Agriculture is the lifeblood of Bangladesh. The country’s agriculture has made a lot of progress in the production of rice, potato, maize jute, vegetables, fisheries, livestock, poultry and so on. This did not happen all of a sudden. Alongside the farmers, a bunch of dedicated agricultural scientists worked hard in laboratories to make this possible. Their research helped Bangladesh move from a time when we did not have food– to a time when we are much stronger in food production. However, Bangladesh still has a long way to go in the production of pulses, oilseeds and climate-resilient crops, as well as in ensuring quality nutrition, strong post-harvest management, mechanisation, livestock productivity and safe food systems.

Climate change, declining soil fertility, shrinking land, water scarcity and rising food demand will make it harder to have food security in the future. Therefore Bangladesh needs dedicated, talented and motivated agricultural scientists than ever before. Unfortunately, the situation of agricultural scientists in Bangladesh is not encouraging. Scientists in the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) are treated as first class officers comparable to the civil servants well at the start of their career. However, the professional status, incentives, promotion opportunities and retirement benefits are often much weaker than their civil servant counterparts of any cadre.

This is not a good sign for a nation like us. If the best agriculture graduates do not consider research as an attractive career Bangladesh will lose the people needed to protect future food security. Many bright students now prefer to choose other professions. Those who remain in research often face very slow promotion, limited facilities and inadequate recognition. A nation that depends on agriculture cannot afford to neglect the people who generate knowledge. In Bangladesh recruitment and promotion often require ministry-level permission directly or indirectly ignoring institutional autonomy. In comparison, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), comparable to Bangladesh’s Agricultural Research Council (BARC), manages the recruitment and career advancement of agricultural scientists through its independent Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board.

The incentives for the scientists in Bangladesh are not so motivating.  Most of the research institutes have no pension facilities for the scientists. Research benefits and PhD-allowances are limited compared to the other neighbouring countries.   India provides retirement benefits, insurance, sabbatical leave, awards and other incentives. It also recognises experienced researchers as Emeritus Scientists allowing the country to continue using their knowledge. Pakistan also provides attractive salaries and associated benefits to scientists.

A scientist spends years building his expertise through education, field trials, laboratory work, data analysis, publication, variety development, technology validation and farmer-level adaptation. Even after acquiring such experience, a scientist often cannot be promoted unless a higher-level post is available or becomes vacant. These posts are determined by the ministry in a rigid pyramidal structure, where the number of positions decreases at each higher level. As a result many qualified and experienced scientists remain blocked from promotion for years. In contrast, university teachers enjoy an in-situ promotion system that allows them to be promoted to the next higher designation, with corresponding salary and status, based on the required qualifications, experience and performance, without waiting for a vacant higher post.

Not every scientist has the opportunity to be promoted as Director General or Director, as these positions are very limited. But every qualified scientist should have a fair opportunity to reach the highest scientific rank, Chief Scientific Officer, through a clear, sequential, and merit-based career path, at least by their mid-career level. Such promotion should depend on qualification, experience, performance, and contribution– not on the availability of a vacant post, as in the in-situ format.

Another worrying trend might be the appointment of bureaucrats to executive positions in research institutes, especially when internal misunderstandings among scientists weaken institutional unity. Thus, despite having all the required qualities, a senior-most scientist might be deprived of promotion to an executive position. The recent example of Bangladesh Rich Research Institute (BRRI) should serve as a signal. A bureaucrat can be a good administrator through training and experience but without a scientific background he or she cannot suddenly become an effective leader of a science-based research institution. While administration is necessary, scientific leadership is essential in research institutions because they are not merely conventional public institutions; they are knowledge-generating centres that produce scientific evidence, develop technologies and solve national problems.

Bangladesh’s own experience proves the value of scientists, even though they worked under strict bureaucracy. There could have been far greater achievements if there had not been so much bureaucratic hassle. Today, NARS includes institutes working on rice, crops, jute, sugar crops, forestry, tea, fisheries, livestock and soil resources. These institutions helped Bangladesh achieve self-sufficiency in rice, potato and make progress in the sectors of agriculture. However the country still has not achieved self-sufficiency in pulses and oilseeds and sustainable food and nutrition security remains a national goal.

The real solution is to create, retain and support scientists. Bangladesh should establish an attractive service structure for NARS scientists, including clear pension rights, health protection, research allowance, PhD allowance, performance-based incentives and faster merit-based promotion. Scientists’ recruitment policy and promotions should be handled by a scientific authority under BARC, not under bureaucratic control. Regarding this, Bangladesh should also learn from South-Asian models: India integrates research and education through ICAR and Department of Agriculture Research and Education (DARI), Pakistan provides unified services and additional benefits for scientists and Sri Lanka integrates research and extension under one authority.

If agricultural scientists are neglected today, farmers will suffer tomorrow, and consumers later. Agriculture now faces challenges like climate-resilient varieties, salinity tolerance, drought and flood adaptation and so on. Dealing with these challenges will require long-term research, creative thinking and stable institutions. Therefore reforming the status of scientists like the ones working in NARS is not a matter of personal benefit for one professional group. It is necessary to empower agricultural scientists to help Bangladesh move towards a sustainable food and nutritional security.
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The writer is Bangladesh Academy of Agriculture Fellow, and former Director General, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute