“Modernization of Agriculture & food security in Bangladesh” How it’s possible?

Abstract

For Bangladesh food security was identical with achieving self-sufficiency in rice

production and stabilization in rice prices. The Bangladesh has made good progress in

increasing rice production through technological progress, facilitated by private sector

investment in small scale irrigation. But, it is difficult to sustain the progress made in

view of the growing pressure of population on scarce land resources. Domestic food

grain production remains susceptible to floods and droughts thereby perpetuating the

threat of major production shortfalls, inadequate food availability, and vulnerability

from fluctuation in prices. The availability of other foods has not increased, and the

progress in nutritional outcome has remained slow. Forty percent of the population

lives below the poverty line, and income inequality has been worsening. This paper

assesses the trends in factors that affect food production, availability of food and their

impact on nutrition outcomes. In this report discuses about the why by which

Bangladesh achieve the food security by modernized their Agricultures.

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 “Modernization of Agriculture & food security in Bangladesh” How it’s possible?

Introduction

Modernization of agriculture means the development of total agriculture system with

the help of up-to-the-minute technology. Thus modernization of agriculture including

implementation of scientific research, application of fertilizer, uses of latest

machinery, protection of agricultural lands, upholding soil health, mechanized

cultivation of lands, sustaining irrigation water market etc. have been emphasized to

face the challenges of food security. Food security is defined as “access by all people

at all times to enough food needed for an active and healthy life. Its essential elements

are the availability of food and the ability to acquire it”. It is important to view food

security from both national and individual angles. At the national level food security

means the availability in the country of sufficient stocks of food to meet domestic

demand until such time as stocks can be replenished from harvests or imports.

At the individual level, it means that all members of the society have access to the

food they need, either from their own production, from market or from the

government’s transfer mechanism. Experiences from India and other countries have

shown that even when the national level food. The economy of Bangladesh is agro-

based and about one third of her Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes form

agriculture sector. Nearly 80 percent of population lives in rural areas. Literacy rate is

only 32.4 percent and the primary source of employment for the majority of people is

agriculture. Interventions in problem areas like hills, saline and draught prone areas

are needed. In most of the above activities, agricultural engineers can play vital roles

and can contribute to agricultural development and food security of the country. In

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 “Modernization of Agriculture & food security in Bangladesh” How it’s possible?

this report we mention the problems and opportunities related to the Agriculture and

also discuss about the possible ways to archive Food security.

Overview of Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a developing country of South Asia region. It is surrounded by the Bay

of Bengal in the south and borders on India and Myanmar. Its total land area
including rivers is 1, 47,570 square k.m. The boarders of present-day
Bangladesh were establishing with the partition of Bengal and India in 1947,
when the region became the eastern wing of the newly formed Pakistan. The
country free from Pakistan in 1971 at 16th December and its present population
is 1.65 billion. Bangladesh is a Muslim majority country. Most of the
Bangladeshis people live in rural area and they earn their living from
agriculture. The economy of Bangladesh is constituted by that of a
developing country. Its per head income in 2008 was US$670. According to
the gradation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Bangladesh ranked
as the 48th largest economy in the world in 2008, with a gross domestic
product (GDP) of US$224,889 million and its growth rate was 6.5. In 2008, the
Inflation rate was 9.4% and 38% people lived below poverty line.

While more than half of the GDP belongs to the service sector (53.7%), nearly two-

thirds (63%) of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector. This sector

becomes large employment source for illiterate people. Most of the raw materials of

manufacturing sector come from Agriculture sector. Because of population growth

and industrilization, day by day our agricultural lands are decreasing. In this setuation

every year peoples of Bangladesh fall in food crisis. For this crisis the essential foods

price is incrising day by day. To reduce this price haiking the government of

Bangladesh import essential foods item from foreign countries. But it is soo cost

effective for government. The government of Bangladesh realizes the importance of

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 “Modernization of Agriculture & food security in Bangladesh” How it’s possible?

food security, but it can’t possible without modernization of agriculture sector. The

government has different ministries and organizations to developed the Agriculture

sector to achive the food security, such as; Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of food

and Desester Management, Ministry of Science & Techonology, the Board on

Agriculture and Natural Resources (BANR), Bangladesh Agricultural Research

Institute (BARI) etc. Few foreign organizations like; International Monetary Fund

(IMF), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Non-

governmental organizations (NGO) also help to develop the Agriculture sector to

achive the food security.

