Bangladesh Charts a 3-Year Path to End Its Dependence on Imported Jute Seed
A new action plan aims to lift domestic jute seed production from roughly 2,000 to 5,000 tonnes a year by 2029–30, ending an import bill that currently runs into tens of crores of taka annually.
Bangladesh has set a three-year target to become fully self-sufficient in jute seed production, ending a long-standing reliance on imports that currently costs the country an estimated Tk 80 to 100 crore every year.
The country needs 5,000 to 6,000 metric tonnes of jute seed annually to meet national demand. Today, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) produces only around 2,000 metric tonnes of that total domestically, with the remaining roughly 4,000 tonnes imported, overwhelmingly from India.
PLAN:2,000 → 5,000 Tonnes of Domestic Seed by 2029–30
Under the new action plan, domestic production is scheduled to rise in stages — to 2,210 tonnes in the 2026–27 season, 3,150 tonnes in 2027–28, and 4,400 tonnes in 2028–29 — before reaching a sustained 5,000 tonnes a year from 2029–30 onward, fully matching national demand for the first time.
The ramp-up leans heavily on research already underway to develop new domestic jute seed varieties suited to local growing conditions, reducing the sector's exposure to import costs, exchange-rate swings, and cross-border supply disruptions. The initiative was raised alongside the same coordination meeting that produced the sector's new Joint Working Group on export diplomacy, and dedicated jute research centres are among the infrastructure the working group has been tasked with helping establish.
For growers, the payoff of reliable, locally adapted seed is more predictable than any single price incentive: consistent germination rates and yields season over season, without dependence on an imported input whose cost and availability the country does not fully control.