Real experiences, published anonymously and with permission.
Women rearing silkworms in Kapasia, Gazipur, in a Prothom Alo report
Agriculture & farmingGazipur
Thirty women in Barhar village have reared silkworms since 2004. A cycle that once gave 25-30 kg of cocoons now gives 15-20 for want of mulberry leaf, and the board buys at 350 and 400 taka a kg.
A jute farmer in Rajbari Sadar, in a Prothom Alo report
Agriculture & farmingRajbari
A bigha of jute in Rajbari costs about 29,000 taka to grow and yields 8-10 maund, while even the best fibre fetches 2,400 taka a maund: roughly 5,000 taka of loss per bigha.
A wheat farmer in Fatikchhari, Chattogram, in a Prothom Alo report
Agriculture & farmingChattogram
This Fatikchhari farmer cleared about 6,000 taka from wheat on 40 shotok last year and is taking more land this season; the upazila's wheat area is going from 25 hectares to 40.
A maize farmer in Thakurgaon, in a Prothom Alo report
Agriculture & farmingThakurgaon
A squall with hail on Saturday morning and a second in the middle of that night laid the maize flat in Thakurgaon; the farmer says the season's capital went with it.
A couple running a shoe label in Dhaka, in a Prothom Alo report
Retail & wholesaleDhaka
A shoe label started in 2021 with 90,000 taka of the wife's savings, selling on Facebook and its own website; it now has two Dhaka showrooms, about 90 staff and annual turnover of around 8 crore taka.
A mobile accessories manufacturer in Dhaka, in a Business Standard Bangla report
Retail & wholesaleDhaka
Started in 1996, this charger and battery business was selling about five lakh chargers a month by 2010 — roughly 2.5 crore taka of sales and about 80 percent of the national market. Its six-month replacement card carried no date, so old products kept coming back for free replacement indefinitely.
Operators of office lunch-box services in Dhaka, in a Business Standard Bangla report
Food processingDhaka
A commercial kitchen in Tejgaon cost 30-40 lakh taka to set up and sends out about 500 boxes a day at 99-120 taka each, taking around 10 lakh taka a month. With oil up from 115 taka to 170-180, home kitchens have had to lift their meal price from 80-90 taka to 110.
The owner of a yogurt factory in Rajbari, in a Daily Star Bangla report
Food processingRajbari
Some 620-650 litres of milk a day become 310-330 kg of yogurt. Eight lakh taka went into the factory, five lakh into distribution vehicles and six lakh into land, and demand still runs about 50 kg a day ahead of supply.
Mango wholesalers at Baro Bazar in Khulna, in a Daily Ittefaq report
Retail & wholesaleKhulna
Baro Bazar in Khulna normally moves 9,000-10,000 maunds of mango a day; a four-day curfew took sales to zero and about 20,000 maunds rotted in the arots. One wholesaler was left with 1,500 maunds and another with 700.
A meat-shop owner in Dhaka, in a Prothom Alo report
Retail & wholesaleDhaka
With the market at 700-750 taka a kg, this shop opened Ramadan selling beef at 595 — more than 50 lakh taka of sales on the first day and 50 cattle slaughtered on one Friday. Ten days in, the price had to go up 100 taka to 695.
Owners of independent coffee shops in Dhaka, in a Daily Star Bangla report
Food processingDhaka
One Bashundhara coffee shop took about 80 lakh taka to build. Another was taking 1,500-2,000 taka a day when it opened in January 2024 and now takes 20,000-30,000.
Two young cake sellers in Patuakhali, in a Prothom Alo report
Food processingPatuakhali
Started in 2019 with 5,000 taka and a Facebook page, at first reselling cakes sent down from Dhaka by launch. It now has four outlets across Patuakhali and Barguna, 35 staff and monthly sales of 16-20 lakh taka.
