Crop Production In Bangladesh Research Articles

How Does Maize-Cowpea Intercropping Maximize Land Use and Economic Return? A Field Trial in Bangladesh

Cultivating multiple crops together can provide numerous benefits, including improved soil health and crop yield. The objective of our study was to determine the optimum planting techniques in intercropping systems, and to maximize their benefits by mitigating competition for resources such as land, space, light interception, and nutrition. The performance of successively planted maize (Zea mays L.) grown with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) was evaluated with a field trial in Bangladesh. The treatments in our study were: (a) sole maize, (b) sole cowpea, (c) crops sown simultaneously, and (d) crops sown with different time lags (1, 2, and 3 weeks) between the maize-sowing and cowpea-sowing dates. Data on the crops’ physiological parameters were recorded. These included light interception, leaf area index (LAI), Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD), harvest index, and yield. Simultaneously, canopy coverage was measured using camera-based photo analysis. In addition, an economic analysis of intercropping maize with soybean or cowpea was conducted using gross margin analysis and benefit-cost ratio. In our results, the below-canopy photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) was significantly higher in intercropping treatments when maize was sown three weeks after cowpea. In contrast, the LAI value of the maize and cowpea was significantly greater when sown on the same day than in other intercropping treatments. As a result, the maize yield reduced when intercropped with cowpea. This reduction maximized when both species were sown simultaneously due to higher competition for resources, including nutrients and light. Intercropping was more beneficial in terms of land equivalent ratio than both sole cropping of maize and cowpea, especially when maize was planted three weeks later. However, this benefit was not retained when calculated as maize equivalent yield since the contribution of cowpea was small in the overall maize yield, suggesting the importance of the relative economic value of the component species. Among all treatments, the lowest maize equivalent yield (6.03 ± 0.14 t ha−1) was obtained from sole cowpea, and the largest land equivalent ratio (1.67 ± 0.05) was obtained from intercropping with maize sown three weeks after cowpea. This treatment provided a net income of USD 786.32 ± 25.08 ha−1. This study has shown that together, maize–cowpea intercropping with a temporal niche difference of three weeks may be a better option for sustainable crop production in Bangladesh, maximizing land use. However, it may not provide a significantly greater maize equivalent yield and economic return.

Impacts of Major Crop Production on the Agricultural Sector in Bangladesh: A Time Series Analysis

The main objective of this research article is to analyze the impact of the production of some major crops, namely rice, jute, wheat, sugarcane, and potato on the agriculture sector in Bangladesh. The agriculture sector is considered an important sector of the Bangladeshi economy, which supplies a significant proportion of the gross domestic product (GDP). Annual time-series data for the period 1988–2017 is used for the study. Several econometric techniques are employed to examine the data, including the augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test, Johansen cointegration test, and ordinary least squares (OLS) method. To validate the model, some residual diagnostic tests, namely a normality test, heteroskedasticity test, serial correlation test, and stability diagnostic test are conducted. The findings of the study demonstrate that there are two cointegrating equations in the model. Furthermore, both wheat and jute production have a significant positive impact on the agriculture sector. Although the impacts of rice and potato production on the agriculture sector are positive, these are not significant at the 5 or 10 percent significance level. On the other hand, sugarcane production has a negative and significant impact on the agriculture sector, which was not expected. Based on the results, this paper recommends that the government of Bangladesh should focus on designing and implementing new funding policies and subsidies to improve the growth, production, and development of the sugarcane sector. Finally, the government should be concerned about climate change-related factors that negatively affect crop production in Bangladesh.

