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Investing in Crop Agriculture
in Bangladesh for Higher Growth
and Productivity, and Adaptation
to Climate Change
M. Asaduzzaman, Claudia Ringler, James Thurlow, and Shafiqul Alam


     Bangladesh Food Security Investment Forum, 26–27 May 2010, Dhaka
INVESTING IN CROP AGRICULTURE IN BANGLADESH FOR
     HIGHER GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY, AND
         ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE




      M. Asaduzzaman, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies
       Claudia Ringler, International Food Policy Research Institute
       James Thurlow, International Food Policy Research Institute
                 Sha iqul Alam, Ministry of Agriculture




                      Prepared for the
         Bangladesh Food Security Investment Forum
                         May 2010
Investing in crop agriculture in Bangladesh for higher growth and productivity, and adaptation to climate change
CONTENTS



EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................................................................................... 5

INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE CROP SECTOR ............................................................................................................................................... 6
      Importance of agriculture .................................................................................................................................................................. 6
      Recent growth in agriculture .............................................................................................................................................................. 6
      Dominance of rice .............................................................................................................................................................................. 7
      Rice cul va on and its characteris cs ............................................................................................................................................... 7
      Other issues in agriculture ................................................................................................................................................................. 8

FUTURE CHALLENGES AND KEY ISSUES .................................................................................................................................................. 12
      Challenges ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 12
      Popula on issues.............................................................................................................................................................................. 13

FACING THE CHALLENGE: STRATEGY AND INVESTMENT ......................................................................................................................... 13
      Integrated water resource management and river basin development........................................................................................... 14
      Develop an integrated crop produc on strategy ............................................................................................................................. 14
      Raise water-use efficiency ................................................................................................................................................................ 14
      Revamp the technology genera on system ..................................................................................................................................... 15
      Ensure supply of quality seed, fer lizer, and pes cides ................................................................................................................... 15
      Maintain soil health ......................................................................................................................................................................... 15
      Overhaul the extension system ........................................................................................................................................................ 15
      Crop diversifica on and crop specializa on ..................................................................................................................................... 15
      Upgrade marke ng services and reduce post-harvest losses .......................................................................................................... 15
      Ensure agricultural financial services ............................................................................................................................................... 16
      Modernize the agricultural educa on and training system ............................................................................................................. 16
      Encourage farmers’ organiza ons .................................................................................................................................................... 16
      Investment opportuni es................................................................................................................................................................. 16

CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 18

ANNEX 1: ACTIVITIES FOR INVESTMENT IN ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE .................................................................................... 18

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 19
Investing in crop agriculture in Bangladesh for higher growth and productivity, and adaptation to climate change
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY



Bangladesh faces formidable challenges to feed its popula on in the future from an increasingly vanishing and degraded natural
resource base for agriculture. Crop agriculture is heavily dominated by the cul va on of rice. In the past three decades, Bangladesh
has experienced significant growth in food produc on mainly due to increasing reliance on irrigated dry period high-yield variety
(HYV) boro rice. The output of the other major rice—aman—has also progressed but rather slowly, due in part to its suscep bility to
both flood and drought at different mes during its life cycle. A third type of rice—rainfed aus—has been increasingly abandoned in
Bangladesh.
     Crop agriculture has to face many challenges. Within the millions of marginal and small farms sca ered across Bangladesh, crop
diversifica on is s ll limited and natural disasters regularly damage part of output. In many places, there are also serious problems
with soil degrada on and poor seed quality. The technology genera on and dissemina on systems are limited by ins tu onal weak-
nesses, lack of resources, and unavailability of requisite skills. Boro rice cul va on depends heavily on groundwater irriga on, which
has severe limita ons. Some further expansion of boro is possible, but mainly in localized pockets of the country. In addi on, water-use
efficiency is low, and the clima c variability already exacts a heavy toll on outputs. The future projected climate change will further
magnify these effects.
     Against this backdrop, the government wishes to expand boro in areas where surface water is more abundant; there is a general
agreement to u lize surface water as far as possible to lower costs of produc on while maximizing the use of available resources. On
the other hand, because boro has reached its limit in general, ge ng as much as possible from aman should be a major objec ve in
raising domes c output of rice. But this will necessitate revamping not only the technology genera on system but also the technology
dissemina on system and the marke ng system.
     For the future, it has been proposed that investments must be focused on first developing an overall integrated water resource
management plan, with a River Basin Development Approach at its core (with a Coastal Tidal Basin Development Approach for the
coastal areas). This will ensure an integrated use of surface and groundwater for agricultural and other purposes. The River Basin
Development Approach will subsume the government’s present emphasis on rejuvena on of river flows and will necessitate regional
and bilateral coopera on for water resource development.
     The agricultural research system of the country will have to play a key role by developing varie es which are both resistant to
submergence and drought tolerant (or low water using), as well as resistant to salinity and arsenic uptake, suitable for deep water
areas, and of shorter maturity. Already some varie es have been developed. While these need to be popularized, more research will be
needed for ecology-specific development of cul vars. Other priori es are cropping system development along with iden fying suitable
crops for problem soils.
     To implement these major strategies, including suppor ng ac vi es, Bangladesh needs to invest in the following areas:

    •    Integrated water resource management, through a River Basin Development Approach
    •    Technology genera on system, including emphasis on biotechnology
    •    Technology dissemina on or extension system
    •    Agricultural marke ng services
    •    Soil health maintenance
    •    Climate change adapta on
    •    Provision of agricultural financial services
    •    Moderniza on of agricultural educa on system

     An immediate and very sizeable scaling up of resources for technology genera on is absolutely necessary. Substan al resources
will also have to be provided for adapta on to climate change, including for research in several areas. Such investments have paid off
handsomely in the past and may do so again in the future.




                                                                   5
INTRODUCTION                                                                                          A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE CROP
                                                                                                                                          SECTOR
Bangladesh faces formidable challenges to feed its population
in the future from a rapidly vanishing land base for agricul-
ture. The population is expected to increase from 153 million
                                                                                          Importance of agriculture
in 2005 to 185 million people by 2020—and 222 million by                                  Agriculture’s share in gross domes c product (GDP) has fallen
2050 (United Nations 2008). At the same time, over the last                               over me—during the last decade, from one-quarter to one-
two decades the man-land ratio on cropland has increased                                  fi h. Nevertheless, agriculture remains extremely important, as
from 4.9 to just about 7 persons, that is, by 42–43 percent.                              it provides the bulk of employment (just about 50 percent) as
Against this backdrop, the worldwide sharp increases of food                              well as na onal food security.
prices in 2007–2008, along with rising price of energy as well
as fertilizer, have dramatized to policy makers, researchers
                                                                                          Recent growth in agriculture
and the general public, in this country as elsewhere, the thin                            In recent years, par cularly over the last decade or so, the GDP of
razor’s edge upon which the food security of nations rests. The                           the country has grown at the exponen al rate of 5.5 percent, espe-
experience has once again induced the government to revive                                cially toward the end of that period. Since 2003/04, growth has
the policy of self-sufficiency in food production as a target.                            hovered around or above 6 percent per year (Ministry of Finance
The country thus needs new thinking regarding food security,                              2010). During the same period, agricultural GDP (crop cul va on,
related policies, and interventions (particularly investments)                            fisheries, livestock, poultry, and forestry) has grown at a moderate
                                                                                          rate of only 3.4 percent (Asaduzzaman 2009). Agricultural value
for both the short and the long term.
                                                                                          added has thus grown from taka (TK) 448 billion in 1997/98 to TK
     Key challenges to agricultural growth in the country include
                                                                                          676 billion by 2008/09, that is, by around 44 percent.
(on the supply side) water resource and land area constraints,                                  The overall growth rate of agriculture has largely paralleled
soil degrada on and climate change, coupled with (on the                                  that of crop agriculture, which grew at an average annual rate of
demand side) a rapidly growing, increasingly urbanized, and                               3.1 percent over the decade 1997/98–2007/08. During the same
more affluent popula on with changing tastes. To address                                    period, livestock, fisheries, and forestry GDP rose at annual rates
these challenges will require new thinking on how domes c                                 of 4.6, 3.0 and 4.7 percent respec vely. These average rates mask
food security goals can be met while sustaining an increasingly                           year-to-year fluctua ons, as shown in Figure 1.
fragile environment and a large popula on dependent on agri-                                    It is not so surprising that overall agricultural growth (and
culture for their livelihoods.                                                            its fluctua ons) closely follows growth in crop cul va on,
     Food security in general has three basic elements: avail-
                                                                                          Figure 1—Year-on-year rates of growth in sub-sectors of
ability, access, and u liza on. The dominant source of food in                                     agriculture (%)
Bangladesh is domes c produc on. This paper will examine the
availability of food from domes c produc on in crop agriculture.                                                                   Agriculture                 Crops                   Livestock                  Forestry                  Fishery
A companion paper examines issues related to fisheries and live-                                                               14
stock development.                                                                                                            12
                                                                                           Percent change over previos year




     In this paper we first provide a brief history of growth in crop
                                                                                                                              10
agriculture and its characteris cs. This is followed by a discussion
                                                                                                                              8
of the challenges that Bangladesh agriculture will face in future
(including climate change) and the key issues that need resolu-                                                               6
  on in order to face these challenges.                                                                                       4
     The resolu on of these challenges will require interven ons                                                              2
mediated by the government and involving the private sector,1                                                                 0
including both policy ac ons and the necessary investments in                                                                 -2
relevant areas. These investment needs are elaborated as far
                                                                                                                              -4
as possible in this paper, along with an ini al priori za on. We
                                                                                                                              -6
make no a empt to indicate how such investment needs may
                                                                                                                                       98-99

                                                                                                                                               99-2000

                                                                                                                                                         2000-01

                                                                                                                                                                   2001-02

                                                                                                                                                                             2002-03

                                                                                                                                                                                          2003-04

                                                                                                                                                                                                    2004-05

                                                                                                                                                                                                              2005-06

                                                                                                                                                                                                                        2006-07

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  2007-08

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              2008-09*




be realized, their sequence, or how to mobilize them. These are
ma ers for future discussion.
1
  Agriculture is the largest private sector, and without its whole-hearted support,
the government’s efforts may have only limited impact.                                     Source: Computed by authors based on informa on in Ministry of Finance (2010).