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 “Modernization of Agriculture & food security in Bangladesh” How it’s possible?

Literature Review

(Chowdhury, M. 2009) said that “Bangladesh will be get food with in 2012”.

(Hasina, S. 2008) said “Bangladesh attaches high priority to ensuring food security for

the people. In our previous term of government, Bangladesh attained food self-

sufficiency for which the FAO presented us with the prestigious Ceres Award".

(Seraj, S. 2008) said that “We will need to agree on and implement sustainable

agricultural policies, transfer of technology and equitable and fair trade rules for food

and agricultural products with special and preferential treatment for LDCs".

(Moon, K, B. 2009) said in ongoing UNGA session "Accessibility to food,

particularly by vulnerable and marginalised groups, is important. Therefore, a fair and

equitable food-governance system at national level, but more importantly at

international level, is essential”.

(Razzak, A. 2009) said that “We will reinforce all our efforts to meet by 2015 the

targets of Millennium Development Goal 1 and the World Food Summits. We commit

to take action towards sustainably eradicating hunger at the earliest possible date".

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 “Modernization of Agriculture & food security in Bangladesh” How it’s possible?

Conceptual Framework

Field research was conducted for a period of 1 week from November 29 to December

06. The research design included selection of the study area, identification of target

groups and selection of research tools for data collection. The method of data

collection depends upon the nature, aim and objectives of the study. Selection of

particular method depends on nature of the research problems, duration of fieldwork

and distance of the research site. In order to assess the modernization of agriculture

sector is relevant to farmers' concepts and understanding, a participatory research

method was employed. The major advantage of this method is that its coverage is

much wider. However, one of the major risks is that the investigation has to depend

solely upon the memory of the respondents. This was, however, overcome by

applying a combination of data collection methods.

The data collection was conducted in the Mymensingh, Dhamrai and Gaibandha,

which is one of the largest agricultural areas of the country. Geographically

Mymensingh, Dhamrai, Gaibandha has been identified as the most important and

promising areas for agriculture, because of favorable resources and climatic

conditions, such as the availability of low-lying agricultural land, warm climate,

fertile soil, and cheap and abundant labors. A combination of participatory, qualitative

and quantitative methods was employed for primary data collection. A total of 80

farmers were interviewed at their houses and farm sites. The interviews, lasting about

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 “Modernization of Agriculture & food security in Bangladesh” How it’s possible?

an hour, focused on their wants, facilities, knowledge about technology, and

problems. To collect more data we searching the web sites of the Ministry of

Agriculture, Ministry of Food and Desester Management, Ministry of Science &

Techonology, the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources (BANR), Bangladesh

Agricultural Research Institute, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Food and

Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Result Analysis:

Bangladesh is a small under developing country and its economy fully depends on

agriculture. But the population of this is huge. The economy of Bangladesh primarily

dependent on Agriculture. About 80% of the total population live in rural areas and

directly or indirectly engaged in a wide range of Agricultural activities. Agriculture

contributes about 32% to the country’s GDP, about 23% of which contribute by the

crop sector along. About 63 percent of the labour forces are employed in agriculture

with about 57 percent being employed in the crop sector. The scope of modern

agriculture has been widened significantly. Although agricultural used to be originally

defined as the cultivation of land for producing crops only, now-a-days, any applied

activity through proper utilization of natural resources which relates to the production,

development, preservation, processing, marketing, and extension of not only crops but

also other agricultural commodities such as fish, meat, eggs, forest product, etc. is

universally accepted within the purview of agriculture.