Bacteria isolated from cultivated soil after liming promote seed germination and seedling growth of crop plants

• Soil acidification is a major problem in crop production in Bangladesh. • Four bacterial strains were isolated from Barind soil in two different conditions. • Bacteria isolated before liming decreased seed germination and altered seedling characteristics. • Liming in the soil changed the compositions of bacterial communities. • Treatment of seeds with bacteria extracted after liming improved plant growth. Soil acidification is a major concern in crop production in the Barind region of Bangladesh. Liming raises the soil pH and alters the bacterial community. The major goal of this study was to isolate bacterial strains from two Barind soil samples before and after liming, and to determine the effects of those strains in enhancing seed germination and seedling growth. The isolated strains were identified as Staphylococcus lentus , Klebsiella pneumoniae , Acinetobacter junii , and Serratia marcescens through morphological tests, biochemical tests, and 16S-rRNA gene sequencing. Although Acinetobacter junii and Serratia marcescens bacteria preferred an alkaline environment, Staphylococcus lentus and Klebsiella pneumoniae favored an acidic environment. Antibiotic sensitivity studies revealed that the microorganisms were multidrug-resistant. Acinetobacter junii , compared with Staphylococcus lentus , enhanced the seed germination rate by 50%, 53.33%, and 43.75% for wheat, chickpea, and rice, respectively. Acinetobacter junii also enhanced the root length, shoot length, and leaf length by 8.9 cm, 7.8 cm, and 3.9 cm, respectively, for wheat; 2 cm, 8.9 cm, and 1.3 cm, respectively, for chickpea; and 8.4 cm, 2.5 cm, and 3 cm, respectively, for rice. Serratia marcescens increased the seed germination rate for wheat, chickpea, and rice by 43.75%, 53.33%, and 43.75%, respectively, and the root, shoot, and leaf lengths increased by 8.4 cm, 7.8 cm, and 3.9 cm, respectively, for wheat; 2.1 cm, 8.1 cm, and 1.4 cm, respectively, for chickpea; and 8.2 cm, 2.8 cm, and 2.8 cm, respectively, for rice. Thus, the present study provides new insights into the use of beneficial bacteria to improve soil quality in the Barind region of Bangladesh to improve the crop production in an ecologically friendly manner.

Management and Utilization Strategy of Water Resources for Rice Production

Declination of available water resources is threatening the dry season crop production in Bangladesh. Sustainable water management is crucial need to meet future food production. This study was aimed to determine futuristic water management strategy for rice cultivation. Both surface and groundwater is getting scarce in north-west region, whereas abundant of fresh surface water creating opportunities to irrigate dry season crops in south-central region. This study has outlined irrigation management for rice cultivation and groundwater utilization in water scarce area of north-west region. More than 75% of annual rainfall occurred during monsoon and crops other than monsoon often faced water shortage. Timely establishment of T. Aus rice on 01 May accounted average 183 mm supplemental irrigation for north-west and south-west region. Transplanting of T. Aman rice before 24 July found the low risk period of drought and gave about 1 t ha-1 yield advantage than late transplanting after 15 October. Supplemental irrigation in drought year gave up to 26% yield advantage than the rain-fed condition of T. Aman rice in experimental plot. Over exploitation of groundwater by famers for crop cultivation makes the groundwater status worsen. Farmers used 38% excess water than the actual requirement for Boro rice cultivation. For that annual groundwater withdrawal was higher than annual recharge causing groundwater level depletion in most of the districts. Groundwater table went below suction limit of shallow tubewell (STW) during dry season and thus it become unable to operate. Improved distribution system with plastic pipe, buried pipe could save about 25% of irrigation water. Alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation method saved 20-25% water than farmer’s practice. Application of these on-farm water management technologies in Boro rice reduced water demand and made the groundwater balance positive as well as reduced the groundwater withdrawal pressure. On the contrary, irrigation with less saline surface water resources in river and canals of south central regions could expand Boro production and increased land productivity. Intervention of low lift pump with plastic pipe distribution in non-saline tidal areas could increase land productivity. Besides, trapped freshwater in to the canals inside the polders and re-excavation of these canals would make crop intensification. Thus, additional food production could help to achieve sustainable development goal and sustained food security. Bangladesh Rice J. 25 (1) : 37-50, 2021

Balancing food security and environmental sustainability by optimizing seasonal-spatial crop production in Bangladesh

The intensification of crop production has been identified as one of the major drivers of environmental degradation. While significant advances could still be made with more widespread adoption of sustainable intensification technologies that address the agronomic efficiency of nitrogen fertilizers, the dynamic use of agricultural land across seasons and associated crop-specific responses to fertilizer applications have so far been largely overlooked. This paper explores the potential for improving the economic-environmental performance of crop production through spatially integrated modeling and optimization, as applied to Bangladesh. Results show that per-billion-Taka nitrogen loss from soil would decline by 83% from the baseline level through factoring in crop-specific, seasonal and spatial variations in crop nitrogen-use efficiency and nitrogen transport. The approach should complement other policy analysis and decision-support tools to assess alternative options for maximizing the positive outcomes of nitrogen fertilizers with regard to farm income and food security, while maintaining environmental sustainability.

