Assignment On Agriculture Overview Of Bangladesh

Submitted By: Md. Rahmatullah Al Imran

Submitted To: Umme Kulsum

Date: 29-08-2020
 Agriculture overview of Bangladesh
Agriculture remains the most important sector of Bangladeshi economy,
contributing 19.6 percent to the national GDP and providing employment for 63
percent of the population. Agriculture in Bangladesh is heavily dependent on the
weather, and the entire harvest can be wiped out in a matter of hours when
cyclones hit the country. According to the World Bank, the total arable land in
Bangladesh is 61.2 percent of the total land area (down from 68.3 percent in
1980). Farms are usually very small due to heavily increasing population, unwieldy
land ownership, and inheritance regulations. The 3 main crops—rice, jute, and tea
—have dominated agricultural exports for decades, although the rice is grown
almost entirely for domestic consumption, while jute and tea are the main export
earners. In addition to these products, Bangladeshi farmers produce sugarcane,
tobacco, cotton, and various fruits and vegetables (sweet potatoes, bananas,
pineapples, etc.) for the domestic market.
Rice is the staple food in the everyday diet of Bangladeshis. The production of
rice, which can be harvested 2 or even 3 times a year, reached 19.9 million metric
tons in 1998-99. The production of wheat reached about 2 million metric tons in
1998-99. Both crops play an important role in achieving self-sufficiency in food
production. However, due to weather conditions the production of rice and
wheat fluctuate greatly, forcing Bangladesh to import food from the international
market or turn to international aid. Bangladesh imported 1.6 million tons of
wheat (mainly from the United States) in 2000 in order to meet the demand in
the local market.
Jute, often called the "golden fibre" of Bengal, is the main export-earner for
Bangladeshi agriculture, as Bangladesh remains the world's second-largest
producer of jute (after India) and the world's largest exporter of fiber. Jute is
traditionally used for the fiber of carpet backing, burlap bags, cheap paper, and
various other purposes. Its importance for the Bangladeshi economy comes from
the fact that almost 3 million farms are involved in jute production. In 1999
Bangladeshi export earnings from jute amounted to US$55 million, with the
country producing 720,000 metric tons of jute, although this is about one-third of
the jute production of the middle of the 1980s. The decline in jute production is
attributed to declining world prices for this crop and to farmers switching to other
crops.
Bangladesh also produces tea leaves, mainly for export, although the export of
this product contributes only 1 percent of the country's hard currency earnings. In
1998-99 the country produced 56,000 metric tons of tea leaves, but it could
produce twice that amount. The main obstacle to increasing production is in
falling prices for tea in the international market and in management and
regulation problems in the industry in the country.
Tropical rainforest is important for maintaining the ecological balance in
Bangladesh, and forestry contributes 1.9 percent to the GDP (1999-2000). The
forest covers around 17 percent of the country's territory, or 2.5 million hectares
(6.18 million acres). The timber is used by the construction industry as a source of
building materials, by the printing industry as a source of materials to produce
paper, and in the agricultural sector as a source of firewood. Commercial logging
is limited to around 6.1 million cubic feet, and the government plans to plant
more trees within the next 15 years.
Fishing is another important activity in the country, contributing 4.9 percent to
the GDP (1999-2000) and providing 6 percent of the total export income. The
overall fish production was around 1.6 million metric tons (1999-2000).
Bangladesh mainly exports its shrimp to the international market.
Land is the main source of livelihood in rural Bangladesh. It was found that the
proportion of both medium and large farmers have both rapidly gone down since
1988. Households owning up to three bighas of land (up to 0.4 ha) constitute
about 70 per cent of all households but control only 20 per cent of the total land.
As opposed to this, only four per cent of households (with 15 bigha or 2 ha and
above land) controls about one-third of the land The average size of owned land
stood at 0.61 ha in 1988 and significantly declined over time to peak at 0.48 ha in
2007 - a decline of 21 per cent over the last two decades and further decreased to
0.39 ha in 2014. It was observed that, as with farm size, the proportion of the
marginal farmers (owning up to 0.40 ha) has risen from about 21 per cent in 1988
to 24 per cent in 2008 and further increased to 28 per cent in 2014. At the same
time, the amount of land under their command almost tripled. The group we
identify as functionally landless with tiny farm holdings – comprising 33-35 per
cent of all farmers – have also been commanding more land over time. By and
large, marginal and small farm households now cultivate more than four-fifths of
the total land in rural areas. We observed that the dominance of the share-
cropping system in the tenancy market has dwindled over time, and the
contributions of other tenancy arrangements have been growing. Despite modern
technology, roughly 40 percent of the cultivated land continues to be single
cropped. Quite expectedly, it is the large and medium farms who have more
single cropped land than small farms. The database shows that in 62 districts the
yield rate in terms of paddy has substantially risen over time. The yield from boro
is estimated to be about 6 tons/ha – about twice the yield of 2000, and the yield
of MV aman has increased from 3.3 to 3.8 tons/ha over same period of time. The
case of the aus yield is similar. The yield of maize increased from barely 1 ton/ha
to about 8 tons/ha, which could be contributing to the increased area under
maize, and the reduction of the areas of wheat and other crops. During the last
two decades and a half, important changes occurred in the realm of rice
production and profitability. First, the cost of producing rice is several times
higher than potato but the rate of profit is more than double for potato. Second,
the yield of wheat, jute and potato has increased over time but the yield of rice
has almost doubled from 2.16 t/ha in 1988 to 3.7 t/ha in 2000 and about 4.6 t/ha
in 2014. TVs have gone down from 46 percent of total cultivated land in 1988 to
24 percent in 2000 and further to only 14 percent in 2014. Third, the yield of MVs
has increased partly 12 due to adoption of higher yielding varieties and partly
(possibly more importantly also) due to better crop management. The labour use
per hectare has reduced from 164 days in 1988 to 132 days in 2000 and 99 days in
2014. The use of hired labour, however, remained at 50 percent of the total
labour; the use of hired labour by small holders and tenants has grown over time.
Apparently the fall in labour demand was fuelled by the spread of mechanization
in land preparation and threshing. 90 percent of the farmers in Bangladesh now
use machines compared to 60 percent in 2000, and almost none in 1988. During
this period, the cost of machine rental has increased five times – indicating the
pressure from the demand side. Bangladesh has a comparative advantage of
production for pulse, potato, onion, maize, vegetables, chili and garlic, for both
the owner operators and share croppers. So, there is good scope for crop
diversification. Sugarcane, however, has a comparative advantage for import
substitution only for the owner operators. While looking at the export possibility,
it was observed that Bangladesh has a comparative advantage in export of oil
seeds, potato, onion, maize, vegetables and chili for the owner operators and it
has a comparative advantage for potato, onion, maize, vegetables and chili for the
share croppers. The analysis of comparative advantage carried out suggests that
the menu of crops that Bangladesh can produce efficiently either for import
substitution or for export is quite large.
Current climate change issues are considerably affecting food security of the
millions of people of Bangladesh as the country is one of the countries most
vulnerable to climate risks. In Bangladesh, damage caused by natural disasters is
one of the main sources of crisis for poor households. Every year, natural
calamities such as floods, cyclones, erosion, and droughts cause extensive
damage to crops, homes, household and community assets, which can lead to
illness or death and a decrease in livelihood opportunities for the poor. Disasters
hamper physical access to food and food stocks, destroy crops, disrupt markets
and affect household food security.