                                                                                      6
which accounts for a steady share of 56–57 percent of the value                                     A second important point is that some crops that reduced
added in agriculture over the past decade (at constant prices of                                contribu on to added agricultural value are important for nutri-
1995/96). In crop agriculture, we see three peaks following three                                onal status, for example, in the case of pulses, which cons tute
troughs (in years of flood or other major natural disaster, as in                                a major source of protein in the country. The story is similar for
1998/99 and 2007/08). Thus the performance of Bangladesh                                        sugarcane, the raw material for sugar produc on.
crop agriculture, and consequently agriculture as a whole, is s ll
heavily influenced by weather and related events.                                                Rice cultivation and its characteristics4
Dominance of rice                                                                               To understand the peculiari es of crop agriculture, one has to under-
                                                                                                stand the intricate intertwining of rice culture with climate, land level,
Crop agriculture is dominated heavily by rice cul va on, and crop                               and moisture availability (from rainfall or irriga on). Rice is grown
diversifica on is s ll rather limited. In fact, according to official                              in three seasons. Aman, grown during July/August to December/
sta s cs, the predominance of rice as a share of cropped area                                   January, is part rain-fed (during early part of growth) and part dry
increased in most recent years. Over 2003/04, 2004/05, and                                      season crop (during flowering and harvest me). This is followed by
2005/06, rice area accounted for 75–76 percent of total cropped                                 boro, grown at present under irrigated condi ons during the largely
area. In later years this may have shot up above 80 percent, to as                              dry period from February/March to April/May. Aus is grown in rain-
much as 84 percent by 2008/09. In terms of value added, however,                                fed condi ons; it falls in between boro and aman season but may
the shares are somewhat less. The changes in shares in value                                    overlap with both. This means that the longer-dura on varie es of
added for rice and other selected crops are shown in Table 1.                                   rice do not allow for more than two rice crops per season on the
                                                                                                same land, although other crops may be grown, depending on dura-
Table 1—Percentage shares of crops in value added in crop                                         on of the crop and other agronomic factors.
        agriculture                                                                                  The growth in rice output over the last quarter of a century
                                                                                                has been characterized by increasing reliance on irrigated boro
  Crops 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08                                         cul va on, using fer lizer-intensive high-yielding varie es (HYVs).
Paddy      68.2  67.8    63.4    64.1    62.8    62.6                                           Boro rice now accounts for the bulk of rice grown in the country
Wheat       2.6   2.1     1.6     1.2     1.1     1.2                                           (Figure 2). The area expansion under boro has come increasingly at
Beverages   2.7   2.8     2.8     2.9     2.8     2.4                                           the expense of aus, and, more recently, of aman as well, although
Jute        2.8   2.7     2.4     2.7     2.7     2.5
                                                                                                aman acreage has generally remained sta c. Within aman, too,
Pulses      2.2   2.1     1.9     1.7     1.6     1.5
Oilseeds    1.7   1.7     1.8     1.8     1.9     1.8                                           there has been a switch to HYVs. Yet the output growth in aman has
Sugarcane   2.4   2.2     2.1     1.7     1.8     1.7                                           been rather modest, reflec ng not only loss of area but also slower
Potato      3.8   4.3     5.3     4.6     5.5     7.7
                                                                                                Figure 2—Rice output trend
Other veg.  5.10  5.3     6.1     6.1     5.9     5.3
Fruits      3.7   3.9     5.5     5.9     6.2     5.4
                                                                                                                                     Aus                          Aman                                Boro                           Rice
Source: BBS 2009.
                                                                                                                 35
     The table indicates that the shares in value added for paddy
has somewhat fallen and those of the so called minor crops, potato,                                              30

other vegetables and fruits have increased.2 Several other crops                                                 25
                                                                                                    Million mt




have lost share, including sugarcane and pulses, while others have
remained sta c. Such figures lead to two kinds of implica ons.                                                    20
     First, despite efforts over the years, crop diversifica on has
                                                                                                                 15
not progressed well. As Deb (2008) observes, the index of diver-
sifica on has moved only slightly, from 0.54 in the 1980s to 0.6                                                  10
in recent mes.3 The diversifica on indices (constructed on value
                                                                                                                 5
share basis) for the years 2002/03 to 2007/08 have generally
remained within the range 0.52 to 0.57. Even a er much effort,                                                    0
                                                                                                                      1984-85
                                                                                                                                1986-87

                                                                                                                                          1988-89

                                                                                                                                                    1990-91

                                                                                                                                                              1992-93
                                                                                                                                                                        1994-95
                                                                                                                                                                                  1996-97

                                                                                                                                                                                            1998-99
                                                                                                                                                                                                       2000-01

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 2002-03

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           2004-05
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     2006-67
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               2008-09




the diversifica on that has occurred is of li le significance.
2
 While sta s cs do not capture this trend, there are now non-conven onal veg-
etables (such as bathua shak) and fruits (such as lotkon) cul vated for the market.
3
  Diversity has been measured here by Simpson’s Index, which is defined as:                      Source: Authors’ calcula ons based on various official sta s cs.
SID = 1- ∑ (pi)2 where the sum is over all i. SID means Simpson’s index and pi is the
propor on of the area or value of ith crop or ac vity. SID varies from 0 to 1, the higher
                                                                                                4
value signifying higher level of diversifica on. See Deb 2008.                                       This sec on draws heavily upon Asaduzzaman 2008.

*Note: All references to taka (TK), the currency of Bangladesh, are based on the official exchange rate as of May 20, 2010: TK 69.35 per US$1.




                                                                                            7
rate of yield increase compared to boro (see Table 2). A possible                                                                                                                                                One way of achieving higher output is to focus on regions
contribu ng factor is damage caused by weather-related hazards,                                                                                                                                             where crop agriculture has compara vely lagged behind, par cu-
such as floods, drought, and cyclonic storms along the coast.                                                                                                                                                larly in southwest Bangladesh (SWB). It has been observed that
                                                                                                                                                                                                            all districts showing low yield of rice are in the southwestern
Table 2—Components of change (%) in rice output (1992-2007)                                                                                                                                                 region, par cularly along the coast; while those showing more
                                                                                                                                                                                                            than 1 metric ton of yield per acre are, at present, the highly
                               Season                        Output change                                   Area change                                       Yield change
                                                                                                                                                                                                            irrigated districts of the northwest: the northern part of Jessore,
Aman                                                                          1.65                                       -0.42                                           2.07                               Kush a, Chi agong, Comilla, Dhaka, and Mymensingh. There are
Boro                                                                          6.60                                          4.04                                         2.56                               three types of problems in raising crops in the coastal districts of
Aus                                                                      -1.08                                           -4.30                                           3.22                               SWB: salinity, par cularly during the dry period; water-logging
All                                                                           3.67                                          0.52                                         3.14                               and drainage conges on in many areas; and the storm surges
Source: Asaduzzaman 2009.                                                                                                                                                                                   during cyclones which make agriculture riskier.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 In 2008/09, just above 6.0 million hectares (ha) were irri-
     Boro rice is now the lifeline for Bangladesh. The scope for                                                                                                                                            gated, all with mechanized means. Of this total area, 70 percent
its further expansion, however, appears to be limited except                                                                                                                                                depends on groundwater, using shallow and deep tubewells.
for specific pockets. Thus, the focus for Boro rice has to be on                                                                                                                                             Low-li pumps dependent on surface water account for 20
increasing the efficiency of inputs—both water and fer lizers.                                                                                                                                                percent of the area irrigated. Groundwater is costly, however,
Moreover, the cost of produc on of boro high-yield variety (HYV)                                                                                                                                            for both the environment and, due to high farmer subsidies, the
rice is rather high because of intensively used, costly inputs such                                                                                                                                         government. For example, groundwater mining has resulted in
as irriga on and fer lizer. Further increase in rice output over the                                                                                                                                        the lowering of water tables in parts of the country. Moreover,
long run is therefore likely to come from aman. In the near future,                                                                                                                                         groundwater dependence has increased the risk of arsenic in
however, such an increase is not likely because of the uncertain es                                                                                                                                         food produc on.
that surround aman harvest in any given year.                                                                                                                                                                    Two important research ques ons arise. First, how can
     Aman output is highly vola le due to its suscep bility to natural                                                                                                                                      water-use efficiency be increased to reduce the cost of produc-
hazards. As Figure 3 shows, both aman and boro outputs are in                                                                                                                                                 on of crops, par cularly boro rice declines? A higher water-use
fact vola le. But whereas aman has just two major peaks above                                                                                                                                               efficiency would also reduce energy consump on and lower
the zero line (represen ng no change), it shows several troughs                                                                                                                                             greenhouse gas emissions, for example, through the adop on
signifying fall in output. The nature of vola lity of boro output                                                                                                                                           of the alterna ve we ng and drying method. Development of
is just the opposite, with changes mostly on the posi ve side. In                                                                                                                                           new varie es that consume less water can also help reduce boro
fact, the posi ve boro output change o en counterbalances the                                                                                                                                               water needs. Second, how far can surface water be subs tuted
nega ve output changes in aman, as indicated by the line for total                                                                                                                                          for groundwater, par cularly in areas where surface water is
produc on. Relying more on aman for future rice output growth                                                                                                                                               more abundant, for example, in the southwest?
and lessening the dependence on boro, however desirable, will be
difficult though not impossible, as discussed below.                                                                                                                                                          Other issues in agriculture
Figure 3—Year-to-year luctuation in rice output                                                                                                                                                             Organization of agricultural production
                                                         Total-p                                                  Aman-p                                                  Boro-p                            Several other issues should be noted that apply to rice cul va on
                               40                                                                                                                                                                           and also generally to crop agriculture. Foremost is the organiza-
                                                                                                                                                                                                              on of produc on. Agricultural and par cularly crop cul va on
                               30                                                                                                                                                                           takes place in millions of ny-to-small farms, opera ng no more
 Percent change year on year




                                                                                                                                                                                                            than 2.5 acres of land. Such smallholders account for 88 percent
                               20                                                                                                                                                                           of farms and 60 percent of all operated land. Large farmers,
                                                                                                                                                                                                            with opera onal holdings 7.5 acres or above, accounted for 1.2
                               10                                                                                                                                                                           percent of farms and 10 percent of area.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 With access to land so limited, there is fierce compe on
                                0                                                                                                                                                                           for land. There is an ac ve market for sharing in and out as well
                                                                                                                                                                                                            as ren ng land in and out. In general, however, most farmers
                               -10                                                                                                                                                                          operate what they own, or rent from others to supplement their
                                                                                                                                                                                                            own land.
                               -20                                                                                                                                                                               Several past a empts at redistribu ve land reforms ended
                                     1978-79
                                               1980-81
                                                          1982-83
                                                                    1984-85
                                                                               1986-87
                                                                                         1988-89
                                                                                                   1990-91
                                                                                                             1992-93
                                                                                                                       1994-95
                                                                                                                                 1996-97
                                                                                                                                           1998-99
                                                                                                                                                     2000-01
                                                                                                                                                               2002-03
                                                                                                                                                                          2004-05
                                                                                                                                                                                    2006-07
                                                                                                                                                                                              2008-09




                                                                                                                                                                                                            in failure. Other a empts, such as distribu on of khas (govern-
                                                                                                                                                                                                            ment owned) land, apparently had only limited success, since