Contribution of Factors Affecting Crop Production in Bangladesh: An Empirical Analysis with Production Function Approach

Bangladesh has achieved a tremendous success in food production in last few decades amidst challenges of land degradation, land use changes and climate effect. In spite of the increasing trend of yields of crops, there still remain some challenges to meet the growing needs due to increase in population and loss of land to development activities. This study aims to identify the rate of contributions or economics of factors of crop production in Bangladesh. Cobb-Douglas production function has been applied in this study of crop production using a number of production factors within the broad terms land, labour and capital. Secondary data, representing factors of production, have been selected based on literature reviews so that they can be appropriate for this study. Data of crop production have been considered as dependent variables, whereas, land area coverage for agricultural production, labour employed in agriculture, agricultural household expenditure, fertilizer applied and irrigation coverage have been considered as independent variables. Land and labour is negatively correlated with crop production, whereas, fertilizer is positively correlated. Crop production which shows decreasing return to scale deserves the adoption of new technology and good agricultural management practices.

Identifying coastal saline soil management practices to reduce land degradation and increase crop production in Bangladesh

A consecutive three year duration field experiment was carried out to identify which of a suitable mulch material and a planting bed or their combinations potentially reduce salt accumulation in soil and increase snake gourd yield in coastal saline soils. There were nine treatment combinations having three kinds of mulch materials: no mulch (control), rice straw mulch and plastic mulch, and three kinds of planting beds: convex bed, flat bed and concave bed. Plastic mulch reduced electrical conductivity of soil by 32% and increased soil temperature by 23% and gravimetric soil moisture content by 25% over control treatment. Plastic mulch had a fruit yield of 30.73, 28.06 and 26.32 t ha-1, which was 72, 237 and 268 % higher than control treatment in 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively. The convex bed planting had significantly higher fruit yield than flat bed and concave bed planting. Plastic mulching and convex bed planting may therefore be recommended for reducing soil salinity and improving snake gourd yield in coastal saline regions.
 Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Vol. 44, No. 2, 145-159, 2020

Study on scope and existing cropping pattern at south-western saline region of Bangladesh​

One of the major restrictions influencing crop production in Bangladesh's coastal districts is salinity. In order to better understand the specific conditions in the south-western region of Bangladesh, where significant salinity and problems in crop production prevail, this study took place in two districts, namely Satkhira and Khulna. Six upazila were selected for the current study: Satkhira Sadar, Kaligonj, and Dumuria in Satkhira, and Batiaghata and Dacope in Khulna. Among the selected farmers, about sixty six percent of farmers were small farmers. The average farm size was 0.83 ha. Most of the land of the saline area was covered by a single crop with T. Aman. Ninety percent of the farmer of Satkhira Sadar upazila cover T. Aman-mustard-boro, which was the main cropping pattern. T. Aman-mustard, T. Aman-wheat, T. Aman-grasspea etc., were the major existing cropping pattern. Different vegetables and other field crops such as bottle gourd, bitter gourd, ladies finger, garden pea, potato, sweet potato, maize, chili etc., were cultivated in the study area sporadically. Most of the cost involved for labor cost in T. Aman rice cultivation. If the farmer cultivates the land by sharecropping from the owner, then farmer gives half of the crop to his landowner. The highest total rice equivalent yield (TREY) was T. Aman-mustard-boro cropping pattern and it was 13.23 t ha-1. Most of the farmers eager to cultivate more new crops. Saline water, water stagnant, insufficient irrigation water, late harvest of T. Aman rice, late ‘joe’ condition etc., were the main constraints to develop a new cropping pattern.

