PROBLEMS IN AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IN BANGLADESH
INTRODUCTION Farming is the ancient and the most common profession in Bangladesh. Most of the people of Bangladesh live in village and most of the villagers (62% manpower in agriculture1) are involved in farming. One of the main reasons of having common interest to farming is the land is ver! fertile and most of the part of Bangladesh is plain. "nother interesting thing is Bangladeshi people naturall! good in farming. "gricultura "griculturall sector sector is the single single largest largest contri#uto contri#utorr to $&. 'he crop crop su#sector su#sector domina dominates tes the agricu agricultu lture re sector sector contri contri#ut #uting ing a#out a#out 2% 2% of total total produ producti ction. on. Fisher isherie ies* s* live livest stoc oc+ + and and fore forest str! r! su#se su#sect ctor ors s are are 1,.1,.--% -%** ,.11 ,.11% % and and .-.--% % respectivel! 2. 'hough government has man! positive steps for that sector #ut still agriculture has some present and future challenges as well.
PROBLEMS & LIMITATIONS Financial Problem
Bangladesh is not such a rich countr! that has adeuate mone! to spend at an! time for an! sector. /ometimes some ma0or and emergenc! agricultural decision needs a good amount of mone! that is not possi#le all the times to provide for that sector. Natral Di!a!ter
atural disaster li+e ood* drought* e3cessive rain and other natural disaster are #arrier to meet the e3pected level of production. /peciall! the natural disasters mentioned a#ove are mostl! harm crop production. 'he ood of this !ear (2,,) destro!s huge area of crop 4elds. Promotion o" Ne# In$ention!
Bangl Banglade adeshi shi agricu agricultu lturis rists ts have have some some glorio glorious us invent invention ions s that that can change change the scenario of our land. But unfortunatel! #ecause of negligence of di5erent part of government these inventions cannot #e promoted and reached to farmers door that ultimatel! #rings 7ero result. Im%ro%er Di!tribtion o" See & Fertili'er
'his pro#lem has recentl! found #! a research #! Media &ersonalit! 8 "griculturist /hai+h /ira0* that is our seed and fertili7er is not properl! distri#uted and onl! #ecause of that each !ear farmers face acute crisis having adeuate stoc+. Mono(cro% Proction
Farmers are more interested to produce some few crops li+e rice* #ecause of less ris+. "nd for this reason other cash crops and nonrice crops are in ris+ #ecause of nonproduction. 9ice uses four or more times more water than crops li+e wheat and mai7e* and the lac+ of adeuate water will #e a ma0or impediment to future agricultural productivit!.
Acce!!ibilit) to *eat+er Re%ort
'he farmers dont have the accessi#ilit! to weather report that creates serious pro#lem in crop production. 'he most dangerous crisis occurred in 2,,s rice production. 'hat !ear #ecause of cold wave and not reporting to farmers a#out it the national rice production faced a serious crisis: the farmers got ;
'he pro#lem is that compared with man! neigh#oring countries (where input su#sidies freuentl! e3ist)* the farmers in Bangladesh are at a disadvantage in terms of lower productivit! and higher cost of production due to higher unit costs of such inputs as seed* fertili7er* water and la#or. >igher production* mar+eting and distri#ution cost com#ined with lower output prices have resulted in a nonpro4t pursuit. No Formal Roa Tran!%ortation S)!tem
'o sell and transport agroproducts to cit! or other areas there is no formal or planned road transportation s!stem that creates pro#lem for distri#ution of goods. Proct! an %roction
'here is no testing la#* certi4cation* ualit! management and monitoring e3cess costs* small and medium si7ed enterprise (/M?s) in Bangladesh. @ac+ of cost#ene4t anal!sis (mar+et anal!sisAresearch) and product diversit! are also #ottlenec+s in that sector.
"griculture is in man! wa!s depends on nature* which can change at an! time. Man! cases the government authorit! ta+es time to ta+e decision that sometimes dont wor+ #ecause of length! process. Cro% Pe!t Control
From the availa#le statistics it has #een found that a#out 1,% to 1%
"@@?$?/ O$er Po%lation
Bangladesh actuall! produces a lot of agricultural products #ut #ecause of overpopulation we cannot en0o! the output of that production. /o over population is another pro#lem in that sector. Lac- o" A,ricltral Labor
'he num#er of agricultural la#or has decreased from 1D. million (1E-D) to 11.1 million (1EE6) 6. For this reason in rural areas man! rich land owners face that pro#lem during the pea+ season Le!! Lan More Proction
'he challenge in front of Bangladesh is now to increase output from same stoc+ of land as land is used in man! other purposes. "nd to meet the challenge the productivit! rate of land has to increase upto ,%.Crrigation and ?lectricit! and Fuel 'he pump irrigation cost is G/H 1per hectares and the iesel cost is high especiall! during the irrigation season where E,%Epumps are run #! diesel. Lo#erin, Gron *ater Le$el In Dr) Sea!on
uring the months of March* "pril and Ma!1, (dr! season) the ground water level goes down. 'his is also the ;critical period=11 for rice and wheat when 6 the! are in seed formation stage. /o it creates serious pro#lem for irrigation for that season. Sea!onal Unem%lo)ment In Nort+(*e!t
orthIest part of the countr! is the driest of all other land and incidence of povert! is the highest. From /eptem#er to ovem#er the unemplo!ment pro#lem arises among farmers #ecause during that time the! have nothing to produce that can give them 4nancial support and later it turns to acute povert! during the time* which called in local language JMonga. 'o solve that agrorelated pro#lem is a challenge in that sector. i5erent governments in di5erent times tried #ut couldnt reach to a permanent solution. Loo!in, Fertilit) & E.ce!!i$e Lan U!e
"s we have less land and more population so the land gets e3cessive pressure on it. More cultivation is done in a single piece of land that is a reason of loosing fertilit!
of land. On the other hand #ecause of too much population the land is divided into man! parts that also decrease productivit!. E.ce!!i$e U!e o" Fertili'er & Pe!ticie!
