Potential for increasing crop production and agricultural development in Bangladesh: An anthropological study

This study mainly deals with agricultural practices and farmers' strategies to adapt to diverse and complex agro-ecological and socio-economic environments in a selected village in Bangladesh. It seeks to elucidate the complex choices of the new agricultural technology introduced since the sixties, as well as the constraints and further potential of the technology for increasing crop production---both directly related to agricultural development in general. The analysis of this study is solely based on the information obtained from the villagers of different occupational groups within socio-economic hierarchies in the selected village through eighteen months of intensive fieldwork during 1997--98.; This research finds that mainly agro-ecology (topography of the land, depth and duration of flooding, soil quality and unpredictable weather conditions) determines farmers' choice of crop selection, areas to be irrigated, and amount of inputs to be applied in the floodplain agriculture in Bangladesh. The cost of cultivation and the output of crops are also influenced by this agro-ecology of the land. Agrarian structure (the ownership pattern of land, tenancy relation, patron-client dependency of farmers and access to formal credit facilities) appeared to be less important in choosing the new agricultural technologies in farmers' decision making process. Farmers' behavior is primarily a rational response to the agro-ecological conditions of their land. They adopt the technology that is available, most profitable, and fits their agro-ecology.; This study concludes that the potential for further spread of high yielding crop varieties and irrigation is minimal due to its agro-ecological limitations. The possibility of increasing productivity of land through better management of soil and fertilizer is negligible. Certain policy changes may benefit or harm certain group of farmers but in the long run it will not increase overall food grain production for the whole nation until population stabilizes. Only by inventing a much higher yielding 'second miracle crop' (yielding higher than the IRRI paddy) could the bio-technologists make a breakthrough. Self-reliance in agriculture, although not self-sufficiency in food grain production, may be attained through proper planning and massive investment in poultry, fishery, dairy and animal husbandry. However, off-farm employment will constitute the major solution.