This study was conducted in selected areas of Bangladesh to examine the
possibilities of promoting diverse agriculture and agribusiness with secondary crops towards
poverty alleviation. Of the coarse grains, pulses and tuber crops (CGPRT crops), maize,
millet, lentil, mung bean, potato and sweet potato were covered. Results of the study show
that these crops have substantial potential for crop diversification, processing, value
addition and employment generation. These crops are economically profitable, fit well in the
farming system and have comparative advantage in production. The study revealed that if
the area under CGPRT crops was increased by 1 per cent, the annual income of a
household would be increased by 0.3 per cent. The cost and revenue structure of various
processing industries shows that the processing of CGPRT crop products is substantially
profitable and contributes significantly to employment generation and poverty alleviation.
However, farmers in large part have shown reluctance to diversify and produce more of
these crops. The main reason is that rice is the staple food of the Bangladeshi people and
with the expansion of irrigation facilities farmers find it more suitable to cultivate rice.
Concomitantly, they increased cultivation of wheat due to the availability of modern
varieties. Consequently, the cultivation of minor cereals and pulses has received low
attention by the farmers.