                                                                                                                                                                                                        8
most such lands are under the control of influen al local people                         around one-fourth of non-rice crops. Recent informa on,
(predictable in a country with huge popula on and limited land                          however, casts doubt on the loss figure for rice, which is now
area).5 Nevertheless, any investment in agriculture must help the                       es mated to be about 7–8 percent of produc on. On that
smallholders, or all efforts to raise produc on will be in vain.                         basis, the return to investment for post-harvest loss reduc-
                                                                                          ons may not seem high, unlike the case of non-rice crops,
Capitalization of agriculture                                                           par cularly high-value and highly perishable crops like fruits
                                                                                        and vegetables.
There have been two types of change in technology of produc-
                                                                                             Note, however, that while the rice post-harvest losses
  on. One was the cul va on of fer liser-intensive HYVs under
                                                                                        may not be as high as once thought, losses may be higher for
a controlled water management regime, which generally meant
                                                                                        par cular groups, such as marginal and small farmers, or in areas
irriga on through mechanized means. This technological change
                                                                                        where insect damage or weather-related factors (high humidity,
was basically land-augmen ng and labor-intensive. Apart from
                                                                                        for example) cause spoilage in storage. In such cases, targeted
irriga on, the other type of capitaliza on was a rapid spread of
                                                                                        investments to minimize post-harvest losses may be effec ve in
mechanized llage using power llers and tractors.
                                                                                        raising availability of food.
     Irrigated agriculture, in genera ng large demand for
labor, also helped ensure food security for labor households.
Mechaniza on of llage may or may not have such a posi ve                                Soil degradation
impact on labor use. Mandal and Asaduzzaman (2002) found                                Soil degrada on is common place in Bangladesh, whether
that mechaniza on of llage helps in raising cropping intensity by                       manmade (for example, through unbalanced use of fer lizers)
breaking the me constraint, and thus is likely to be labor-friendly.                    or due to natural factors (salinity ingress in coastal areas, or
The main me constraint is between the harvest of aman and the                           landslides on hilly terrain). Es mates by BARC (2000) indicate
beginning of boro. If power llers and tractors allow more boro                          that problem soils may be major constraint to agricultural
rice to be cul vated, it certainly will help in raising labor employ-                   growth. Organic ma er deple on is observed in 7.5 million ha
ment, as boro is almost wholly HYVs. However, if land is instead                        of land. Declining soil fer lity, soil erosion, and saliniza on affect
released from boro cul va on to other crops during the rabi                             respec vely 5.6–8.7 million ha, 5.3 million ha, and 3.05 million
season (winter months), as part of a drive for crop diversifica on,                      ha of land. It is es mated that some 2 million metric tons of
the beneficial impact of mechaniza on on labor absorp on will                            nutrients are removed from Bangladesh soils annually. Unless
depend on the par cular crop cul vated: for example, potato is                          compensated through balanced applica on of nutrients every
labor-intensive to harvest.                                                             year, the fer lity of land is expected to decline and so will its
                                                                                        produc vity. One es mate puts the cost of land degrada on as
Problem of seed                                                                         3 percent of crop output or 1 percent of crop GDP every year
Agricultural growth is dependent on very wide-scale switch to                           (BIDS 2004).
HYV seed, but seed quality in general remains a major problem.                               Apart from the natural factors, a major reason is unbalanced
Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corpora on (BADC),                                  use of fer lizer—a reflec on of the historical legacy of low rela-
which has the mandate to supply quality seeds, can supply only a                          ve price of urea compared to non-urea fer lizers. Pricing policy,
miniscule part of the total demand. For example, there is a need                        as along with investments in awareness-raising for balanced
for 600,000 tons of potato seeds, but BADC’s capacity is only                           fer lizer applica on and populariza on of more efficient fer l-
18 thousand tons. Various related investments are needed to                             izer applica on techniques, can help preserve soil quality, raise
enhance provision of quality seeds in adequate quan es. Some                            output, lower costs of produc on, and save the government
of the non-government organiza ons and the private sector                               budget huge amounts of money.
have started to enter the seed sector with posi ve impacts on
availability, although quality s ll remains a vexing issue in some                      Marketing
cases. Further private-public partnerships for seed, marke ng,
                                                                                        In Bangladesh, produc on is now largely for the market, as
and extension need to be explored.
                                                                                        substan al parts of consump on is now purchased (see Figure 4).
                                                                                        Even for rice, nearly 70 percent of what is consumed is bought
Post-harvest losses
                                                                                        from the market. Apart from dairy products, the percentage for all
Post-harvest losses are conven onally thought to be high in                             other types of food is much higher, possibly nearly 100 percent.
Bangladesh. According to Bangladesh Agricultural Research                               Quite a few of these products, including meat and dairy as well as
Ins tute (BARI), the losses may be 12–15 percent for rice and                           wheat and sugar, are highly income-responsive. Both such income
5
                                                                                        response as well as market behavior of households indicate the
  Anecdotal evidence and newspaper reports suggest that a similar pa ern of
control affects such resources as bodies of water, parts of rivers, vacant govern-       need for improved marke ng services, generally considered quite
ment land, forest, and even the sea front.                                              underdeveloped.



                                                                                    9
Figure 4—Source of procurement of food                                              personnel of the type and category needed. We believe that educa-
                                                                                      on in agricultural sciences and disciplines must be considered an
                         Pur                Home                 Others             integral part of the investment in agriculture as a whole, and most
                                                                                    importantly for technology genera on and dissemina on.
                  100%
                                                                                         Technology dissemina on is as important as technology
                  90%
                                                                                    genera on. In general the link between the two is not well estab-
                                                                                    lished or defined. The extension system has its own weaknesses,
 S ou r ce ( %)




                  80%                                                               and the so-called community-based extension approach is prob-
                                                                                    ably neither understood nor prac ced properly. The training and
                  70%                                                               educa on system for extension personnel is rather weak, depen-
                                                                                    dent as it is on private training schools.
                  60%

                  50%                                                               Agricultural inance and credit
                         Rice Flour Pulses Protein Veg   Dairy   Fat   Sugar
                                                                                    In 2005, nearly a third of farmers had taken some loan (BBS 2006b).
                                          Food Type                                 The propor on did not vary much by farm size, but the amount
                                                                                    of borrowing did. While marginal and small farmers borrowed TK
Source: Based on unit records of HIES 2005 (BBS 2006a).
                                                                                    15,000–16,000 per farm, medium farmers borrowed TK 25,000
                                                                                    and large farmers borrowed TK 51,000.
Technology generation and dissemination systems                                          We do not know whether the non-borrowers did not need
The Na onal Agricultural Research System (NARS) consists of                         credit because they had self-financed their ac vi es, or if they
an apex organiza on, the Bangladesh Agricultural Research                           did not have any ac vity to finance. Nor is it clear who provides
Council (BARC), together with nine other research organiza-                         the credit. While many banks in the formal sector provide credit,
  ons, including those specializing in rice, various non-rice crops,                how much is provided by informal sources is not known with any
sugarcane, jute, tea, and soil management. The NARS has a poor                      certainty. Hence the total credit availability for recent years is
public image despite the fact it has developed varie es that are                    unknown.
resistant to flood submergence, drought, and salinity, as well as
of shorter maturity. The system is characterized by scarcity of                     Climate change impacts
resources (discussed below), shortage of trained manpower, and                      Climate change impacts on Bangladesh agriculture have
lack of incen ves due to a poor compensa on system. Moreover,                       been discussed by various authors, including the government
the system is s ll largely dependent on conven onal breeding                        of Bangladesh (2009). It has been observed that in general
research with a long gesta on period. Shortening the gesta-                         climate change will probably have familiar kinds of effects: first
  on period through biotechnology research has not yet been                         round physical impacts would include temperature and rainfall
a empted, whether due to iner a or lack of awareness at the                         increases; and second round physical impacts would entail
scien st or policy levels.                                                          floods, cyclonic storms, sea level rise, salinity rise, and so forth.
     Will the investments in agricultural research pay off?                          There appears to be more uncertainty regarding precipita on
Asaduzzaman (2009) and current research by the Interna onal                         changes than temperature rise. However, the frequency and
Food Policy Research Ins tute (IFPRI) indicate they will.                           severity of such problems may increase very substan ally, and
Asaduzzaman indicates that the past rate of growth in factor                        extreme events may become more common than at present. The
produc vity of 1 percent per year due to technological change                       uncertainty and associated risks in agricultural produc on will
will require the crop sector output to grow at 3.7 percent, to                      almost certainly be exacerbated. These will have severe conse-
achieve overall economic growth of 8 percent by 2015. But                           quences for agriculture and will pose challenges to food security,
if factor produc vity grows by 1.5 percent per year due to a                        as discussed below.
more efficient technology genera on system, the required rate                              For modelling the physical impacts, the business-as-usual
of growth of output of crop agriculture is only 2.7 percent per                     scenario (with present clima c variability) has been compared
annum. Similarly, IFPRI research shows that if there is substan al                  with the projected climate change scenario. Similarly for
investment in the agricultural research system, yield of rice will                  economic impacts, first the effects due to present clima c vari-
grow by 7 percent by 2025 and by nearly 17 percent by 2050.                         ability are introduced and in the second round those due to
     The supply of personnel trained in ter ary level agricultural                  future climate change have been simulated.
disciplines is extremely cri cal for sustaining capacity for tech-                       The present clima c variability already imposes a cost.
nology genera on. While the country has agricultural universi es                    While aus and aman rice are li le affected on the whole, the
and several agricultural colleges, a ques on hardly addressed                       poten al decline for boro rice produc on is 3 percent by the
is whether these are capable of supplying sufficient trained                          2030s and 5 percent by the 2050s. Compared to an “op mal”



                                                                               10
climate simula on—in which highest simulated yields are used,                Figure 5—Losses in agricultural GDP due to current climate
and sector produc vity and factor supplies increase smoothly                          variability and future climate change
at average long-term growth rates with no inter-annual varia-
  ons—current climate variability is es mated to reduce long-                                                         60.0   Average annual growth rates, 2005-50




                                                                               Agricultural GDP (billions 2005 US$)
term rice produc on by an average 7.4 percent each year, over                                                                Op mal: 3.46%
the 2005–50 simula on period.                                                                                         50.0   Current variability: 3.13%
                                                                                                                             Climate change: 3.02%
      Regions vary in their exposure to the poten al losses.
                                                                                                                      40.0   Discounted cumula ve losses, 2005-50
Produc on in the southern sub-regions is most vulnerable to                                                                  Current variability: US$25.78 bil.
climate change. For instance, average losses in the Khulna region                                                            Climate change: US$7.70 bil.
                                                                                                                      30.0
have been projected as follows, by the 2050s: -10 percent for
aus, aman, and wheat; and -18 percent for boro, due in large part                                                     20.0
to rising sea levels. These produc on impacts ignore economic
responses to these shocks (such as land and labor realloca on and                                                     10.0
price effects), which may limit or exacerbate some of the effects.
      Model results indicate that climate change will exacerbate                                                       0.0




                                                                                                                             2005
                                                                                                                               08
                                                                                                                               11
                                                                                                                               14
                                                                                                                               17
                                                                                                                               20
                                                                                                                               23
                                                                                                                               26
                                                                                                                               29
                                                                                                                               32
                                                                                                                               35
                                                                                                                               38
                                                                                                                               41
                                                                                                                               44
                                                                                                                               47
                                                                                                                               50
the nega ve impacts of exis ng climate variability by further
reducing rice produc on by a projected cumula ve total of 80                                                           Op mal           Current variability         Climate change
million tons over 2005–50 (about 3.9 percent each year, ranging
between 3.6 percent and 4.3 percent), driven primarily by                    Source: IFPRI computable general equilibrium (CGE) model results reported in
reduced boro crop produc on. Climate change has par cularly                  Yu et al. 2010.
adverse implica ons for boro rice produc on and will limit its
ability to compensate for lost aus and aman rice produc on                         These climate risks will also have severe implica ons for
during extreme climate events. Rice produc on in the southern                household welfare. For both the climate variability and climate
regions of Patuakhali and Khulna is par cularly vulnerable.                  change simula ons, around 80 percent of total losses fall directly
      Exis ng climate variability can have pronounced detrimental            on household consump on. Much of the economic losses occur
economy-wide impacts. Future climate change will exacerbate                  outside of agriculture, par cularly in the downstream agricul-
these nega ve effects. As shown in Figure 5, the simulated vari-              ture processing sectors. This means that both rural and urban
ability is projected to cost the agriculture sector (in discounted           households are adversely affected, and per capita consump on
terms) US$26 billion6 in lost agricultural GDP during the 2005–50            is projected to fall for both farm and non-farm households.
period (the gap between “op mal” and “climate variability”                         The southern and northwest regions are the most vulner-
scenarios). Through the linkage effects within the economy,                   able. These areas are expected to experience the largest decline
exis ng climate variability is es mated to cost Bangladesh $121              in rice produc on due to climate change, for three reasons. First,
billion in lost na onal GDP during this period ($3 billion per year).        these regions already experience significant declines in aus and
This is 5 percent below what could be achieved if the climate                aman rice produc on due to climate variability, which is expected
were “op mal.” As Figure 5 shows, the projected climate change               to worsen under climate change. Second, boro yields are severely
will further exacerbate these nega ve impacts.                               affected by changes in mean rainfall and temperature, and by
      Overall, agricultural GDP is projected to be 3.1 percent lower         mean shi s in the flood hydrographs. Consequent reduc ons in
each year as a result of climate change ($7.7 billion in lost value-         boro produc on limit the ability for these regions to compensate
added). Climate change also has broader economy-wide impli-                  for lost aus and aman rice produc on during extreme events.
ca ons. This is es mated to cost Bangladesh $26 billion in total             The south is also most affected by rising sea levels, which perma-
GDP over the 45-year period 2005–50, equivalent to $570 million              nently reduce cul vable land. The largest percentage declines in
overall lost each year due to climate change —an average annual              per capita consump on are projected in these regions. Finally, the
1.15 percent reduc on in total GDP. Average loss in agricultural             northwest is also vulnerable, as the lost consump on represents
GDP due to climate change is projected to be a third of the agri-            a large frac on of current household consump on. Adapta on
cultural GDP losses associated with exis ng climate variability.             measures should therefore focus on these areas.
Uncertainty surrounding global climate models (GCMs) and
emission scenarios means that costs may be as high as $1 billion             Feminization of agriculture
per year in 2005–50, under less op mis c scenarios. Moreover,
                                                                             One par cular issue of importance for future agriculture may be
these economic losses are projected to rise in later years, thus
                                                                             the recent trend toward feminiza on. (A separate paper looks at
underlining the need to address climate-change related losses in
                                                                             gender issues in food security.) While the propor on and absolute
the near term.
                                                                             numbers of male agricultural workers has fallen over 1999/00 and
6
    All dollar figures refer to U.S. dollars.                                 2005/06, the absolute number of female workers has increased



