A significant transformation in the agricultural landscape of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) is on horizon as the construction of a state-of-the-art tissue culture laboratory in Bandarban near its final stage.
Currently undergoing machinery installation at Bandarban Horticulture Centre in Balaghata, the facility is scheduled to conclude construction by the end of June, with the mass production of high-quality fruit, flower, and tree saplings expected to commence within two months.
Bandarban Horticulture Centre Deputy Director Liton Debnath said the project is being implemented by Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) with approximately Tk16.5 crore in funding from Ministry of Agriculture.
Although the theoretical framework of tissue culture gained international recognition as early as 1902, the technology is reaching farmers in these peripheral district 125 years later.
According to Ministry of Agriculture, while research into tissue culture in the region dates to 1970, Bangladesh’s first dedicated laboratory was only established in Madaripur a few years ago.
In 2024, the government launched a broader initiative to establish five additional laboratories nationwide, with the Bandarban facility serving as a critical component.
Located three kilometres from the district headquarters, the 8,500-square-foot facility features a distinctive four-storey circular building.
Nobel Chakma, site supervisor and diploma engineer from the consulting firm “Decon”, explained that the structure includes a central circular courtyard where a tall tree will be planted to grow through the middle and spread over the roof.
The building will house the Horticulture Centre’s office on the ground floor, laboratories on the second and third floors, and a seminar and training hall on the fourth floor. The official handover will follow the completion of central air conditioning and lift installations.
The work order for the project, titled “Establishment of Tissue Culture Laboratory-cum-Horticulture Centre,” was issued on 5 December 2024, with construction starting in January 2025. The contract, worth Tk16,46,15,559, was awarded to the joint venture firm MB-EC.
Liton highlighted the efficiency of the technology, noting that while traditional grafting can take up to two years to prepare saplings for planting, tissue culture can produce crores of saplings within just two months.
He added that these saplings yield fruit identical in taste to the mother plant, an experience already observed at Madaripur centre.
The laboratory carries immense strategic value for CHT, which represents one-tenth of Bangladesh’s landmass. Currently, only 15 per cent of this land is utilised, leaving vast areas fallow.
Officials believe the laboratory is essential for converting these areas into productive greenery for both environmental and economic gain.
Once operational, it will serve residents of Bandarban, Rangamati, and Khagrachhari, as well as the neighbouring districts of Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar.
The Bandarban facility is part of a larger Tk350 crore project to establish five such centres across the country.
One-quarter of the total budget is dedicated to civil work, with the remainder allocated for machinery imports, consultancy, and both domestic and international training.
