Here you can learn about the Agriculture in Bangladesh

1. Agriculture in Bangladesh
Prepared by: M. Muniruzzaman,
Lecturer, Dept. Of Sociology and Anthropology,
Green University of Bangladesh
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2. Bangladesh
Agriculture at a
Glance
 Total area: 14.845 million hectares
 Cultivable land: 8 million hectares
 Current fallow land: 0.469m hectares
 Annual Food Production: 31.9m MT
 Annual Food demand : 31.9m MT
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3. Strategies:
 Self-sufficiency in food: 2012
 Ensuring food security: 2017(a+a+n)
 Middle Income Country: 2022
 *(a+a+n=Availability, accessibility and nutrition)
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Characteristics of Bangladesh AgricultureCharacteristics of Bangladesh Agriculture
 Irrigated land 56%
 Surface water:21% groundwater:79%
 Land-man ratio: .06 ha
 Mainly subsistence farming
 Inadequate agro-processing
 Non-mechanized farming
 Fragmented land/plots
 Dependence largely on nature

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Importance of agricultureImportance of agriculture
 21% GDP
 48% labor force
 Source of raw materials as backward and forward
linkage for agro based industries
 Agriculture determines people’s lives and livelihood
of this region
 People living in rural areas 77%
 Export value 12%

6. Some challenges
 Population growth rate1.48%
 Climate change and variations
 Rapid urbanization growth @12%
 Agricultural research and education (manpower shortage,
updating course curriculum)
 Technology generation (needs expertise, time and money)
 Technology dissemination (needs expertise,
time, logistics support)
 Alternate livelihoods/rehabilitation program
 Inadequate value addition /food processing
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Challenges continued…Challenges continued…
 Climate change adaptation & mitigation
 Developing stress tolerant varieties
 Transferring updated information and technologies to the
field
 Attaining irrigation efficiency
 Regaining soil fertility and natural ingredients
 Research-extension-farmer-market linkage
 Shortage of Agril labour at peak seasons

8. Prospects of Agriculture
 Scope for expanding hybrid technology exists(10%)
 Prospects for adoption of advanced technology in
agriculture are bright
 Potentials for proper utilization of hilly/coastal areas
including agro-ecologically disadvantaged regions exist
 Export potentials exist for high-value crops
 Scope for crop diversification, intensification and value
addition to agricultural produces
 Agriculture sector has capacity to absorb labor force and
to generate income.
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Why Climate Change matters forWhy Climate Change matters for
agriculture?agriculture?
 Heavily depends on natural rainfall, weather &
temperature, water level, soil condition etc.
 Uncontrolled farming environment
 Rice based agriculture greatly depends availability of fresh
surface and ground water
 Seasonal farming
 Lack of stress tolerant varieties
 Changed cropping pattern

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Types of climate change problemsTypes of climate change problems
 Sea Level Rise (SLR)
 Floods
 Riverbank erosion
 Drought
 Salinity intrusion
 Loss of homestead and livelihoods
 Land scarcity

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Factors related to climate changeFactors related to climate change
 Indiscriminate use of natural resources
 Excessive and unplanned urbanization
 Unplanned industrial growth
 Imbalanced use of agricultural inputs and extreme
farming
 Population pressure
 Effect of industrial pollution by developed countries

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Combating Climate Change ImpactCombating Climate Change Impact
Adaptation:
Stress (flood, drought, submergence, salinity,
heat, cold..) tolerant varieties
Short duration crops
Innovative farming practices
Floating cultivation method
Crop diversification
Changing/shifting cropping pattern
Alternate wetting and drying irrigation
methods

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Continued…Continued…
Mitigation
Coastal green belt
Embankment/Dam
Tidal River Management
Early warning and weather
forecasting
Cyclone shelters
Crop insurance

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Collective efforts neededCollective efforts needed
 Political commitment
 Educational Institutions
 Civil society
 NGOs
 Media
 Research organizations
 Department of Agricultural Extension/Extension service
providers
 Global cooperation

15. Government’s recent
interventions
 Farmers database and Farmers Inputs Support Card to 1 Crore
82 Lakh farmers.
 Increased subsidy on Agricultural Inputs (Fertilizer, diesel,
electricity, seeds)
 Farmer friendly agricultural credit policy
 1 Crore 82 Lakh farmers’ new bank accounts being opened
 100 Hr. free supplementary irrigation
 Enhanced Agricultural rehab grants to victims of natural
calamities
 Support for accelerated mechanization of agriculture
 Surface water irrigation
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16. Conclusion:
Agriculture is the determining factor for food security
as well as pro-poor development of Bangladesh
economy.
The Problems of agriculture are multifaceted. So the
ways of addressing the challenges should be
comprehensive, global and participatory for
sustainable agricultural development.
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