Department of Agricultural Extension
Profile
- Head
- Md Tajul Islam Patwary
- Role
- Director General
- Annual budget
- —
- Staff
- —
- Established
- 1982
- Legal basis
- Established by executive order in 1982 through the merger of six predecessor agencies: the Agriculture Directorate (Extension and Management), Jute Directorate, Plant Protection Directorate, Horticulture Board, Tobacco Development Board, and Central Extension Resource and Development Institute (CERDI). Operates under the New Agriculture Extension Policy (NAEP) adopted in 1996.
DAE is managing overlapping crises in the Boro 2026 season: its own damage data show 46,730 hectares of haor paddy submerged as of May 4, 2026, with an estimated 208,000-tonne production loss, against a national target of 2.24 crore tonnes. Simultaneously, DAE launched the pre-piloting phase of the Farmer Card scheme on April 14, 2026, registering 22,065 farmers in 10 districts with direct Tk 2,500 input subsidies delivered via Sonali Bank accounts.
Recent activity
- 2026-05-04 other DAE reported 46,730 hectares of standing Boro paddy submerged across seven haor districts (Sylhet, Sunamganj, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Netrokona, Kishoreganj, Brahmanbaria); estimated production loss of at least 208,000 tonnes of paddy; 37% of haor Boro harvest remained standing as of the assessment date. ↗↗↗↗
- 2026-04-28 other DAE Netrokona district office confirmed rapid escalation of Boro crop damage from late April: 9,500 hectares submerged in five haor upazilas, with 65% of paddy harvested in haor areas by that date; Deputy Director Md Amirul Islam confirmed damage escalation from April 28 onwards. ↗
- 2026-04-14 other DAE implemented the pre-piloting phase of the Farmer Card programme in 11 upazilas across 10 districts (Panchagarh, Bogura, Jhenaidah, Pirojpur, Cox's Bazar, Cumilla, Tangail, Rajbari, Moulvibazar, Jamalpur); 22,065 farmers enrolled across five categories (landless, marginal, small, medium, large); Tk 2,500 in input subsidy credited to each eligible farmer's Sonali Bank account simultaneously at inauguration by PM Tarique Rahman. ↗↗↗↗↗
- 2026-04-05 other DAE recorded initial haor crop damage from storms and upstream flooding between March 31 and April 5: 1,724 hectares of farmland affected across six districts, harming 9,525 farmers. ↗
- 2026-03-15 other DAE set a Boro 2026 national production target of 2.24 crore tonnes from 50.50 lakh hectares -- a 3.29% increase in cultivation area over the previous year; Rangpur agricultural region alone was assigned an all-time record target of 23,08,715 tonnes of clean rice from 5,09,094 hectares. ↗↗↗
Provenance & notes
Established 1982 by merging six predecessor agencies. Headquarters at Khamarbari, Farmgate, Dhaka-1215. Operates under the Ministry of Agriculture; parent_id_ref set to 'Ministry of Agriculture' matching the existing ministry-of-agriculture.json slug's name_en. Director General: Md Tajul Islam Patwary, appointed post-August 2024 leadership reshuffle following the fall of the Hasina government; confirmed by his signing of the Syngenta MoU (12 September 2024) and SAF Bangladesh agreement (29 September 2024) as Director General. head_since set to 2024-08-01 as the approximate post-reshuffle effective date; exact gazette notification date not found in public sources. Prior DG Md. Asadullah (appointed October 29, 2020) was replaced in the August 2024 reshuffle per TBS reporting. staff_count is null: no sanctioned-post figure found in publicly available primary sources; GFRAS reports 326 senior staff (bachelor-degree-or-above) at national level only, which is manifestly a subset and not a total -- excluded. annual_budget_bdt is null: DAE's line-item budget not separately published; the Tk 27,224 crore figure is the full Ministry of Agriculture envelope for FY2025-26. verification_status is 'partial' because the DG head_since exact date and the sanctioned staff count lack primary-source confirmation. Haor flood figures (46,730 ha, 208,000 tonnes loss) are DAE's own damage assessment as reported by Jagonews24, Prothom Alo English, and TBS -- cross-checked across three outlets. Farmer Card figures (22,065 farmers, Tk 2,500, 10 districts, April 14 launch) confirmed by BSS News (3 articles), Dhaka Tribune, and Daily Star.
Sources
- https://dae.gov.bd/
- https://sps.apaari.org/index.php/dae/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Agricultural_Extension
- https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/hasinas-fall-department-agricultural-power-sees-major-power-shift-939296
- https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/corporates/syngenta-bangladesh-limited-and-department-agricultural-extension-dae-sign-mou
- https://www.jagonews24.com/en/biz-econ/news/92381
- https://www.tbsnews.net/agriculture/37-harvest-still-standing-haor-areas-dae-1426631
- https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/news/what-it-means-rice-production-and-prices-4165046
- https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/news/heavy-rain-upstream-water-damage-crops-six-districts-4154661
- https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/bangladesh-in-world-media/66omjvpmzg
- https://www.bssnews.net/agriculture-news/383261
- https://www.bssnews.net/agriculture-news/366863
- https://www.bssnews.net/district/369873
- https://www.bssnews.net/news-flash/377719
- https://www.bssnews.net/news-flash/377504
- https://www.bssnews.net/news-flash/377037
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/government-affairs/404718/pm-tarique-to-launch-farmer-card-distribution
- https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/25000-be-picked-farmers-card-pre-pilot-phase-4122026
- https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/farmer-card-to-deliver-directly-agriculture-inputs-modernisation-machinery-cash-incentives
- https://www.bssnews.net/national-budget-2025-2026/279383
- https://dae.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/dae.portal.gov.bd/publications/3e30f164_3d8d_46ad_8509_f52002e9b2c8/Extension_Mannual_Chapt2.pdf