                                                                        11
from 3.8 to 7.7 million—that is, by more than 100 percent. In fact,                                                                        Research and development show a fall in nominal (and
the propor on of female labor in total employed agricultural labor                                                                    real) expenditures over the first few years of the past decade.
has increased from 20 percent to more than a third of the total.                                                                      Expenditures revived beginning in 2002/2003, but real expendi-
Such a feminiza on, apart from social implica ons, may raise                                                                          tures (as Figure 6 shows) barely exceeded their ini al 1999 level, as
ques ons regarding the future organiza on of agricultural produc-                                                                     infla on chipped away much of the value of nominal expenditures.
  on as well as the nature of support required, as discussed below.
                                                                                                                                      Figure 7—Nominal and Real Expenditures for DAE and DAM
Public investment in agriculture
                                                                                                                                                        DAM-N                     DAM-R                       DAE-N                      DAE-R
In general, the alloca ons of development expenditures to
agriculture and to the Ministry of Agriculture, as shares of total                                                                               7000
public development expenditures, appear highly inadequate.                                                                                       6000
In most years since 1999/2000, the propor on of development
budget alloca on for agriculture has been around 20 percent.                                                                                     5000




                                                                                                                                       Mn Taka
The Ministry of Agriculture’s share in ADP alloca on has been                                                                                    4000
mostly 2–3 percent, and has not gone above 15 percent in the last
                                                                                                                                                 3000
few years. The absolute alloca on in most years has been below
TK 5 billion. Agriculture has been accorded minimal support in                                                                                   2000
terms of resource alloca on, despite its cri cal role in keeping                                                                                 1000
the na on fed and providing employment to the majority.
                                                                                                                                                   0
     Investment has been wholly inadequate in three cri cal




                                                                                                                                                         1999-00

                                                                                                                                                                   2000-01

                                                                                                                                                                             2001-02

                                                                                                                                                                                       2002-03

                                                                                                                                                                                                 2003-04

                                                                                                                                                                                                           2004-05

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     2005-06

                                                                                                                                                                                                                               2006-07

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          2007-08

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    2008-09
areas of public interven on in agriculture: research and tech-
nology genera on, marke ng, and extension. Figure 6 shows
the total expenditures by research organiza ons for research
                                                                                                                                      Source: Ministry of Agriculture.
and development, and Figure 7 shows total expenditures by the                                                                         Notes: The nominal figures have been adjusted for infla on using crop sector de-
Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) for extension and by                                                                       flators (BBS 2009). Figures include both development and revenue expenditure.
the Department for Agricultural Marke ng (DAM) for marke ng
services. (For all these organiza ons, the normal ac vi es are                                                                             For extension, data are available only since 2001/2002.
development ac vi es, and hence revenue and development                                                                               Figure 7 shows, for the years for which data were available, a
expenditures are not dis nguished.)                                                                                                   sharp increase in nominal expenditures for extension; real expen-
                                                                                                                                      ditures, however, show hardly any improvement.
Figure 6—Nominal and real expenditures for R&D in Agriculture                                                                              But the worst situa on is in marke ng services, which has
                                                                                                                                      received only a pi ance of public funding. Only beginning in
                                            All Nominal                                          All Real                             2005/2006 were there signs of improvement, and the govern-
                                                                                                                                      ment has since cons tuted a Commi ee of Experts to suggest a
                 3000
                                                                                                                                      reorganiza on of the DAM.
                 2500                                                                                                                      Government investment in seed mul plica on and delivery
                                                                                                                                      (by BADC) remained at the level of TK 1.1–1.2 billion, up to
                 2000
  Million Taka




                                                                                                                                      2003/04. In 2004/05, expenditures fell to only TK 161.3 million
                 1500                                                                                                                 (about $2.3 million). The next year saw a very high expenditure,
                                                                                                                                      of TK 3.64 billion—only to fall again to one-fourth of that level
                 1000
                                                                                                                                      by 2008/09. The seed business of BADC needs a clearer strategic
                 500                                                                                                                  thinking as well as appropriate investments for the future.

                   0
                        1999-00

                                  2000-01

                                               2001-02

                                                         2002-03

                                                                   2003-04

                                                                             2004-05

                                                                                       2005-06

                                                                                                   2006-07

                                                                                                             2007-08

                                                                                                                       2008-09




                                                                                                                                        FUTURE CHALLENGES AND KEY ISSUES

                                                                                                                                      Challenges
Source: Based on informa on provided by Ministry of Agriculture.
Notes: Research organiza ons include BARC, BARI, Bangladesh Rice Research                                                             Crop agriculture in Bangladesh faces the basic challenge of
Ins tute (BRRI), Bangladesh Jute Research Ins tute (BJRI), Bangladesh Sugarcane
Research Ins tute (BSRI), Bangladesh Ins tute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA),
                                                                                                                                      con nuing to ensure supply of food from domes c produc on
and Soil Research Development Ins tute (SRDI). The nominal figures have been                                                           to the utmost extent possible to serve the needs of the rising
adjusted for infla on using crop sector deflators (BBS 2009). Figures include both                                                      popula on, while producing enough high-value non-staple and
development and revenue expenditure.




                                                                                                                                 12
high-nutri on food crops. This will help provide direct income                Fortunately, the processes of adap ng to climate change and
genera on and processing for value addi on and thus ul -                  s mula ng the agriculture sector to further growth align well.
mately ensure be er economic access to food. Note that crop               Both will require the following measures:
agriculture is also the largest employer, and that agricultural
wage labor are among the poorest. Hence another challenge                         •    Diversify household income sources.
for agriculture is to ensure that marginal farmers and labor do                   •    Improve crop produc vity.
not lose out in the race for agricultural growth. There trend
                                                                                  •    Support greater agricultural research and development.
toward feminiza on of agriculture also makes the employment
issue more complex.                                                               •    Promote educa on and skills development.
     There are, however, major constraints to expanding agri-                     •    Increase access to financial services.
culture and ensuring food security arising from several natural                   •    Enhance irriga on efficiency and overall water and land
and man-made adverse factors. Without their resolu on, agri-                           produc vity.
cultural growth will be slow and limited, affec ng everybody
                                                                                  •    Strengthen climate risk management.
adversely.
     The soil is heavily degraded in many parts of the country;                   •    Develop protec ve infrastructure.
water availability is not ensured or costly, and its use is o en
inefficient or wasteful, as discussed above. The issue of climate                Moreover, the current large gap between actual and poten-
change threatens extensive nega ve impacts on agricultural                 al yields suggests substan al on-farm opportuni es for growth
produc on poten al and produc vity. Part of the challenge                 and poverty reduc on. Expanded availability of modern rice vari-
reflects over-dependence on rice, to the extent that it is grown           e es, irriga on facili es, fer lizer use and labor could increase
even in areas that are not suitable for its cul va on.                    average yields at rates that could more than offset the climate
                                                                          change impacts. Significant addi onal planning and investment
     Several key issues need resolu on to meet these challenges.          are s ll needed, but the government has begun to address many
First, we must plan for water resource management, including              of these issues.
both ground and surface water, to:
                                                                          Population issues
    •    balance, in the long run, between irrigated boro and
         part rain-fed aman, par cularly as boro is likely to be          Bangladesh is extremely heavily populated. The growth of
         most affected by climate change;                                  population must be further curbed through judicious policies
                                                                          and investment, including in awareness-raising. While many
    •    minimize, wherever irriga on is needed, the use of               instruments have to be explored and applied, one that must
         costlier groundwater irriga on and subs tute with                be uppermost in the minds of policymakers, given world-wide
         cheaper surface water-based irriga on;                           experience, is raising the status of women through educa-
    •    lower dependence on heavily cul vated areas and                  tion (at least up to secondary level) and through employ-
         provide opportuni es for further growth in agriculture           ment in out-of-home economic activities. 7 This may not be
         in less developed regions, such as the southwest and             enough; women must also be in control of what they earn.
         others that have abundant water but need major water-            Investments in women’s education and positive discrimina-
         related infrastructure; and                                      tion in favor of women in the job market are therefore abso-
                                                                          lutely necessary for any food security measure to succeed in
    •    minimize the consump on of water, par cularly in case            the long run.
         of irrigated cul va on which in turn consumes energy
         (diesel and electricity).
                                                                                 FACING THE CHALLENGE: STRATEGY
     Second is the issue of maintaining soil health. What types                          AND INVESTMENT
of policies are needed, including pricing and subsidy policies for
fer lizer and irriga on support? How can crop diversifica on be            These issues and problems must be resolved in an integrated
encouraged along with crop specializa on, both to maintain soil           framework. No piecemeal, ad hoc or short-term solu on will
health and to raise incomes of farmers?                                   suffice. The stakes are too high: the lives and livelihood of a
     Third, we need to prepare for adjustments and adapta on              huge part of humanity, es mated at 200–250 million (including
both to present clima c variability and to future climate changes,        the future genera on). This campaign must be well planned and
which are expected to make Bangladesh highly food insecure                integrated, and its various elements must have synergy with each
par cularly through adverse impacts on boro rice produc on.               other.
What adapta on op ons should Bangladesh choose so that agri-
cultural growth can con nue unimpeded?                                    7
                                                                              For a detailed discussion of the issues as well as references see Zaman (2002).




