to other Asian countries at similar stage of development.

The policy context for agribusiness development is provided by a number of policies including the New Agricultural Policy, the Industrial Policy, the Export Policy, the Land Policy, and the Agricultural Marketing Policy. Recent pronouncements in the Budget Speech propose various tax and fiscal incentives to agro-based industries, and low interest rates to the sector. Agribusiness is considered a thrust sector, but still missing is an Agribusiness Policy that provides a comprehensive framework, clear strategies, and a regulatory framework for agribusiness development.

The major financial institutions including the nationalized banks and the agricultural banks exhibit dismal performance in terms of most financial indicators, such as loan recovery, loan disbursement, capital adequacy ratio, returns on assets, and profits. The governance of these financial institutions is beset by serious problems that are unlikely to be resolved, and might be aggravated by the current trends towards subsidized credit.

Problem
The analysis of the problems and constrains facing agribusiness development indicates a general failure in coordinating the efforts and decisions of agribusiness stakeholders. Such coordination requires adequate policies and institutions, which currently are not in place. Both among commercial stakeholders and service providers, there is poor understanding of the meaning of agribusiness as an organized system of interlinked activities related to agricultural Production, marketing and trade, and agro-processing. Linkages among commercial Stakeholders (farmers, traders, and processors) exist, but are weak, lack trust, and do not result in increased value added, competitiveness, and innovation. Coordination among government agencies is also weak, mainly because of the lack of a leading agency responsible for Agribusiness development. This general failure in coordination among commercial stakeholders and service providers translates into ineffective value chains. Value chains are organized linkages among groups of producers, traders, processors, and service providers who join together in order to improve the value of their activities.

The core problem for agribusiness development in Bangladesh is the lack of effective value chain linkages among input providers, farmers, traders, processors, and service providers. The lack of effective linkages is explained by various factors including policy, institutions, human resources, gender, and infrastructure.

In fact, most technologies are available, but in order for those technologies to be accessed and adopted, proper organizational and institutional structures are required. Subsidized credit, improved infrastructure, tax incentives, and other fiscal incentives might provide a temporary and illusory impetus to growth; however, since they are not addressing the core problem of value chain linkages, they are unlikely to actually take the agribusiness sector to a higher level of development. In spite of past experiences with subsidized credit, improved infrastructure, tax incentives, and other fiscal incentives, the growth of agribusiness sector has been modest by regional standards and has not yet taken off to a level that would make a noticeable impact on overall growth and poverty reduction.

Opportunities
The emergence of a private agribusiness sector during the 1990s has already contributed a non-negligible share of GDP and rural employment. At the current juncture in time when other previously promising sectors such as the Ready Made Garment (RMG) and the power sector seem to face structural difficulties, the agribusiness sector promises to fulfill its potential for higher growth and capitalize on several opportunities. The opportunities for accelerating growth of the sector (from an estimated 6 percent annual growth to 10-15 percent) are related to five factors: (i) population; (ii) comparative advantage; (iii) policy reforms; (iv) entrepreneurship; and (v) associations.

A large population provides not only an abundant source of low cost labor, but also a growing urban middle class with an increasing demand for safer, higher quality, and more convenient products. This demand is currently met mainly by imported products.

Bangladesh agriculture seems to have comparative advantage in a number of commodities including shrimp, tea, fruits, vegetable, jute, and medicinal plants. A number of developments would have to occur to enable Bangladesh to realize the potential for exports. There would need to be substantial increases in productivity at the farm level, combined with a lowering of production costs. Value adding processing facilities, packing, cleaning, sorting, grading, packaging, pre-cooling, refrigerated storage and transport would be required. Modern food processing methods would need to be introduced.

Policy reforms during the past two decades have helped creating a policy environment that is more conducive to private sector development. Much remains to be accomplished, however, particularly in the area of policy implementation. The government is committed to playing a facilitative and regulatory role in agriculture and agribusiness, leaving commercial activities to be carried out by the private sector, consisting with the general framework of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).

What steps can be taken to develop agricultural enterprise? How supply chain linkage can be structured in agriculture? How technological and infrastructural support can be given to the agro enterprise? And how to fulfill customers need?

Objective
The main purpose of the Project will be to strengthen agribusiness value chain linkages. The goal of the Project is to accelerate the growth of the agribusiness sector and its contribution to the national and rural economy and poverty reduction. The specific objectives of the Project are to: 1. Improve formulation of policies providing an improved context for agribusiness development and market management; 2. Improve capacity of agribusiness stakeholders (farmers, traders, and processors) and service providers (associations, financial institutions, and NGOs) in understanding and Incorporating the principles and practices of value chain management into the strategies and operations of their own organizations; 3. Improve management of value chain linkages through demand driven-investments that strengthen value chain management; 4. Increase the capacity of financial institutions to provide credit for long-term agribusiness investments in a sustainable manner; 5. Raise awareness about agribusiness development issues.

In order to achieve its objectives, the Project will be organized into four interrelated components: (i) Capacity Development; (ii) Agribusiness Value Chain Development; (iii) Agribusiness Investment; and (iv) Project Management.

Variable Covered:
Here I have considered categorical variable, continuous variable, dependent variable and independent variable. The employee of the Agricultural ministry, BRRI, Agricultural policy maker, agro enterprise owner, Farmers, agro scientist, satisfaction level of customers, sales volume, the amount of transaction in the market, attitude of people towards the company, product purchase interest, ratings scale etc.

Data Collection Instruments:

Data are to be collected by lists of questionnaire, observation.

Sampling Design:
A survey has been conducted on the policy of agro business, necessity of agro technology and infrastructure, and demand and satisfaction of agro product to measure its market availability and marketing promotional stage. A sample of 100 people has been collected for analysis. Data has been strictly analyzed after collecting the data. There are several alternative ways of taking a sample. The major alternative sampling plans may be grouped into probability techniques and non probability techniques. We have taken the non probability techniques to conduct my survey. Non probability techniques mean a sampling technique in which units of the sample are selected on the basis of personal judgment or convent.

Methods of Collecting Data

This is a descriptive type of research that has undertaken insights and understanding about overall operation of various agro policy and agro enterprise owner. This report is prepared on the basis of primary and secondary data. The relevant data information was collected through direct interview of the people and personnel engaged in agricultural policy making, agro enterprise owner and farmers . The secondary data source is annual report of various agro business policy,

which were collected from personal visit to Agricultural Ministry and BRRI. The subject matter related to methodology of this report is the following: a) Primary sources: A sample survey of the 100 people all over the country and the personnel engaged in Agro policy making or Agro Enterprise or farmers. Direct Interviews & Conversation; Observation of various organizational procedures;

(b)Secondary sources: Various Annual reports of Agro business.. Different Published Booklets of Agro technology and Agro Enterprise. Information about Various Agro infrastructures. Different books Various published documents Various information from various website

Statistical tools to be used:

Mean Median Mode Correlation Regression

Limitations of the study:

The main limitations of the study as follows: Due to the shortage of time we could not get vast people to acquire information. Many personnel of different authority reluctant to provide useful information. Sufficient records, publications, facts and figures are not available. These constraints narrowed the scope of the real analysis. For the reason of confidentiality, some useful information cannot be expressed in this report.

Budget and time schedule:

Three weeks are to be budgeted to prepare entire report. And a statement of costs are now undefined. It will be shown on report.