Engines of change: Inside Bangladesh’s Tk 12,000cr agro-machinery boom

At dawn in Manikganj, the quiet of the fields breaks with a growl of diesel. Abdul Karim, a 65-year-old farmer, steers his new power tiller across a stretch of golden stubble. A few years ago, this same patch of land would have needed two oxen and three back-breaking days to prepare. Now, it’s done before breakfast. Karim’s story is far from unique. From Rangpur to Khulna, a quiet mechanical revolution is reshaping Bangladesh’s countryside — one engine, one gear, and one field at a time. What began as a slow drift away from manual labour has turned into a national transformation worth Tk 12,000 crore, the size of Bangladesh’s booming agro-machinery market. Ironically, the rise of machines stems from the...