                                                                     13
Integrated water resource management and                                                  For protec on from flood or drainage conges on, there are
river basin development                                                              also two approaches. First, develop varie es which are submer-
                                                                                     gence tolerant. Already varie es have been developed which are
An integrated water resource management, with river basin                            tolerant to about two weeks of submergence, but more needs
development as its integral element, may be the core planning                        to be done. The second method is to invest in appropriate water
framework for long-term, sustained food security in Bangladesh.                      management structures for protec on from flood. This will be
While the groundwater development strategy has served us well                        part of the integrated water management under the River Basin
so far, it appears to have reached its limits, and surface water                     Development Approach discussed above.
development has been neglected for too long. An integrated
ground and surface water development is needed.
                                                                                     Coastal area agriculture
     The history of development of water management struc-
tures, their costs and benefits, and the problems of a techno-                        In the coastal areas, an expansion of boro or aman will necessitate
cra c approach are well documented.8 The present woes of                             huge investments in flood control and water-logging removal,
people affected by first Sidr and then Aila in the coastal region                      as well as structures for controlling salinity intrusion. Managing
have also been well reported. A properly balanced “River Basin                       salinity intrusion may conflict, however, at least in the southwest,
Development Approach,” including both structural and non-                            with shrimp cul va on, possibly requiring land zoning. But note
structural measures, would integrate the present concerns of the                     that this will require an efficient and effec ve regulatory system
government related to rejuvena on of the river system. This will                     for water and land use in a complex ecological se ng, which is so
also facilitate expansion of the surface water irriga on system in                   far nonexistent in the country.
a coordinated manner, thus aiding boro produc on and reducing                             Controlling salinity intrusion is par cularly essen al for
its costs.                                                                           encouraging boro rice cul va on in the southwest. Earlier
     Bangladesh also needs a Coastal Tidal basin Development                         a empts (for instance, through the Barisal Irriga on project and
Strategy to address the more complex water resource manage-                          the Bhola Irriga on Project) have had limited success, as farmers
ment issues along the coast. Such a development approach also                        did not switch to boro but con nued with damage-prone aman.
necessitates moves toward regional and bilateral coopera on                          Be er analysis of the outcomes of these irriga on projects
across basins in neighboring countries. Such ac vi es are already                    would be valuable. In any case, higher salinity during rabi period
envisioned in the government’s water resources coopera on                            is bound to discourage farmers from cul va ng HYVs (Hossain,
process, but they may need to be re-examined from a fresh angle.                     Bose, and Mustafi 2002).
                                                                                          An alterna ve solu on is to develop salinity-tolerant vari-
Develop an integrated crop production strategy                                       e es. Bangladesh scien sts have developed such varie es, but
                                                                                     they have not been adopted by farmers, either due to extension
An integrated crop sector development strategy is needed to                          limita ons or because the varie es are not high-yielding enough.
achieve several objec ves at the same me. The strategy has                           There is s ll a lot to do in developing such varie es, graded by
to begin from the premise that Bangladesh needs to raise and                         level of salinity suitability.
stabilize produc vity of both boro and aman, keeping in mind the
present clima c variability and future projected climate change
                                                                                     Adaptation to climate change impacts on agriculture
impacts. This will necessitate a range of ac vi es.
                                                                                     The government has already given approval at the highest level to
Development of new crop varieties                                                    the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Ac on Plan (2009).
                                                                                     This Ac on Plan has explicit provisions regarding adapta on
A two-pronged approach will be needed. First, aman cul va on                         needs in agriculture and associated investment areas, in general
will have to be protected as far as possible from drought (during                    conformity with earlier discussions. These investment needs
the flowering/frui ng period) and from floods or excessive rains                       have been priori zed for the Sixth Plan; they can be viewed as
(during the early growth period). Drought protec on may be                           part of the overall investment needs for adapta on of crop agri-
addressed in two ways, and both may be necessary. First, develop                     culture to climate change.
shorter maturity varie es that can be harvested several weeks
earlier than the normal harvest period, thus escaping the drier
                                                                                     Raise water-use ef iciency
period. Varie es with such characteris cs have been developed
already, but more are needed to fit various ecological niches.                        A major strategy for lowering cost of produc on is to raise water
Secondly, varie es which are drought-tolerant in various degrees                     use efficiency. This may be accomplished by developing drought-
have to be developed.                                                                resistant varie es, by shi ing to locally appropriate lower water-
8
                                                                                     use crops (which will have to be remunera ve enough to give
  See the Flood Ac on Plan reports, including those on FAP-12 on Agricultural
Study and FAP-13 on Opera on and Maintenance. For a summary view, see                up rice cul va on), and adop ng more appropriate agronomic
Asaduzzaman (1994).                                                                  prac ces such as the Alterna ve We ng and Drying method,



                                                                                14
Investing in crop agriculture in Bangladesh for higher growth and productivity, and adaptation to climate change
Investing in crop agriculture in Bangladesh for higher growth and productivity, and adaptation to climate change
Investing in crop agriculture in Bangladesh for higher growth and productivity, and adaptation to climate change
Investing in crop agriculture in Bangladesh for higher growth and productivity, and adaptation to climate change
Investing in crop agriculture in Bangladesh for higher growth and productivity, and adaptation to climate change
Investing in crop agriculture in Bangladesh for higher growth and productivity, and adaptation to climate change
Investing in crop agriculture in Bangladesh for higher growth and productivity, and adaptation to climate change

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Investing in crop agriculture in Bangladesh for higher growth and productivity, and adaptation to climate change