Spatio-temporal distribution of reactive nitrogen species in relation to wheat cultivation in Bangladesh

Farmers generally use more nitrogen fertilizer than others for crop production in Bangladesh because of its visible growth symptoms. Such practice is responsible for extra reactive N (Nr) load to the environment, but data are not available. Nitrous oxide (N2O) data were collected from a field trial following static closed-chamber technique, which were used for calibration and validation of DeNitrification and DeComposition model along with soil clay fraction, pH, bulk density and organic carbon contents. The model was well fitted and estimated about 364 g N2O–N ha−1 emission in Rajshahi region and only 15 g N2O–N ha−1 in Barisal region. District-wise N2O–N emissions varied from < 1–15.96 t season−1. In 2011–2016, N2O–N emissions from wheat fields were about 103–129 t yr−1 in Bangladesh. The model estimated nitric oxide (NO), ammonia (NH3) and nitrate (NO3) fluxes varied from 0.012 to 0.447, 7 to 12.5 and 0 to 4.7 kg N ha−1, respectively, under ambient temperature condition. In about 79% yield variabilities were explainable by N2O emission. In dominant wheat growing areas, if sowing is started from 15 to 30 November, N2O emission could be reduced by 8–40% with 5–13% reduction in yields compared to 10 November sowing. In similar areas and same sowing date with 1.5 °C temperature rise, N2O emission may increase by 8–45% and wheat yield might reduce by about 4–8%. Time of seeding and other cultural management in wheat cultivation would be the main avenue for reducing Nr loads to the environment.

USE OF INDUSTRIES BYPRODUCT AS AN ALTERNATIVE LIQUID FERTILIZER IN SOILLESS CULTURE AND ITS EFFECT ON SWEET PEPPER

There is a gaining interest in reducing the production cost of agricultural crops. Salt industries byproduct (SIB) can reduce production cost as it is a cheaper fertilizer source. SIB is the effluent of salt industries. But there is no research on its effects in agricultural crop production in Bangladesh. Therefore, it is important to identify the dose of SIB in sweet pepper/capsicum in Bangladesh. In this study, growth and yield parameters in sweet pepper by applying different doses of SIB were investigated. Five concentrations of salt industries byproduct (SIB) are considered as treatments, viz. S1 = ¾ strength Rahman and Inden (2012) + 0 ml.L-1 SIB, S2 = ¾ strength Rahman and Inden (2012) + 0.25 ml.L-1 SIB, S3 = ¾ strength Rahman and Inden (2012) + 0.5 ml.L-1 SIB, S4 = ¾ strength Rahman and Inden (2012) + 0.75 ml.L-1 SIB and S5 = ¾ strength Rahman and Inden (2012) + 1.0 ml.L-1 SIB. Different concentrations of salt industries by product showed significant variation in most of the parameters. The highest plant height, the maximum number of fruit/plants, individual fruit weight, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit volume, and yield were found highest in S3. But all the parameters were drastically reduced when S5 treatment was applied. Therefore, S3 treatment can be used for sweet pepper cultivation in soilless culture system in Bangladesh.

Influence of climate-induced disasters and climatic variability on cropping pattern and crop production in Bangladesh

The southern part of Bangladesh is one of the most affected regions facing the devastating impacts of climate change particularly in case of crop production. Impacts of climate-induced disasters and climatic variability on cropping pattern and crop production in Satkhira district have been studied. Thirty-five year (1980–2014) climatic data (temperature, humidity, and rainfall) were used for seasonal (Kharif-I, Kharif-II, and Robi) trend analysis. It has been identified that the cropping pattern needed to be modified by local farmers due to climate change impacts and crop production has declined severely in the study areas. For instance, in the Kharif-II season, during the period 2008–2009 with an agricultural land area of 13,670 hectares, the average production was only 2.58 mt per hectare. The study shows a significant strong positive correlation between seasonal average rainfall and seasonal average humidity (r = 0.75, p < 0.05) during the Robi season. A significant strong negative correlation between seasonal average temperature and seasonal average humidity (r = − 0.60, p < 0.05) during the Kharif-I season was also found. We suggest some adaptation strategies to cope with the changing condition such as increased use of salt- and flood-tolerant varieties, floating bed vegetable cultivation, and dyke cropping system (mainly for vegetable), which can eventually reduce vulnerabilities and increase food security.