Farmers use more pesticide and fertili7er that harms environment and land looses its natural fertilit!. Cf the process goes in that wa! 4nall! we will loose the fertilit! of land which is alarming. "t the same time we are loosing man! 4shes as the pesticide mi3ed land water 4nall! mi3es with the water of river* canals and ponds.
Loo!in, Uner,ron *ater Le$el
For over population we use and set more deep tu#ewell and pump for irrigation. 'hat ma! create a serious natural disaster even this ma! harm agricultural production. Because of this our land goes down* as underground water gives a support for #alanced height #etween upper land and the earth. Po$ert) Alle$iation "or A,ricltre
'o ensure proper agricultural development povert! alleviation and overall economic development is a prereuisite where the rural people still live #elow the povert! line. Contino! De"ore!tation
Because of higher productivit! farmers #ecome interested to h!#rid seed rather than other high food valued seed categor! li+e "ush and other natural countr! seed. Fara--a Dam
Cn the northwest part of countr!s povert!s another reason is Fara++a am that #uilt in Cndia. 'hat creates pro#lem for irrigation for northwestern part of agricultural land. $overnment is tr!ing to solve that pro#lem since for a long time #ut cannot resolve that pro#lem.
SOME POSITI/ES Coa!tal Fore!tation
$overnments positive approach for coastal forestation is reall! a praiseworth! step that has #een adapted for last some !ears. For ta+ing this pro0ect the coast of Bangladesh in /outh is now #ordered with green trees and its a successful program of government. Tea Proction
'ea is a cash crop of Bangladesh that is produced in eastern hill! areas of the countr!. Bangladesh earns a good amount of foreign currenc! from 4nest tea e3port. /ome Other 9evolutionar! Cnvention 'here are some revolutionar! inventions in that sectors li+e rum /eeder (a machine)* @eaf
Cts another revolutionar! item in agroresearch. Our agriculturists have invented such seeds those have high productivit!* such as C99C. 'he h!#rid seeds are used in man! parts of the nation.
Go$ernment Fnin, "or Re!earc+
Cts a ver! positive approach from government that the! fund a good fund for agro research. "nd the researches have glorious inventions in that sector. Sel" De%enent on Rice Proction
Bangladesh is toda! self dependent on rice production. Bangladesh imports a nominal amount of rice which is a ver! positive side. Cro% C)cle
'oda! #ecause of agricultural awareness* technical advancement and governments approach farmers +now how to use land through out the !ear* that has increase the productivit!. /easonal Fruits Out of /eason 'oda! we get seasonal fruits through out the !ear li+e winter vegeta#le* mango etc #ecause of agricultural development. Mon,a Sitation
&resentl! some $Os li+e B9"< and 99/ are wor+ing there for that prospect. Sel" Em%lo)ment "or 0ot+
For recent some !ears $overnment has ta+en a ver! good initiative for the self emplo!ment of educated !oung people. 'hat added a new dimension in our agro products. 'he! are wor+ing for producing poultr!* 4sh* ower* fruits* vegeta#les etc. Ste% "or Pl!e Proction
On 2D Kul! 2,, a program arranged on pulse production with all levels of related pu#lics including researchers* government top oLcials and farmers where government has said all +inds of support will #e provided from government for pulse production. 1D Milemen in Di!tribtion
9ecentl! its the most discussed issue. Because of the middlemen in distri#ution of vegeta#le and other agricultural products the price goes high and farmers dont get the actual price. /uccessful
>ere there are some recommendations that ma! help to come out from these challenges and pro#lems. 1. 'o avoid environmental degradation government can ta+e more initiatives. 2. $overnment can ta+e support from $Os or other voluntar! organi7ations for agricultural development in rural areas. -. $overnment can encourage more for production of cash crops li+e 0ute production* #! which we can earn foreign currenc!. D. $overnment can arrange short term or long term loans for farmers for ris+ ta+ing. . Ieather epartment should ensure the accurac! and accessi#ilit! of weather 8 report to farmers. 6. 'o develop Monga crisis in northwest* government can encourage small and cottage industr! during that unemplo!ment period or can ta+e other economic pro0ect. . Farmers should #e encouraged to use natural fertili7er.
. $overnment should rationali7e pu#lic e3penditure allocation* increasing pu#lic investment in infrastructure and pu#lic good services and promoting private investment in agriculture. E.
REFERENCE
1. "ctiona#le &olicies and &rogrammes* MCC/'9N OF "$9C* >""* KG@N 2,,6 PhttpAAwww.un#d.orgApu#Aunpu#sA"griculture%2,/ector%2,9eview%2,"ctiona#le %2 ,polic!%2,#riefsAMain%2,9eport.pdfQ -. "ctiona#le &olic! Brief ("&B) olume1 D. ?nvironmental reuirements and Bangladesh horticulture sector* Bangladesh &ractical ?3ercise Bullets PhttpAAunctad.orgAtradeRenvAtest1AmeetingsAdha+a2A#angladesh%2,pra
ctical%2,e3ercise%2,#ullets.pdfQ 1D . Iest* $ordon* (G/") FOO " "$9C " /G< "$9C? <9O//9O"/ "@@?$?/ &u#lished #!