  • 1. Investing in Crop Agriculture in Bangladesh for Higher Growth and Productivity, and Adaptation to Climate Change M. Asaduzzaman, Claudia Ringler, James Thurlow, and Shafiqul Alam Bangladesh Food Security Investment Forum, 26–27 May 2010, Dhaka
  • 2. INVESTING IN CROP AGRICULTURE IN BANGLADESH FOR HIGHER GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY, AND ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE M. Asaduzzaman, Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies Claudia Ringler, International Food Policy Research Institute James Thurlow, International Food Policy Research Institute Sha iqul Alam, Ministry of Agriculture Prepared for the Bangladesh Food Security Investment Forum May 2010
  • 4. CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................................................................................................... 5 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE CROP SECTOR ............................................................................................................................................... 6 Importance of agriculture .................................................................................................................................................................. 6 Recent growth in agriculture .............................................................................................................................................................. 6 Dominance of rice .............................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Rice cul va on and its characteris cs ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Other issues in agriculture ................................................................................................................................................................. 8 FUTURE CHALLENGES AND KEY ISSUES .................................................................................................................................................. 12 Challenges ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 12 Popula on issues.............................................................................................................................................................................. 13 FACING THE CHALLENGE: STRATEGY AND INVESTMENT ......................................................................................................................... 13 Integrated water resource management and river basin development........................................................................................... 14 Develop an integrated crop produc on strategy ............................................................................................................................. 14 Raise water-use efficiency ................................................................................................................................................................ 14 Revamp the technology genera on system ..................................................................................................................................... 15 Ensure supply of quality seed, fer lizer, and pes cides ................................................................................................................... 15 Maintain soil health ......................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Overhaul the extension system ........................................................................................................................................................ 15 Crop diversifica on and crop specializa on ..................................................................................................................................... 15 Upgrade marke ng services and reduce post-harvest losses .......................................................................................................... 15 Ensure agricultural financial services ............................................................................................................................................... 16 Modernize the agricultural educa on and training system ............................................................................................................. 16 Encourage farmers’ organiza ons .................................................................................................................................................... 16 Investment opportuni es................................................................................................................................................................. 16 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 18 ANNEX 1: ACTIVITIES FOR INVESTMENT IN ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE .................................................................................... 18 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 19
  • 6. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Bangladesh faces formidable challenges to feed its popula on in the future from an increasingly vanishing and degraded natural resource base for agriculture. Crop agriculture is heavily dominated by the cul va on of rice. In the past three decades, Bangladesh has experienced significant growth in food produc on mainly due to increasing reliance on irrigated dry period high-yield variety (HYV) boro rice. The output of the other major rice—aman—has also progressed but rather slowly, due in part to its suscep bility to both flood and drought at different mes during its life cycle. A third type of rice—rainfed aus—has been increasingly abandoned in Bangladesh. Crop agriculture has to face many challenges. Within the millions of marginal and small farms sca ered across Bangladesh, crop diversifica on is s ll limited and natural disasters regularly damage part of output. In many places, there are also serious problems with soil degrada on and poor seed quality. The technology genera on and dissemina on systems are limited by ins tu onal weak- nesses, lack of resources, and unavailability of requisite skills. Boro rice cul va on depends heavily on groundwater irriga on, which has severe limita ons. Some further expansion of boro is possible, but mainly in localized pockets of the country. In addi on, water-use efficiency is low, and the clima c variability already exacts a heavy toll on outputs. The future projected climate change will further magnify these effects. Against this backdrop, the government wishes to expand boro in areas where surface water is more abundant; there is a general agreement to u lize surface water as far as possible to lower costs of produc on while maximizing the use of available resources. On the other hand, because boro has reached its limit in general, ge ng as much as possible from aman should be a major objec ve in raising domes c output of rice. But this will necessitate revamping not only the technology genera on system but also the technology dissemina on system and the marke ng system. For the future, it has been proposed that investments must be focused on first developing an overall integrated water resource management plan, with a River Basin Development Approach at its core (with a Coastal Tidal Basin Development Approach for the coastal areas). This will ensure an integrated use of surface and groundwater for agricultural and other purposes. The River Basin Development Approach will subsume the government’s present emphasis on rejuvena on of river flows and will necessitate regional and bilateral coopera on for water resource development. The agricultural research system of the country will have to play a key role by developing varie es which are both resistant to submergence and drought tolerant (or low water using), as well as resistant to salinity and arsenic uptake, suitable for deep water areas, and of shorter maturity. Already some varie es have been developed. While these need to be popularized, more research will be needed for ecology-specific development of cul vars. Other priori es are cropping system development along with iden fying suitable crops for problem soils. To implement these major strategies, including suppor ng ac vi es, Bangladesh needs to invest in the following areas: • Integrated water resource management, through a River Basin Development Approach • Technology genera on system, including emphasis on biotechnology • Technology dissemina on or extension system • Agricultural marke ng services • Soil health maintenance • Climate change adapta on • Provision of agricultural financial services • Moderniza on of agricultural educa on system An immediate and very sizeable scaling up of resources for technology genera on is absolutely necessary. Substan al resources will also have to be provided for adapta on to climate change, including for research in several areas. Such investments have paid off handsomely in the past and may do so again in the future. 5
  • 7. INTRODUCTION A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE CROP SECTOR Bangladesh faces formidable challenges to feed its population in the future from a rapidly vanishing land base for agricul- ture. The population is expected to increase from 153 million Importance of agriculture in 2005 to 185 million people by 2020—and 222 million by Agriculture’s share in gross domes c product (GDP) has fallen 2050 (United Nations 2008). At the same time, over the last over me—during the last decade, from one-quarter to one- two decades the man-land ratio on cropland has increased fi h. Nevertheless, agriculture remains extremely important, as from 4.9 to just about 7 persons, that is, by 42–43 percent. it provides the bulk of employment (just about 50 percent) as Against this backdrop, the worldwide sharp increases of food well as na onal food security. prices in 2007–2008, along with rising price of energy as well as fertilizer, have dramatized to policy makers, researchers Recent growth in agriculture and the general public, in this country as elsewhere, the thin In recent years, par cularly over the last decade or so, the GDP of razor’s edge upon which the food security of nations rests. The the country has grown at the exponen al rate of 5.5 percent, espe- experience has once again induced the government to revive cially toward the end of that period. Since 2003/04, growth has the policy of self-sufficiency in food production as a target. hovered around or above 6 percent per year (Ministry of Finance The country thus needs new thinking regarding food security, 2010). During the same period, agricultural GDP (crop cul va on, related policies, and interventions (particularly investments) fisheries, livestock, poultry, and forestry) has grown at a moderate rate of only 3.4 percent (Asaduzzaman 2009). Agricultural value for both the short and the long term. added has thus grown from taka (TK) 448 billion in 1997/98 to TK Key challenges to agricultural growth in the country include 676 billion by 2008/09, that is, by around 44 percent. (on the supply side) water resource and land area constraints, The overall growth rate of agriculture has largely paralleled soil degrada on and climate change, coupled with (on the that of crop agriculture, which grew at an average annual rate of demand side) a rapidly growing, increasingly urbanized, and 3.1 percent over the decade 1997/98–2007/08. During the same more affluent popula on with changing tastes. To address period, livestock, fisheries, and forestry GDP rose at annual rates these challenges will require new thinking on how domes c of 4.6, 3.0 and 4.7 percent respec vely. These average rates mask food security goals can be met while sustaining an increasingly year-to-year fluctua ons, as shown in Figure 1. fragile environment and a large popula on dependent on agri- It is not so surprising that overall agricultural growth (and culture for their livelihoods. its fluctua ons) closely follows growth in crop cul va on, Food security in general has three basic elements: avail- Figure 1—Year-on-year rates of growth in sub-sectors of ability, access, and u liza on. The dominant source of food in agriculture (%) Bangladesh is domes c produc on. This paper will examine the availability of food from domes c produc on in crop agriculture. Agriculture Crops Livestock Forestry Fishery A companion paper examines issues related to fisheries and live- 14 stock development. 12 Percent change over previos year In this paper we first provide a brief history of growth in crop 10 agriculture and its characteris cs. This is followed by a discussion 8 of the challenges that Bangladesh agriculture will face in future (including climate change) and the key issues that need resolu- 6 on in order to face these challenges. 4 The resolu on of these challenges will require interven ons 2 mediated by the government and involving the private sector,1 0 including both policy ac ons and the necessary investments in -2 relevant areas. These investment needs are elaborated as far -4 as possible in this paper, along with an ini al priori za on. We -6 make no a empt to indicate how such investment needs may 98-99 99-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09* be realized, their sequence, or how to mobilize them. These are ma ers for future discussion. 1 Agriculture is the largest private sector, and without its whole-hearted support, the government’s efforts may have only limited impact. Source: Computed by authors based on informa on in Ministry of Finance (2010). 6
  • 8. which accounts for a steady share of 56–57 percent of the value A second important point is that some crops that reduced added in agriculture over the past decade (at constant prices of contribu on to added agricultural value are important for nutri- 1995/96). In crop agriculture, we see three peaks following three onal status, for example, in the case of pulses, which cons tute troughs (in years of flood or other major natural disaster, as in a major source of protein in the country. The story is similar for 1998/99 and 2007/08). Thus the performance of Bangladesh sugarcane, the raw material for sugar produc on. crop agriculture, and consequently agriculture as a whole, is s ll heavily influenced by weather and related events. Rice cultivation and its characteristics4 Dominance of rice To understand the peculiari es of crop agriculture, one has to under- stand the intricate intertwining of rice culture with climate, land level, Crop agriculture is dominated heavily by rice cul va on, and crop and moisture availability (from rainfall or irriga on). Rice is grown diversifica on is s ll rather limited. In fact, according to official in three seasons. Aman, grown during July/August to December/ sta s cs, the predominance of rice as a share of cropped area January, is part rain-fed (during early part of growth) and part dry increased in most recent years. Over 2003/04, 2004/05, and season crop (during flowering and harvest me). This is followed by 2005/06, rice area accounted for 75–76 percent of total cropped boro, grown at present under irrigated condi ons during the largely area. In later years this may have shot up above 80 percent, to as dry period from February/March to April/May. Aus is grown in rain- much as 84 percent by 2008/09. In terms of value added, however, fed condi ons; it falls in between boro and aman season but may the shares are somewhat less. The changes in shares in value overlap with both. This means that the longer-dura on varie es of added for rice and other selected crops are shown in Table 1. rice do not allow for more than two rice crops per season on the same land, although other crops may be grown, depending on dura- Table 1—Percentage shares of crops in value added in crop on of the crop and other agronomic factors. agriculture The growth in rice output over the last quarter of a century has been characterized by increasing reliance on irrigated boro Crops 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 cul va on, using fer lizer-intensive high-yielding varie es (HYVs). Paddy 68.2 67.8 63.4 64.1 62.8 62.6 Boro rice now accounts for the bulk of rice grown in the country Wheat 2.6 2.1 1.6 1.2 1.1 1.2 (Figure 2). The area expansion under boro has come increasingly at Beverages 2.7 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.8 2.4 the expense of aus, and, more recently, of aman as well, although Jute 2.8 2.7 2.4 2.7 2.7 2.5 aman acreage has generally remained sta c. Within aman, too, Pulses 2.2 2.1 1.9 1.7 1.6 1.5 Oilseeds 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.8 1.9 1.8 there has been a switch to HYVs. Yet the output growth in aman has Sugarcane 2.4 2.2 2.1 1.7 1.8 1.7 been rather modest, reflec ng not only loss of area but also slower Potato 3.8 4.3 5.3 4.6 5.5 7.7 Figure 2—Rice output trend Other veg. 5.10 5.3 6.1 6.1 5.9 5.3 Fruits 3.7 3.9 5.5 5.9 6.2 5.4 Aus Aman Boro Rice Source: BBS 2009. 35 The table indicates that the shares in value added for paddy has somewhat fallen and those of the so called minor crops, potato, 30 other vegetables and fruits have increased.2 Several other crops 25 Million mt have lost share, including sugarcane and pulses, while others have remained sta c. Such figures lead to two kinds of implica ons. 20 First, despite efforts over the years, crop diversifica on has 15 not progressed well. As Deb (2008) observes, the index of diver- sifica on has moved only slightly, from 0.54 in the 1980s to 0.6 10 in recent mes.3 The diversifica on indices (constructed on value 5 share basis) for the years 2002/03 to 2007/08 have generally remained within the range 0.52 to 0.57. Even a er much effort, 0 1984-85 1986-87 1988-89 1990-91 1992-93 1994-95 1996-97 1998-99 2000-01 2002-03 2004-05 2006-67 2008-09 the diversifica on that has occurred is of li le significance. 2 While sta s cs do not capture this trend, there are now non-conven onal veg- etables (such as bathua shak) and fruits (such as lotkon) cul vated for the market. 3 Diversity has been measured here by Simpson’s Index, which is defined as: Source: Authors’ calcula ons based on various official sta s cs. SID = 1- ∑ (pi)2 where the sum is over all i. SID means Simpson’s index and pi is the propor on of the area or value of ith crop or ac vity. SID varies from 0 to 1, the higher 4 value signifying higher level of diversifica on. See Deb 2008. This sec on draws heavily upon Asaduzzaman 2008. *Note: All references to taka (TK), the currency of Bangladesh, are based on the official exchange rate as of May 20, 2010: TK 69.35 per US$1. 7