Parametric Assessment of Seasonal Drought Risk to Crop Production in Bangladesh

Droughts are more damaging when they occur during crop growing season. This research assessed the spatial distribution of drought risks to crops in Bangladesh. Catastrophe theory-based weighting method was used to estimate drought hazard, exposure, and risk by avoiding potential human bias. Ten major crops, including eight different types of rice, wheat, and potato, were selected for evaluation of drought risk. Results showed that 32.4%, 27.2%, and 16.2% of land in Bangladesh is prone to extreme Kharif (May-October), Rabi (November-April), and pre-Kharif (March-May) droughts, respectively. Among the major crops, Hybrid Boro rice cultivated in 18.2% of the area is found to be highly vulnerable to droughts, which is followed by High Yield Varity (HYV) Boro (16.9%), Transplant Aman (16.4%), HYV Aman (14.1%), and Basic Aman (12.4%) rice. Hybrid Boro rice in 12 districts, different varieties of Aman rice in 10 districts, and HYV Boro rice in 9 districts, mostly located in the north and northwest of Bangladesh, are exposed to high risk of droughts. High frequency of droughts and use of more land for agriculture have made the region highly prone to droughts. The methodology adopted in this study can be utilized for unbiased estimation of drought risk in agriculture in order to adopt necessary risk reduction measures.

Impacts of Climate Change on Crop Production in Bangladesh: A Review

Climate change and its impact on human-environment are immeasurable because of its multidimensional effects. But the effect is not same for all countries, it depends on the countries geographical settings. Alongside location, education of the people, environmental awareness, somewhat might minimize the probability of loss in response to any kinds of disasters. Undertaken study was conducted based on an extensive published literatures (197—between 1995 and 2018) review with a view to consolidating the possible impacts of climate change on crop production in Bangladesh. It has found that already the impact has begun badly in Bangladesh. Temperature is gradually rising, frequency of floods, river bank erosion, storm surge, magnitude of cyclone, salinity intrusion, and the volatility of rainfall has increased comparing to past. All these led to the probability of decreasing the crop production. As climate change has become a great concern for countries food security, it is now the appropriate time to take and install proper rules and regulations through inflexible attitude. With the help of various international and national organizations government of Bangladesh inordinately trying to reduce the consequences of climate change. A comprehensive measurement must make sure to enhance the capability of encountering climate change, otherwise it will cost of enormous loss, especially on agriculture in Bangladesh.

Cropping Pattern, Intensity and Diversity in Dhaka Region

Sustainable crop production in Bangladesh through improvement of cropping intensity and crop diversity in rice based cropping system is regarded as increasingly important in national issues. Planning of agricultural development largely depends on the authentic, reliable and comprehensive statistics of the existing cropping patterns, cropping intensity and crop diversity of a particular area, which will provide guideline to our policy makers, researchers, extensionists and development workers. The study was conducted over all 46 upazilas of Dhaka agricultural region in 2015 using pretested semi-structured questionnaire with a view to document the existing cropping patterns, cropping intensity and crop diversity in the region. From the present study, it was observed that about 48.27% net cropped area (NCA) is covered by exclusive rice cropping systems whereas deep water rice occupied about 16.57% of the regional NCA. The most dominant cropping pattern Boro−Fallow−T. Aman alone occupied about 22.59% of net cropped area (NCA) with its distribution over 32 upazilas out of 46. The second largest area was covered by single Boro cropping pattern, which was spread over 44 upazilas. Total number of cropping patterns was observed 164. The highest number of cropping pattern was identified 35 in Tangail sadar and Dhamrai upazila of Dhaka district and the lowest was seven in Bandar of Narayanganj and Palash of Narsingdi district. The lowest crop diversity index (CDI) was reported as 0.70 in Dhamrai followed by 0.72 in Monohardi of Narsingdi. The highest value of CDI was observed as 0.97 in Tangail sadar followed by 0.95 in Dhamrai of Dhaka and Bhuanpur of Tangail. The range of cropping intensity value was recorded 124-239%. The maximum CDI was observed in Saturia upazila of Manikganj district and minimum in Sreenagar upazila of Munsiganj district. The CDI value for Dhaka region was calculated 0.94 and the average cropping intensity at regional level was 191%.Bangladesh Rice j. 2017, 21(2): 123-141

