This paper reflects the personal and deliberately provocative views of a non-Bangladeshi who has worked here for more than seven years. A number of problem areas for the future development of the profession are identified. These include the poor development of library facilities, a lack of attention to macro-level research, undue reliance on questionnaire surveys, and number of unwarranted biases. Prominent among the latter are a bias towards crops, a lack of attention to women's role in agriculture and a funding bias, which encourages project evaluation at the expense of research on the traditional sectors. Too many surveys are ‘one-off’ ‘qnick-and dirty’ studies which are weak in analysis and inadequately link with theory. It is suggested that professional bodies in the country should play a leading role in addressing the challenges implicit in these observations.