Bangladesh Sugarcane Research Institute (BSRI) is one of the oldest research institutes of Bangladesh conducting research on sugarcane – the raw material sugar, gur and cane juice. Sugarcane is the only dependable cash crop in the low rainfall belt of the north-west and south-west parts of Bangladesh. Based on sugarcane, the sugar and gur industries of Bangladesh have developed in the country.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), every individual needs to consume 13Kg of sugar or 17Kg of gur per annum. In Bangladesh the quantity is still less than 3Kg per person. With the projected population of 153.33 million in the year 2020, the requirement of sugar will be 9.2 hundred thousand metric ton even if we consider the intake of 6Kg per person per year. At present, 7.3 million ton sugarcane is produced from 0.18 million hectares (roughly 0.1 million hectares in sugar mill zones and 0.08 million hectares in non-mill zones for gur production) of land per year. The yield of sugarcane is 40.52 ton/hectare (46 ton/ha in sugar mill areas and 36 ton/ha in gur areas). To meet the demand of sugar and gur, 11.1 million tons of sugarcane needs to be produced per year. As such the yield of sugarcane must be increased from its present level to at least 65 tons per hectare.

BSRI is proud to serve the nation attaining self reliance in the sugar and gur sector with its limited resource and manpower. Two basic functions are performed by this institute: a) Development of sugarcane variety as well as improved production technology and b) Dissemination of varieties and technologies to the farming community. Research wings consist of eight research divisions, one quarantine station and two regional stations, whereas Technology Transfer (TT) wing consists of two major divisions, six substations and three sections. The Technology Transfer wing generally conducts training for farmers, extension workers, etc. and conducts demonstrations in the farmers’ fields disseminate the messages through different form of publications, and collects feedback information.