Status of conservation agriculture based tillage technology for crop production in Bangladesh

Conservation agriculture (CA) based tillage technology permits direct seeding through the moderate level of crop residue. CIMMYT introduced this technology in the farmers’ field of Bangladesh for wheat crop in collaboration with Wheat Research Centre, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI). Farmers accept CA based tillage technologies considering the advantages of higher yields, reduced cost of tillage operation, and minimum turn around time between the crops. Up land crops are more suitable under these tillage technologies. Weed management in rice cultivation is not yet in a good shape. Most of the tillage implements are operated by imported Chinese two wheel tractor (power tiller). There are few four wheel tractor CA implement using in research farm. Local manufacturers are being fabricated these cost effective small minimum tillage seed drill, raised bed planter, zero till drill, and strip till drills efficiently in different districts of Bangladesh. Farmers accept CA technologies in their field, especially raised bed planting and minimum tillage technology. There are about 425 numbers of raised bed planters and 865 minimum tillage seed drill in the country. Area coverage under bed planting and minimum tillage system are 5764 ha and 21850 ha, respectively. There are 20125 numbers of farmers involved in raised bed farming. There is a big prospect accelerating the CA based tillage technology in the farmers’ field as irrigation water availability becoming limited or more costly. Mind set up is the big issue for adopting CA tillage technology. Training and multi disciplinary approaches can push forward these tillage technologies ahead.Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 40(2): 235-248 June 2015

Modeling of seasonal water balance for crop production in Bangladesh with implications for future projection

Expecting the projected regional or global climate change, weather could have a significant effect on soil moisture and thereby affecting the plant growth. Water deficiency is considered as one of the major climatic restraints for crop production in Bangladesh, especially in the dry season. To better understand the crop responses to moisture variation, a quantitative analysis is done for major water balance components named, potential evapotranspiration (PET), actual evapotranspiration (AET), soil moisture storage (ST), water deficiency (WD) and water surplus (WS) with the use of Thornthwaite monthly water balance program. Analyses were carried out for three different seasons, together with interannual variability for 12 major rice growing districts of Bangladesh representing the north, central, southern and coastal zones. Hindcasted monthly average surface air temperature and precipitation data were collected from Bangladesh meteorological department during 1986 to 2006. Results suggested, trend of PET was same in every station and generally higher values were observed in the month of July and August. Khulna, the coastal station had the highest annual average PET of 1369 mm. The lowest annual AET of 1108 mm was estimated for Teknaf, while Dinajpur stood in second lowest position. ST was found almost at field capacity from July to September and, the southern station Chittagong experienced the highest average monthly ST. Maximum WD was found in Bogra and second highest shortage was in Dinajpur. The assessment of average WD of 178 mm yr -1 in northern Bangladesh reflected the worst situation among all regions, besides focusing the winter as the most crucial season regarding the water scarcity. Least amount of WS was noticed for the southern station Khulna. Significant positive relationship (p<0.05) between soil moisture and current rice yields proved the importance of surplus water conservation for the drought prone zone of Bangladesh. To boost up the rice production and cooping with climate change consequences, integrated adaptation and mitigation measures should be recommended for agriculture.