After analyzing the data we get a clear knowledge about Bangladeshi Agriculture

sector. The annual production of Bangladesh is increasing, but beside it our

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 “Modernization of Agriculture & food security in Bangladesh” How it’s possible?

population also increasing in a high rate. So the required food production is not

enough for this population. For this reason Bangladesh government need to imports

lots of essential goods.

In this table we show annual production of few agricultural commodities. Here we see

the data of 2001-02 to 2007-08 fiscal years. Here we can see the production of rice is

increasing in every fiscal year and last period it reach maximum amount of

production. Although our production is increasing but food crisis is continuing.

To reduce the food crisis the government need to imports essential Agricultural

goods. Every year government imports these essential goods from India, Thailand,

Myanmar, Vietnam, China etc. From these country especially India, Thailand, and

Myanmar is the main exporter. Although these countries have their own demand but

they modernize their Agriculture and produce surplus food against their demand.

They ensure their own food security and then export the surplus foods. This

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 “Modernization of Agriculture & food security in Bangladesh” How it’s possible?

achievement is possible only for the modernize of Agriculture by adopting modern

technologies.

Country period Rice Wheat Potato

Thousand Area Thousand Area Thousand Area

( M T) (Hectors) (MT) (Hector) (MT) (Hectors)

Bangladesh 2000 37628 10801 1840 832 2933 243

2001 36269 10661 1673 832 3216 249
2002 37593 10771 1606 773 2994 238
2003 39090 10824 1746 742 3386 245
2004 37548 10369 1253 707 3907 271
2005 40054 11000 976 642 4855 326
2006 43054 11200 735 558 4161 301

Thailand 2000 25844 9891 688 183 91 8

2001 26523 10125 700 197 97 7
2002 26057 9988 828 207 87 7
2003 27038 10193 856 212 100 7
2004 23860 9200 860 213 95 7
2005 27000 10200 877 214 97 7
2006 29269 10073 837 218 119 8

In this table we can see by utilizing less lands Thailand produce more crops then

Bangladesh. Thailand applies modern technologies in their Agriculture sector, which

provide them security of food.

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 “Modernization of Agriculture & food security in Bangladesh” How it’s possible?

How it possible?

Bangladesh, a 100% productive land country, currently has food deficiency which is

hard to believe; however, the agriculture sector has not fully reached its potential for

reaching a surplus level of food. There are some points by which we are improve our

food security. These points are:

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 “Modernization of Agriculture & food security in Bangladesh” How it’s possible?

 China, Vietnam is strong in agriculture because they use modern technology

for their plant. If we implement new and modern technology which is
favorable for our agriculture then our production of food will increase. By this
we can ensure our food security.

 Our agriculture fully depends on water supply. We get 50% of our total food
from Boros season. And this season on production of nice fully depend on the
water supply. If we can supply the water properly then we can grow more
food.

 Bangladesh is an over populated country. Where the cultivate land is very limited.
We have to ensure the proper use of land. If we use the land properly then we can
produce more food.

 Environment is a major factor for our agriculture. Production of agriculture goods

fully depends on the environment. Our agriculture also depends on environment. But
now days we are see the rapid change in environment which is alarming for our
agriculture. For this reason we have to maintain favorable environment. We are
creating favorable environment by tree plantation by decreasing air pollution and so
on.

 We have to share all knowledge and experience with the farmers. Supply of proper
knowledge and experience will be benefited for our farmers and also for our
agriculture. By sharing the knowledge the farmers will be collect knowledge.

 We have to make a proper plan by which we can work. When we have a plan and if
we work by following plan then we will be benefited. That means we have to
implement the plan properly.

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 The government of our country is not very much caring about our agriculture. Our
economics is fully depends on agriculture and they spend a lot of money for
agriculture but the farmers did not collect the money properly. And they cannot use
the money properly .if the govt. stabilize a strong monitoring team then this barriers
will be decrease and farmer can properly utilize the money.

 Most of our farmer lives under poverty and they are not eligible to cultivate their land
in proper time for money. If the government supplies the money to the farmers then
the farmer can cultivate their land properly.

