Does agricultural ecology cause environmental degradation? Empirical evidence from Bangladesh

Abstract

Agricultural sector accelerates a nation’s economic growth towards sustainable development. There exists a significant relationship between agriculture and the environment. Sustainable agricultural development ensures food quality and in tandem prevents natural calamities like drought. However, in order to fulfill the food demand of a growing population, poor law quality and untenable agriculture practices arise, which in turn lead to environmental degradation. The current study explores the relationship between the agro-economic atmosphere and CO2 emissions as a measure of environmental degradation in Bangladesh between the years of 1985 and 2017. To exhibit the long-run relationship of agricultural ecology and carbon dioxide emissions, three cointegrated equations- Fully-modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), Dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), and Canonical cointegrated regression (CCR) were assessed. For cointegration, Bayer-Hanck cointegration was implied. In long-run estimates, it was found that livestock, rice area harvested, cereal production, and other crop production impeded environmental dilapidation. The Granger Causality Test enabled unidirectional causality towards burned biomass (crop residues), the agricultural economy, and carbon emissions. Therefore, this dimension’s causality concluded that carbon dioxide emissions were caused by cereal production, other agricultural production, and agricultural land production. The overall findings of this study could potentially assist the Government of Bangladesh and the necessary authorities for implementing synchronized policies to help reduce environmental pollution and set an example for other developing nations like Bangladesh.