  • 9. rate of yield increase compared to boro (see Table 2). A possible One way of achieving higher output is to focus on regions contribu ng factor is damage caused by weather-related hazards, where crop agriculture has compara vely lagged behind, par cu- such as floods, drought, and cyclonic storms along the coast. larly in southwest Bangladesh (SWB). It has been observed that all districts showing low yield of rice are in the southwestern Table 2—Components of change (%) in rice output (1992-2007) region, par cularly along the coast; while those showing more than 1 metric ton of yield per acre are, at present, the highly Season Output change Area change Yield change irrigated districts of the northwest: the northern part of Jessore, Aman 1.65 -0.42 2.07 Kush a, Chi agong, Comilla, Dhaka, and Mymensingh. There are Boro 6.60 4.04 2.56 three types of problems in raising crops in the coastal districts of Aus -1.08 -4.30 3.22 SWB: salinity, par cularly during the dry period; water-logging All 3.67 0.52 3.14 and drainage conges on in many areas; and the storm surges Source: Asaduzzaman 2009. during cyclones which make agriculture riskier. In 2008/09, just above 6.0 million hectares (ha) were irri- Boro rice is now the lifeline for Bangladesh. The scope for gated, all with mechanized means. Of this total area, 70 percent its further expansion, however, appears to be limited except depends on groundwater, using shallow and deep tubewells. for specific pockets. Thus, the focus for Boro rice has to be on Low-li pumps dependent on surface water account for 20 increasing the efficiency of inputs—both water and fer lizers. percent of the area irrigated. Groundwater is costly, however, Moreover, the cost of produc on of boro high-yield variety (HYV) for both the environment and, due to high farmer subsidies, the rice is rather high because of intensively used, costly inputs such government. For example, groundwater mining has resulted in as irriga on and fer lizer. Further increase in rice output over the the lowering of water tables in parts of the country. Moreover, long run is therefore likely to come from aman. In the near future, groundwater dependence has increased the risk of arsenic in however, such an increase is not likely because of the uncertain es food produc on. that surround aman harvest in any given year. Two important research ques ons arise. First, how can Aman output is highly vola le due to its suscep bility to natural water-use efficiency be increased to reduce the cost of produc- hazards. As Figure 3 shows, both aman and boro outputs are in on of crops, par cularly boro rice declines? A higher water-use fact vola le. But whereas aman has just two major peaks above efficiency would also reduce energy consump on and lower the zero line (represen ng no change), it shows several troughs greenhouse gas emissions, for example, through the adop on signifying fall in output. The nature of vola lity of boro output of the alterna ve we ng and drying method. Development of is just the opposite, with changes mostly on the posi ve side. In new varie es that consume less water can also help reduce boro fact, the posi ve boro output change o en counterbalances the water needs. Second, how far can surface water be subs tuted nega ve output changes in aman, as indicated by the line for total for groundwater, par cularly in areas where surface water is produc on. Relying more on aman for future rice output growth more abundant, for example, in the southwest? and lessening the dependence on boro, however desirable, will be difficult though not impossible, as discussed below. Other issues in agriculture Figure 3—Year-to-year luctuation in rice output Organization of agricultural production Total-p Aman-p Boro-p Several other issues should be noted that apply to rice cul va on 40 and also generally to crop agriculture. Foremost is the organiza- on of produc on. Agricultural and par cularly crop cul va on 30 takes place in millions of ny-to-small farms, opera ng no more Percent change year on year than 2.5 acres of land. Such smallholders account for 88 percent 20 of farms and 60 percent of all operated land. Large farmers, with opera onal holdings 7.5 acres or above, accounted for 1.2 10 percent of farms and 10 percent of area. With access to land so limited, there is fierce compe on 0 for land. There is an ac ve market for sharing in and out as well as ren ng land in and out. In general, however, most farmers -10 operate what they own, or rent from others to supplement their own land. -20 Several past a empts at redistribu ve land reforms ended 1978-79 1980-81 1982-83 1984-85 1986-87 1988-89 1990-91 1992-93 1994-95 1996-97 1998-99 2000-01 2002-03 2004-05 2006-07 2008-09 in failure. Other a empts, such as distribu on of khas (govern- ment owned) land, apparently had only limited success, since 8
  • 10. most such lands are under the control of influen al local people around one-fourth of non-rice crops. Recent informa on, (predictable in a country with huge popula on and limited land however, casts doubt on the loss figure for rice, which is now area).5 Nevertheless, any investment in agriculture must help the es mated to be about 7–8 percent of produc on. On that smallholders, or all efforts to raise produc on will be in vain. basis, the return to investment for post-harvest loss reduc- ons may not seem high, unlike the case of non-rice crops, Capitalization of agriculture par cularly high-value and highly perishable crops like fruits and vegetables. There have been two types of change in technology of produc- Note, however, that while the rice post-harvest losses on. One was the cul va on of fer liser-intensive HYVs under may not be as high as once thought, losses may be higher for a controlled water management regime, which generally meant par cular groups, such as marginal and small farmers, or in areas irriga on through mechanized means. This technological change where insect damage or weather-related factors (high humidity, was basically land-augmen ng and labor-intensive. Apart from for example) cause spoilage in storage. In such cases, targeted irriga on, the other type of capitaliza on was a rapid spread of investments to minimize post-harvest losses may be effec ve in mechanized llage using power llers and tractors. raising availability of food. Irrigated agriculture, in genera ng large demand for labor, also helped ensure food security for labor households. Mechaniza on of llage may or may not have such a posi ve Soil degradation impact on labor use. Mandal and Asaduzzaman (2002) found Soil degrada on is common place in Bangladesh, whether that mechaniza on of llage helps in raising cropping intensity by manmade (for example, through unbalanced use of fer lizers) breaking the me constraint, and thus is likely to be labor-friendly. or due to natural factors (salinity ingress in coastal areas, or The main me constraint is between the harvest of aman and the landslides on hilly terrain). Es mates by BARC (2000) indicate beginning of boro. If power llers and tractors allow more boro that problem soils may be major constraint to agricultural rice to be cul vated, it certainly will help in raising labor employ- growth. Organic ma er deple on is observed in 7.5 million ha ment, as boro is almost wholly HYVs. However, if land is instead of land. Declining soil fer lity, soil erosion, and saliniza on affect released from boro cul va on to other crops during the rabi respec vely 5.6–8.7 million ha, 5.3 million ha, and 3.05 million season (winter months), as part of a drive for crop diversifica on, ha of land. It is es mated that some 2 million metric tons of the beneficial impact of mechaniza on on labor absorp on will nutrients are removed from Bangladesh soils annually. Unless depend on the par cular crop cul vated: for example, potato is compensated through balanced applica on of nutrients every labor-intensive to harvest. year, the fer lity of land is expected to decline and so will its produc vity. One es mate puts the cost of land degrada on as Problem of seed 3 percent of crop output or 1 percent of crop GDP every year Agricultural growth is dependent on very wide-scale switch to (BIDS 2004). HYV seed, but seed quality in general remains a major problem. Apart from the natural factors, a major reason is unbalanced Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corpora on (BADC), use of fer lizer—a reflec on of the historical legacy of low rela- which has the mandate to supply quality seeds, can supply only a ve price of urea compared to non-urea fer lizers. Pricing policy, miniscule part of the total demand. For example, there is a need as along with investments in awareness-raising for balanced for 600,000 tons of potato seeds, but BADC’s capacity is only fer lizer applica on and populariza on of more efficient fer l- 18 thousand tons. Various related investments are needed to izer applica on techniques, can help preserve soil quality, raise enhance provision of quality seeds in adequate quan es. Some output, lower costs of produc on, and save the government of the non-government organiza ons and the private sector budget huge amounts of money. have started to enter the seed sector with posi ve impacts on availability, although quality s ll remains a vexing issue in some Marketing cases. Further private-public partnerships for seed, marke ng, In Bangladesh, produc on is now largely for the market, as and extension need to be explored. substan al parts of consump on is now purchased (see Figure 4). Even for rice, nearly 70 percent of what is consumed is bought Post-harvest losses from the market. Apart from dairy products, the percentage for all Post-harvest losses are conven onally thought to be high in other types of food is much higher, possibly nearly 100 percent. Bangladesh. According to Bangladesh Agricultural Research Quite a few of these products, including meat and dairy as well as Ins tute (BARI), the losses may be 12–15 percent for rice and wheat and sugar, are highly income-responsive. Both such income 5 response as well as market behavior of households indicate the Anecdotal evidence and newspaper reports suggest that a similar pa ern of control affects such resources as bodies of water, parts of rivers, vacant govern- need for improved marke ng services, generally considered quite ment land, forest, and even the sea front. underdeveloped. 9
  • 11. Figure 4—Source of procurement of food personnel of the type and category needed. We believe that educa- on in agricultural sciences and disciplines must be considered an Pur Home Others integral part of the investment in agriculture as a whole, and most importantly for technology genera on and dissemina on. 100% Technology dissemina on is as important as technology 90% genera on. In general the link between the two is not well estab- lished or defined. The extension system has its own weaknesses, S ou r ce ( %) 80% and the so-called community-based extension approach is prob- ably neither understood nor prac ced properly. The training and 70% educa on system for extension personnel is rather weak, depen- dent as it is on private training schools. 60% 50% Agricultural inance and credit Rice Flour Pulses Protein Veg Dairy Fat Sugar In 2005, nearly a third of farmers had taken some loan (BBS 2006b). Food Type The propor on did not vary much by farm size, but the amount of borrowing did. While marginal and small farmers borrowed TK Source: Based on unit records of HIES 2005 (BBS 2006a). 15,000–16,000 per farm, medium farmers borrowed TK 25,000 and large farmers borrowed TK 51,000. Technology generation and dissemination systems We do not know whether the non-borrowers did not need The Na onal Agricultural Research System (NARS) consists of credit because they had self-financed their ac vi es, or if they an apex organiza on, the Bangladesh Agricultural Research did not have any ac vity to finance. Nor is it clear who provides Council (BARC), together with nine other research organiza- the credit. While many banks in the formal sector provide credit, ons, including those specializing in rice, various non-rice crops, how much is provided by informal sources is not known with any sugarcane, jute, tea, and soil management. The NARS has a poor certainty. Hence the total credit availability for recent years is public image despite the fact it has developed varie es that are unknown. resistant to flood submergence, drought, and salinity, as well as of shorter maturity. The system is characterized by scarcity of Climate change impacts resources (discussed below), shortage of trained manpower, and Climate change impacts on Bangladesh agriculture have lack of incen ves due to a poor compensa on system. Moreover, been discussed by various authors, including the government the system is s ll largely dependent on conven onal breeding of Bangladesh (2009). It has been observed that in general research with a long gesta on period. Shortening the gesta- climate change will probably have familiar kinds of effects: first on period through biotechnology research has not yet been round physical impacts would include temperature and rainfall a empted, whether due to iner a or lack of awareness at the increases; and second round physical impacts would entail scien st or policy levels. floods, cyclonic storms, sea level rise, salinity rise, and so forth. Will the investments in agricultural research pay off? There appears to be more uncertainty regarding precipita on Asaduzzaman (2009) and current research by the Interna onal changes than temperature rise. However, the frequency and Food Policy Research Ins tute (IFPRI) indicate they will. severity of such problems may increase very substan ally, and Asaduzzaman indicates that the past rate of growth in factor extreme events may become more common than at present. The produc vity of 1 percent per year due to technological change uncertainty and associated risks in agricultural produc on will will require the crop sector output to grow at 3.7 percent, to almost certainly be exacerbated. These will have severe conse- achieve overall economic growth of 8 percent by 2015. But quences for agriculture and will pose challenges to food security, if factor produc vity grows by 1.5 percent per year due to a as discussed below. more efficient technology genera on system, the required rate For modelling the physical impacts, the business-as-usual of growth of output of crop agriculture is only 2.7 percent per scenario (with present clima c variability) has been compared annum. Similarly, IFPRI research shows that if there is substan al with the projected climate change scenario. Similarly for investment in the agricultural research system, yield of rice will economic impacts, first the effects due to present clima c vari- grow by 7 percent by 2025 and by nearly 17 percent by 2050. ability are introduced and in the second round those due to The supply of personnel trained in ter ary level agricultural future climate change have been simulated. disciplines is extremely cri cal for sustaining capacity for tech- The present clima c variability already imposes a cost. nology genera on. While the country has agricultural universi es While aus and aman rice are li le affected on the whole, the and several agricultural colleges, a ques on hardly addressed poten al decline for boro rice produc on is 3 percent by the is whether these are capable of supplying sufficient trained 2030s and 5 percent by the 2050s. Compared to an “op mal” 10
