BRAC Seed and Agro Enterprise

Since 1972, BRAC has been active in the agricultural industry. By encouraging sustainable production techniques, guaranteeing a steady supply of high-quality agricultural inputs, including robust cultivars, and using the right mechanization to minimize post-harvest losses, the goal is to improve food and nutritional security.

One of the elements important for excellent yields is high-quality seeds. Since 1994, BRAC has marketed hybrid maize seeds and, since 1998, hybrid rice seeds to assure a quality seed supply. In addition, it began making hybrid vegetable seeds in 1996, hybrid rice seeds in 2001, and hybrid maize seeds in 1996–1997. In order to provide fair rates to the farmers, BRAC built a value chain structure for the manufacturing and distribution of seeds and other agricultural inputs. The goal of BRAC Seed and Agro Business is to maximize the profits of poor and marginal farmers by providing high-quality agricultural inputs, suitable production methods, and post-harvest technology. Moreover, BRAC stresses the importance of employing sustainable practices to prevent agricultural expansion from compromising environmental harmony.

Today's BRAC Seed and Agro Enterprise

Three agricultural research and development facilities are located at Gazipur, Bogra (Sherpur), and Dinajpur by BRAC Seed and Agro Business (Birol). The centers are engaged in doing practical research on rice, maize, vegetables, and plant tissue culture. It features a laboratory for evaluating soil that can examine around 3,000 soil samples annually. Our researchers concentrate on identifying novel cultivars that satisfy the requirements of local farmers and consumers. BRAC has created 10 hybrid vegetable varieties, five hybrid rice types, four hybrid maize varieties, three open-pollinated vegetable varieties, and five hybrid maize varieties. Through government agencies, 12 exotic hybrid rice cultivars have been registered.

BRAC is the nation's largest producer of hybrid maize seed and the second-largest producer of potato seed, with 22 production centers and around 7,000 contract farmers spread out over the nation. For hybrid and high-yielding types of rice, maize seed, potato seed, and vegetable seed, it holds the biggest market share. The seed firm has built 11 contemporary storage systems with a capacity of 4,400 metric tons, five seed processing centers with a processing capacity of 12,000 metric tons annually, and more. The company employs an automated packing technology and a polymer seed coating treatment (fungicide) to assure seeds of the highest quality. In order to address the growing micronutrient shortage in soil, it also promotes environmentally friendly farming by promoting minerals like zinc and boron.

The value chain system of production and distribution has been established by BRAC's seed and agro company through a vast nationwide network of 450 dealers and more than 4,500 sub-dealers. Nowadays, BRAC Seed and Agro Business sells 26 hybrid and 27 open-pollinated vegetable seed types, 13 hybrid and 19 high-yield rice seed variants, and 14 hybrid and   kinds of potato seed. The company sold 1,600 metric tons of hybrid rice seed, 1,300 metric tons of high-yield rice seed, 590 metric tons of hybrid maize seed, 125 metric tons of vegetable seeds, and 9,600 metric tons of potato seeds during the 2014–15 growing season. BRAC Seed and Agro Enterprise has a market share of 19% for hybrid rice, 23% for hybrid maize, 36% for potatoes (of organized seed provided), and 8% for vegetables in the seed industry. In addition, BRAC imports high-quality seeds on a regular basis to boost domestic production of high-yielding varieties created throughout the world.

Aside from its core seed business, the seed and agro enterprise is currently engaged in two projects: "SUSTAIN," which aims to ensure the promotion of orange flesh sweet potato production on chars and areas with salty soil and water, and "agri-business for trade competitiveness project (ATC-P) Bangladesh," which ensures the availability of quality vegetable seeds in difficult-to-reach areas. Prior to this, BRAC Seed and Agro Enterprise participated in the USAID Horticulture Initiative to increase incomes, dietary diversity, and health in Bangladesh by growing vegetables, sweet potatoes, and other crops. The company also worked with CIP as part of FoodSTART on a project supported by IFAD to grow roots and tuber crops to ensure food security. Another initiative, carried out under Swisscontact in partnership with Katalyst, promoted maize farming by raising awareness, facilitating information access, and providing farmers with high-quality inputs in the southern part of the nation so they could make a living.