A number of essential inputs, such as poultry feed, day old chicks, silkworm eggs, vegetable seeds and so on are required by various BRAC programmes and its group members and timely supply of quality inputs are one of the factors that affect enterprise return, expansion of the programmes, and their subsequent contribution towards poverty alleviation. Such essential inputs, when supplied by local industries and/or the government are often found deficient in terms of sufficient quantity and/or good quality. Thus BRAC established a number of such Programme Support Enterprises (PSE) to supply these inputs that link rural producers with growing urban markets. Following are some of BRAC’s Programme Support Enterprises: Poultry
Farm and Disease Diagnosis Lab: BRAC has established six poultry farms
and hatcheries to produce good quality chicks. In 2004 these farms produced
and Bull Station: BRAC has developed 748 Artificial insemination (AI) workers to provide door to door AI services in the rural areas. To supply good quality semen to AI workers, BRAC has established a bull station at Mymensingh. 125,000 doses of semen were produced and distributed in 2004. Feed
Mill: The success of the poultry programme significantly depends on
the availability of balanced feed. In response to increased demand for
balanced feed, Fish and Prawn Hatchery: Recognising the importance of quality fry/fingerling for successful aquaculture, in 1988 BRAC established its first fish hatchery in Gazipur. Over the years it has established nine hatcheries with an annual production capacity of 5000 kg fish spawn and 15 million PL in different corners of Bangladesh. At present three hatcheries in Gazipur, Bogra and Pabna produce both fish spawn and prawn PL. Four hatcheries in Jessore, Comilla, Barisal and Bagerhaat produce only prawn PL. Among these, Bagerhat is the largest prawn PL producer. Considering the faster growth rate of male "Tilapia" than female, BRAC started experimental trials of male Tilapia fry production by sex reversal method and established a tilapia hatchery in Magura. BRAC Nursery: In Bangladesh, both the timber and fruit trees are inadequate to meet the demand. In order to meet the increasing demand for good quality seedlings BRAC initiated a nursery programme in 1995—1996. The BRAC nurseries are now producing seedlings of almost all kinds of fruit, timber and ornamental plants available in Bangladesh. Seed Production, Processing, Marketing and Soil Testing: The shortage of high quality seeds is one of the major constraints in increasing the productivity of agricultural products in Bangladesh. A major portion of these seeds is produced without using any modern technology to ensure high yield and disease free varieties. In 1996 BRAC started producing high quality seeds with the aim to provide these seeds to the farmers. So far the programme has produced a wide variety of certified high quality seeds. BRAC's first production was hybrid vegetable seed in 1996 followed by hybrid maize seeds, rice, onion seeds, pulse and oil crop seeds and potato seeds. At present BRAC has 2 seed processing centers and 50 depots in different parts of Bangladesh through which BRAC distributes different types of seeds to the farmers under the name "Sufala Seed." Salt Production & Marketing: Using a market survey, BRAC recognised that there is a high demand for iodised salt. Based on this demand, BRAC has established its own iodised salt processing plant at Islampur, Cox's Bazar in 2001-2002. Vegetable Export The Vegetable Export programme was started in 1997-98 in collaboration with the HORTEX Foundation to link poor farmers with international markets and bridge the gap between local producers and international consumers. The programme focuses especially on vegetables that have high demand in European markets and can be grown in Bangladesh. BRAC provides training and technical assistance to small farmers in production of some particular crops and arranges necessary packaging and transportation to the wholesalers in Europe. In the first year French bean was introduced, and exported successfully to England, France, Belgium and Holland. Now it is capable of exporting more than 100 tons of beans to markets in Singapore, Europe and the Middle East. In addition to French beans, broccoli and green chilli, demand oriented new items like long beans, bitter gourd, okra, and perval have been introduced. With the increase in the volume of exports, BRAC has constructed a sophisticated vegetable pack-house in Tongi to ensure proper cool chain management of vegetables as well as to prepare various pre-packaging materials for supermarkets. In November 2004, BRAC received the EUREPGAP Certification from FoodCert, Netherlands, B.V. to export high quality, fresh vegetables to countries under the European Union. BRAC is the first organisation to have received such an accreditation and also the first EUREPGAP certifying Primary Market Organisation (PMO) for fresh fruits and vegetables in South-East Asia. Tissue Culture Laboratory Only 5% disease free high quality seed is available to farmers of Bangladesh, which is the main constraint of high productivity in the agriculture sector. A large part of the demand of the country for high yield variety is met through imports. To overcome the dependency on imports and to empower the poor farmers by increasing their productivity and income, BRAC established the Tissue Culture laboratory at Gazipur with four greenhouses. |