Farm Machinery Testing and Standardization in Bangladesh: A Policy Review

Abstract

Farm mechanization in Bangladesh is exponentially growing which has led to timeliness of farm operation and increased crop productivity and farm income. For shifting of farm labour to non-farm sectors, sustainable crop production, efficient management of farm inputs, doubling the productivity and enhancing 4AR (Four Agricultural Revolution) dictating the use of appropriate and quality farm machinery. Different types of local and imported farm machinery are used in crop production. There was no legal authority functioning for testing and certification of these farm machinery in Bangladesh since 1989 to 2024. So, the farmers are not always getting quality and standard farm machinery although they have to pay good price to purchase machines. The farm machinery manufacturers are also suffering from proper marketing of machines due to unavailable of legal testing and certification facilities. Testing and certification of farm machinery are crucially essential to assess their functional suitability and performance reliability so that it will help farmers and other users in determining the comparative performance of machines available in market. Earlier, there was a Farm Machinery Testing and Certification System in Bangladesh but it was abolished in 1989 for rapid expansion of farm mechanization. Some experts opined that testing and certification system may restrict the abandoned uses of different farm machinery which may slow down the rapid speed of farm mechanization. So, the policy makers are confused about introducing the testing and standardization of farm machinery in Bangladesh, although there is a provision for Farm Machinery Testing and Certification System in National Agricultural Mechanization Policy 2020 and National Agricultural Mechanization Action Plan 2023. Recently, (February, 2025) National Standardization Committee (NSC) and Technical Sub-committee (TSC) have been formed. This paper explores the past and current states of farm machinery testing and standardization in Bangladesh, discussing existing challenges and potential solutions.