Department of Agricultural Marketing: Nearly 40 years’ data disappears from website

The website of the Department of Agriculture Marketing is trusted by many for inquiries regarding the state of the country's agricultural market. People rely on it to track price fluctuations of products, the number of markets in the country, and more. The website used to host an extensive database containing nearly 40 years' worth of market-related information, but it has been missing for over a month. 

According to an individual from the Department of Agricultural Marketing, the unavailability of the database is due to ongoing updates on the website. However, rumours have circulated that the entire database was accidentally deleted during website maintenance, and there are suggestions that a hard disk crash might be the cause. Nevertheless, the authorities assert that the information will soon be restored on the website, just as it was before. 

DAM, an organisation under the Ministry of Agriculture, is responsible for analysing the demand, supply, stock, and price situation of agricultural commodities. They also manage information related to forecasting price trends of agricultural products. Over the years, they have compiled an extensive database of market data dating back to 1980, which was accessible on their website. The database contained information about market research, the prevailing market situation, comparative analyses, and details about price fluctuations for various products. 

According to concerned officials, the Department of Agriculture Marketing (DAM) operates primarily through two websites. One of these platforms, developed internally by the organisation, served as the repository for their extensive database. The second site is officially established by the Aspire to Innovate (A2i) initiative.

Officials clarified that the A2i-created website primarily hosts notices, circulars, annual reports, and details about officials. They also explained that government-mandated websites adhere to a common template, limiting operations to specific prescribed matters. The website housing the database was established a considerable time ago, with an A2i-created site subsequently integrated into it.

Sources within the Agriculture Marketing Department have confirmed that the database has been unavailable on their website since 24 July. Initially, the website was temporarily closed for a few days. Upon reopening, essential information was conspicuously absent. Attempting to access daily market rates reveals a lack of options beyond choosing the department and district. The same limitation applies to other aspects of the market as well. 

After speaking with those involved, it has been revealed that the organisation recently hired a programmer for the first time, approximately three months ago. Programmer Al Amin Sarkar informed Prothom Alo that the issue stemmed from a hard disk crash on 24 July. Efforts are underway to recover the data. He stated that previous personnel did not maintain a backup system and also highlighted the outdated server. 

However, some DAM officials told Prothom Alo that the market price database was accidentally deleted during website maintenance. Previously, various department heads managed the task as an additional responsibility. 

The department's Director General, Masud Karim, dismissed the notion of database deletion as a mere rumour. He informed Prothom Alo that the unavailability of information is due to ongoing upgrade work. He assured that once the new software is implemented, the situation will be rectified within a week. 

According to department sources, since 2013-14, the website provided real-time updates for market information. The currently missing data includes daily, weekly, and monthly market prices for 271 agricultural products spanning the past 40 years, totaling 82,000 market data entries for the country. This includes details such as potato stock in cold storage and production costs for over 20 agricultural items. Regrettably, there is no digital backup for this information. The DAM routinely furnishes market-related data to more than 22 public and private institutions, a task previously facilitated by the website. Now, officials must manually locate and provide the information.  

Agricultural universities and various development organisations utilise the data from this department for multiple purposes, including research. Humaira Yasmin, Head (Acting) of the Agricultural Statistics and Bioinformatics Department at Khulna Agricultural University, informed Prothom Alo that she used to regularly gather information from this website.

Professor BM Mainul Hossain from Dhaka University's Institute of Information Technology expressed to Prothom Alo, "If there is potential to recover this extensive pool of information, then serious consideration should be given to its restoration. Such databases ought to have backups. All government organisations should adhere to a standard operating system for website maintenance."

* The report, originally published in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Farjana Liakat