 We have to distribute all the information which is related with our agriculture to the
farmer. By this they will able to know the proper time of harvesting any particular
crops.

 All of our resource is limited and for that cause farmers need to utilize all the
resource very efficiently. Proper utilization of limited resource will surely increase
the agriculture production.

 We produce different types of crops and fruits which are perishable and they need
preservation. Development of preservation system will help to preserves the
perishable crops and other food item. Crops like potato, tomato, onion, and bringer
and so on. If we can preserve all the crops then our food security can be increase.

 Irrigation is fully depending on water and this water supply is fully depending on
electricity. Insufficient supply of electricity hampered the irrigation process. For this
reason energy supply is a major element for our irrigation as well as also for our
whole agriculture. Some of our farmers use diesel as their energy then we have to
ensure the availability of energy.

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 All the agriculture crops are depending on fertilizer. We have to ensure the supply of
fertilizers to the farmers in due time. Because the crops need the fertilizers in a
specific time. For this reason it is very important for the agriculture.

Concluding Remarks

Bangladesh is strongly committed to ensure food security and food safety. In order to

do that, the country has to pay keen attention to technology generation, uphold soil

health, proper irrigation and water management activities, farm mechanization, and

post-harvest loss reduction and to work in constraint areas. Many of these can be

accomplished by Agricultural engineers. The only thing is to utilize their expertise

properly giving them adequate working facilities and maintaining favorable

environments. Further, regional Cooperation for food security can be attained through

regional cooperation, integration of resources, sharing of knowledge and experience.

In a subsistence-oriented agrarian economy such as Bangladesh, domestic food

production has an important role to play in the quest for food security. Major items in

the food basket in Bangladesh are rice, wheat, pulses, potato, vegetables and fish.

Most farmers with access to irrigation facilities grow two rice crops during the year.

Different government Organization likes; Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Food

and Disaster Management, Ministry of Science & Technology, the Board on

Agriculture and Natural Resources (BANR), Bangladesh Agricultural Research

Institute (BAR) developed agricultural policies, plans, regulation, acts etc. for

sustainable agricultural development and for food sufficiency. Monitor distribution of

agricultural inputs and subsidies and marketing the agricultural products in local and

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international markets. Government provides administrative and policy support

agricultural agencies for planning and implementation of the development

programmers coordinate with donors and development partners for funding and

technical assistance.

References

Alauddin, M. and C. Tisdell. "Decomposition Methods, Agricultural Productivity

Growth and Technological Change: A Critique Supported by Bangladeshi Data."

Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 48(1986):353-372.

Ahmed, I. (2007): Bangladesh: Problems of Global Warming, Land Inundation and

Arsenic Poisoning, Paper presented at Ohio State University, Ohio, New Orleans, 02-

05 November 2007.

Ahmed, Moin U. (2008): Food security in Bangladesh. The Daily Star, 13 December

2008. Asia News (2008): Era of Cheap Food is over. February 15-21, 2008.

Deb, Uttam (2008): Food Security Situation in Bangladesh: Recent Trends,

Challenges and Way Forward. Paper presented at the Sher-E-Bangla Agricultural

University, Dhaka, 22 May 2008.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Bangladesh

http://www.bdresearchpublications.com/admin/journal/upload/08004/08004.pdf

http://www.bbs.gov.bd/dataindex/stat_bangladesh.pdf

http://www.undp.org.bd/publications/Vol-2%20Database.pdf

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 “Modernization of Agriculture & food security in Bangladesh” How it’s possible?

http://www.agnet.org/situationer/stats/07.html

http://www.agnet.org/situationer/stats/08.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Bangladesh

http://www.bdresearchpublications.com/admin/journal/upload/08004/08004.pdf

LIST OF ACRONYMS

FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization

GDP - Gross Domestic Product

BANR - The Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources

BAR - Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute

FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

NGO - Non-governmental organizations

IMF - International Monetary Fund

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