A Geostatistical Approach to the Seasonal Precipitation Effect on Boro Rice Production in Bangladesh

Geographical assessments on the relationship between climate variability and crop production are important for planning adaptation programs to climate change impacts on Asian rice production. This paper analyses the seasonal precipitation consequences to irrigated crop yields, in opposition to the idea that irrigated crop yields are not affected by precipitation changes. Geostatistical methods are applied to assess changes in the patterns of seasonal precipitation and corresponding changes in the Boro crop production in Bangladesh. Surfaces depicting changes in the monsoon, non-monsoon and total precipitation from 2006 to 2007, and changes in three varieties of Boro crop yield and Total Boro yield from 2006-2007 to 2007-2008 crop year are generated through Splines, Inverse Distance Weighting and Ordinary Kriging methods. Performance evaluation of these models is also performed. The relationships between the surfaces of different precipitation seasons and the surfaces of different Boro yield seasons are then assessed. The results show that there is a significant correlation between seasonal precipitation changes and Boro yield changes with notable correlation coefficients and similarity in the patterns. A significant conformity of the high precipitation zones to the high Boro yielding zones is also depicted.

Management and conservation of organic peat soils for sustainable crop production in Bangladesh

Management and conservation of organic peat soils for sustainable crop production in Bangladesh

Shifting from Rice to Non-rice Crop Production in Bangladesh: An Analysis of Farmers’ View

A study was conducted to determine the magnitude of area shifting to different crops over the years, assess the profitability of maize cultivation and to evaluate the factors determining area devotion to maize cultivation in Bangladesh. Sample survey was done in five districts capturing both favourable and drought prone production environment. Two villages under each district were chosen in consultation with local extension experts. A total of 240 farmers were finally selected for interview. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed in analyzing the data. Analysis indicated that the level of area shifting to MV Boro increased to 6% and 19% in drought prone and favourable area respectively during 2007-08 compared to 2003-04. Although the area under MV Aus increased marginally in drought prone area but in favourable areas the decrease was almost 16%. The area devoted to other crops like maize, ground nut, vegetables and chilli increased over the study period. The area under Aman rice increased by 2% in drought prone area but a reverse picture appeared in the favourable area i.c, the magnitude of area shifting from rice to non-rice under favourable area was negative. The per hectare costs of maize cultivation in drought prone and favourable area were similar. The net return and benefit cost ratio (BCR) in maize production were higher in favourable area compared to drought prone area. The study further indicated that, farm size, family agricultural labor and market availability were the vital determinants of area devotion to maize cultivation. Nearly 68 % of the sample farmers devoted their lands to maize production considering it as a profitable enterprise. Similarly, about 40% farmers adopted maize as an alternate crop since it involves much less irrigation cost.

Farmers’ Use of Integrated Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management Practices for Sustainable Crop Production: A Field-level Study in Bangladesh

Problem statement: The most pressing problem for Bangladesh agriculture is the current state of gradual decreasing of soil fertility, stagnating crop yields and declining productivity in a range of food crops. According to crop production scientists, Integrated Soil Fertility (ISF) and Nutrient Management (NM) is an advanced approach that can serve as a remedy to improve crop yields and to preserve soil fertility in the long run. Approach: This study was therefore conducted to determine the extent of use ISF and NM practices by the farmers for their crop production in Bangladesh. Data were collected from 120 farmers (39 landless, 34 marginal, 19 small, 20 medium and 8 large farmers) from eight villages located in four districts in Bangladesh through face-to-face interviews from December 2005 to January 2006. Results: Most of the farmers were landless, marginal or small farm holders who rarely practiced soil fertility management means. Medium and large farmers did practice soil fertility management either occasionally or regularly. The use of organic manures by different categories of farmers indicated that medium and large farm holders were more careful about the use of cow dung, farmyard manure, crop residues, green manure and oil cakes as sources of organic manures than landless, marginal and small farm holders. Findings related to use of chemical fertilizers revealed that medium and large farmers often followed the recommended doses while landless, marginal and small farmers mostly applied chemical fertilizers based on their own assessment of soil conditions. Conclusion/Recommendations: Medium and large farmers are more prompt than landless, marginal and small farmers in terms of use of different components of ISF and NM practices for their crop production. The findings of this study might be helpful for the agricultural policy planners both from GOs and NGOs for developing effective crop production strategies considering soil fertility and plant nutrients aspects for landless, marginal and small farmers who constitutes about 74%of farming community in Bangladesh.