  • 12. climate simula on—in which highest simulated yields are used, Figure 5—Losses in agricultural GDP due to current climate and sector produc vity and factor supplies increase smoothly variability and future climate change at average long-term growth rates with no inter-annual varia- ons—current climate variability is es mated to reduce long- 60.0 Average annual growth rates, 2005-50 Agricultural GDP (billions 2005 US$) term rice produc on by an average 7.4 percent each year, over Op mal: 3.46% the 2005–50 simula on period. 50.0 Current variability: 3.13% Climate change: 3.02% Regions vary in their exposure to the poten al losses. 40.0 Discounted cumula ve losses, 2005-50 Produc on in the southern sub-regions is most vulnerable to Current variability: US$25.78 bil. climate change. For instance, average losses in the Khulna region Climate change: US$7.70 bil. 30.0 have been projected as follows, by the 2050s: -10 percent for aus, aman, and wheat; and -18 percent for boro, due in large part 20.0 to rising sea levels. These produc on impacts ignore economic responses to these shocks (such as land and labor realloca on and 10.0 price effects), which may limit or exacerbate some of the effects. Model results indicate that climate change will exacerbate 0.0 2005 08 11 14 17 20 23 26 29 32 35 38 41 44 47 50 the nega ve impacts of exis ng climate variability by further reducing rice produc on by a projected cumula ve total of 80 Op mal Current variability Climate change million tons over 2005–50 (about 3.9 percent each year, ranging between 3.6 percent and 4.3 percent), driven primarily by Source: IFPRI computable general equilibrium (CGE) model results reported in reduced boro crop produc on. Climate change has par cularly Yu et al. 2010. adverse implica ons for boro rice produc on and will limit its ability to compensate for lost aus and aman rice produc on These climate risks will also have severe implica ons for during extreme climate events. Rice produc on in the southern household welfare. For both the climate variability and climate regions of Patuakhali and Khulna is par cularly vulnerable. change simula ons, around 80 percent of total losses fall directly Exis ng climate variability can have pronounced detrimental on household consump on. Much of the economic losses occur economy-wide impacts. Future climate change will exacerbate outside of agriculture, par cularly in the downstream agricul- these nega ve effects. As shown in Figure 5, the simulated vari- ture processing sectors. This means that both rural and urban ability is projected to cost the agriculture sector (in discounted households are adversely affected, and per capita consump on terms) US$26 billion6 in lost agricultural GDP during the 2005–50 is projected to fall for both farm and non-farm households. period (the gap between “op mal” and “climate variability” The southern and northwest regions are the most vulner- scenarios). Through the linkage effects within the economy, able. These areas are expected to experience the largest decline exis ng climate variability is es mated to cost Bangladesh $121 in rice produc on due to climate change, for three reasons. First, billion in lost na onal GDP during this period ($3 billion per year). these regions already experience significant declines in aus and This is 5 percent below what could be achieved if the climate aman rice produc on due to climate variability, which is expected were “op mal.” As Figure 5 shows, the projected climate change to worsen under climate change. Second, boro yields are severely will further exacerbate these nega ve impacts. affected by changes in mean rainfall and temperature, and by Overall, agricultural GDP is projected to be 3.1 percent lower mean shi s in the flood hydrographs. Consequent reduc ons in each year as a result of climate change ($7.7 billion in lost value- boro produc on limit the ability for these regions to compensate added). Climate change also has broader economy-wide impli- for lost aus and aman rice produc on during extreme events. ca ons. This is es mated to cost Bangladesh $26 billion in total The south is also most affected by rising sea levels, which perma- GDP over the 45-year period 2005–50, equivalent to $570 million nently reduce cul vable land. The largest percentage declines in overall lost each year due to climate change —an average annual per capita consump on are projected in these regions. Finally, the 1.15 percent reduc on in total GDP. Average loss in agricultural northwest is also vulnerable, as the lost consump on represents GDP due to climate change is projected to be a third of the agri- a large frac on of current household consump on. Adapta on cultural GDP losses associated with exis ng climate variability. measures should therefore focus on these areas. Uncertainty surrounding global climate models (GCMs) and emission scenarios means that costs may be as high as $1 billion Feminization of agriculture per year in 2005–50, under less op mis c scenarios. Moreover, One par cular issue of importance for future agriculture may be these economic losses are projected to rise in later years, thus the recent trend toward feminiza on. (A separate paper looks at underlining the need to address climate-change related losses in gender issues in food security.) While the propor on and absolute the near term. numbers of male agricultural workers has fallen over 1999/00 and 6 All dollar figures refer to U.S. dollars. 2005/06, the absolute number of female workers has increased 11
  • 13. from 3.8 to 7.7 million—that is, by more than 100 percent. In fact, Research and development show a fall in nominal (and the propor on of female labor in total employed agricultural labor real) expenditures over the first few years of the past decade. has increased from 20 percent to more than a third of the total. Expenditures revived beginning in 2002/2003, but real expendi- Such a feminiza on, apart from social implica ons, may raise tures (as Figure 6 shows) barely exceeded their ini al 1999 level, as ques ons regarding the future organiza on of agricultural produc- infla on chipped away much of the value of nominal expenditures. on as well as the nature of support required, as discussed below. Figure 7—Nominal and Real Expenditures for DAE and DAM Public investment in agriculture DAM-N DAM-R DAE-N DAE-R In general, the alloca ons of development expenditures to agriculture and to the Ministry of Agriculture, as shares of total 7000 public development expenditures, appear highly inadequate. 6000 In most years since 1999/2000, the propor on of development budget alloca on for agriculture has been around 20 percent. 5000 Mn Taka The Ministry of Agriculture’s share in ADP alloca on has been 4000 mostly 2–3 percent, and has not gone above 15 percent in the last 3000 few years. The absolute alloca on in most years has been below TK 5 billion. Agriculture has been accorded minimal support in 2000 terms of resource alloca on, despite its cri cal role in keeping 1000 the na on fed and providing employment to the majority. 0 Investment has been wholly inadequate in three cri cal 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 areas of public interven on in agriculture: research and tech- nology genera on, marke ng, and extension. Figure 6 shows the total expenditures by research organiza ons for research Source: Ministry of Agriculture. and development, and Figure 7 shows total expenditures by the Notes: The nominal figures have been adjusted for infla on using crop sector de- Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) for extension and by flators (BBS 2009). Figures include both development and revenue expenditure. the Department for Agricultural Marke ng (DAM) for marke ng services. (For all these organiza ons, the normal ac vi es are For extension, data are available only since 2001/2002. development ac vi es, and hence revenue and development Figure 7 shows, for the years for which data were available, a expenditures are not dis nguished.) sharp increase in nominal expenditures for extension; real expen- ditures, however, show hardly any improvement. Figure 6—Nominal and real expenditures for R&D in Agriculture But the worst situa on is in marke ng services, which has received only a pi ance of public funding. Only beginning in All Nominal All Real 2005/2006 were there signs of improvement, and the govern- ment has since cons tuted a Commi ee of Experts to suggest a 3000 reorganiza on of the DAM. 2500 Government investment in seed mul plica on and delivery (by BADC) remained at the level of TK 1.1–1.2 billion, up to 2000 Million Taka 2003/04. In 2004/05, expenditures fell to only TK 161.3 million 1500 (about $2.3 million). The next year saw a very high expenditure, of TK 3.64 billion—only to fall again to one-fourth of that level 1000 by 2008/09. The seed business of BADC needs a clearer strategic 500 thinking as well as appropriate investments for the future. 0 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 FUTURE CHALLENGES AND KEY ISSUES Challenges Source: Based on informa on provided by Ministry of Agriculture. Notes: Research organiza ons include BARC, BARI, Bangladesh Rice Research Crop agriculture in Bangladesh faces the basic challenge of Ins tute (BRRI), Bangladesh Jute Research Ins tute (BJRI), Bangladesh Sugarcane Research Ins tute (BSRI), Bangladesh Ins tute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), con nuing to ensure supply of food from domes c produc on and Soil Research Development Ins tute (SRDI). The nominal figures have been to the utmost extent possible to serve the needs of the rising adjusted for infla on using crop sector deflators (BBS 2009). Figures include both popula on, while producing enough high-value non-staple and development and revenue expenditure. 12
  • 14. high-nutri on food crops. This will help provide direct income Fortunately, the processes of adap ng to climate change and genera on and processing for value addi on and thus ul - s mula ng the agriculture sector to further growth align well. mately ensure be er economic access to food. Note that crop Both will require the following measures: agriculture is also the largest employer, and that agricultural wage labor are among the poorest. Hence another challenge • Diversify household income sources. for agriculture is to ensure that marginal farmers and labor do • Improve crop produc vity. not lose out in the race for agricultural growth. There trend • Support greater agricultural research and development. toward feminiza on of agriculture also makes the employment issue more complex. • Promote educa on and skills development. There are, however, major constraints to expanding agri- • Increase access to financial services. culture and ensuring food security arising from several natural • Enhance irriga on efficiency and overall water and land and man-made adverse factors. Without their resolu on, agri- produc vity. cultural growth will be slow and limited, affec ng everybody • Strengthen climate risk management. adversely. The soil is heavily degraded in many parts of the country; • Develop protec ve infrastructure. water availability is not ensured or costly, and its use is o en inefficient or wasteful, as discussed above. The issue of climate Moreover, the current large gap between actual and poten- change threatens extensive nega ve impacts on agricultural al yields suggests substan al on-farm opportuni es for growth produc on poten al and produc vity. Part of the challenge and poverty reduc on. Expanded availability of modern rice vari- reflects over-dependence on rice, to the extent that it is grown e es, irriga on facili es, fer lizer use and labor could increase even in areas that are not suitable for its cul va on. average yields at rates that could more than offset the climate change impacts. Significant addi onal planning and investment Several key issues need resolu on to meet these challenges. are s ll needed, but the government has begun to address many First, we must plan for water resource management, including of these issues. both ground and surface water, to: Population issues • balance, in the long run, between irrigated boro and part rain-fed aman, par cularly as boro is likely to be Bangladesh is extremely heavily populated. The growth of most affected by climate change; population must be further curbed through judicious policies and investment, including in awareness-raising. While many • minimize, wherever irriga on is needed, the use of instruments have to be explored and applied, one that must costlier groundwater irriga on and subs tute with be uppermost in the minds of policymakers, given world-wide cheaper surface water-based irriga on; experience, is raising the status of women through educa- • lower dependence on heavily cul vated areas and tion (at least up to secondary level) and through employ- provide opportuni es for further growth in agriculture ment in out-of-home economic activities. 7 This may not be in less developed regions, such as the southwest and enough; women must also be in control of what they earn. others that have abundant water but need major water- Investments in women’s education and positive discrimina- related infrastructure; and tion in favor of women in the job market are therefore abso- lutely necessary for any food security measure to succeed in • minimize the consump on of water, par cularly in case the long run. of irrigated cul va on which in turn consumes energy (diesel and electricity). FACING THE CHALLENGE: STRATEGY Second is the issue of maintaining soil health. What types AND INVESTMENT of policies are needed, including pricing and subsidy policies for fer lizer and irriga on support? How can crop diversifica on be These issues and problems must be resolved in an integrated encouraged along with crop specializa on, both to maintain soil framework. No piecemeal, ad hoc or short-term solu on will health and to raise incomes of farmers? suffice. The stakes are too high: the lives and livelihood of a Third, we need to prepare for adjustments and adapta on huge part of humanity, es mated at 200–250 million (including both to present clima c variability and to future climate changes, the future genera on). This campaign must be well planned and which are expected to make Bangladesh highly food insecure integrated, and its various elements must have synergy with each par cularly through adverse impacts on boro rice produc on. other. What adapta on op ons should Bangladesh choose so that agri- cultural growth can con nue unimpeded? 7 For a detailed discussion of the issues as well as references see Zaman (2002). 13
  • 15. Integrated water resource management and For protec on from flood or drainage conges on, there are river basin development also two approaches. First, develop varie es which are submer- gence tolerant. Already varie es have been developed which are An integrated water resource management, with river basin tolerant to about two weeks of submergence, but more needs development as its integral element, may be the core planning to be done. The second method is to invest in appropriate water framework for long-term, sustained food security in Bangladesh. management structures for protec on from flood. This will be While the groundwater development strategy has served us well part of the integrated water management under the River Basin so far, it appears to have reached its limits, and surface water Development Approach discussed above. development has been neglected for too long. An integrated ground and surface water development is needed. Coastal area agriculture The history of development of water management struc- tures, their costs and benefits, and the problems of a techno- In the coastal areas, an expansion of boro or aman will necessitate cra c approach are well documented.8 The present woes of huge investments in flood control and water-logging removal, people affected by first Sidr and then Aila in the coastal region as well as structures for controlling salinity intrusion. Managing have also been well reported. A properly balanced “River Basin salinity intrusion may conflict, however, at least in the southwest, Development Approach,” including both structural and non- with shrimp cul va on, possibly requiring land zoning. But note structural measures, would integrate the present concerns of the that this will require an efficient and effec ve regulatory system government related to rejuvena on of the river system. This will for water and land use in a complex ecological se ng, which is so also facilitate expansion of the surface water irriga on system in far nonexistent in the country. a coordinated manner, thus aiding boro produc on and reducing Controlling salinity intrusion is par cularly essen al for its costs. encouraging boro rice cul va on in the southwest. Earlier Bangladesh also needs a Coastal Tidal basin Development a empts (for instance, through the Barisal Irriga on project and Strategy to address the more complex water resource manage- the Bhola Irriga on Project) have had limited success, as farmers ment issues along the coast. Such a development approach also did not switch to boro but con nued with damage-prone aman. necessitates moves toward regional and bilateral coopera on Be er analysis of the outcomes of these irriga on projects across basins in neighboring countries. Such ac vi es are already would be valuable. In any case, higher salinity during rabi period envisioned in the government’s water resources coopera on is bound to discourage farmers from cul va ng HYVs (Hossain, process, but they may need to be re-examined from a fresh angle. Bose, and Mustafi 2002). An alterna ve solu on is to develop salinity-tolerant vari- Develop an integrated crop production strategy e es. Bangladesh scien sts have developed such varie es, but they have not been adopted by farmers, either due to extension An integrated crop sector development strategy is needed to limita ons or because the varie es are not high-yielding enough. achieve several objec ves at the same me. The strategy has There is s ll a lot to do in developing such varie es, graded by to begin from the premise that Bangladesh needs to raise and level of salinity suitability. stabilize produc vity of both boro and aman, keeping in mind the present clima c variability and future projected climate change Adaptation to climate change impacts on agriculture impacts. This will necessitate a range of ac vi es. The government has already given approval at the highest level to Development of new crop varieties the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Ac on Plan (2009). This Ac on Plan has explicit provisions regarding adapta on A two-pronged approach will be needed. First, aman cul va on needs in agriculture and associated investment areas, in general will have to be protected as far as possible from drought (during conformity with earlier discussions. These investment needs the flowering/frui ng period) and from floods or excessive rains have been priori zed for the Sixth Plan; they can be viewed as (during the early growth period). Drought protec on may be part of the overall investment needs for adapta on of crop agri- addressed in two ways, and both may be necessary. First, develop culture to climate change. shorter maturity varie es that can be harvested several weeks earlier than the normal harvest period, thus escaping the drier Raise water-use ef iciency period. Varie es with such characteris cs have been developed already, but more are needed to fit various ecological niches. A major strategy for lowering cost of produc on is to raise water Secondly, varie es which are drought-tolerant in various degrees use efficiency. This may be accomplished by developing drought- have to be developed. resistant varie es, by shi ing to locally appropriate lower water- 8 use crops (which will have to be remunera ve enough to give See the Flood Ac on Plan reports, including those on FAP-12 on Agricultural Study and FAP-13 on Opera on and Maintenance. For a summary view, see up rice cul va on), and adop ng more appropriate agronomic Asaduzzaman (1994). prac ces such as the Alterna ve We ng and Drying method, 14