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CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN BANGLADESHM. Enamul Hoque *1. INTRODUCTIONAgriculture is the single most important sector of the economy in Bangladesh. It is themajor source of livelihood in the rural areas, where some 80 percent of the population live.Approximately two-thirds of the labour force is employed in agriculture. Although its share inthe GDP is predictably declining, agriculture (crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry) contributesapproximately one-third of the GDP and agricultural production accounts for 32 percent of thevalue of exports. The performance of this sector affects the overall economic growth. Withirrigation covering only around 42 percent of the potentially irrigated area, agriculture is stillweather dependent and has grown slower than was earlier expected, particularly because of thepredominantly small farmer holdings in Bangladesh.However, Bangladesh is endowed with a favourable climate and soil conditions for theproduction of a variety of crops all the year round. The rich genetic estate, the richness inecosystem diversity, and the vast untapped human resources who can learn and adopt new skillshave been the major points of comparative advantage in Bangladesh. Thus, there are ampleopportunities for crop diversification balancing the production of major crops with that of minorcrops. The crop diversification programme (CDP) was launched in the country during the early1990’s. A systematic arrangement of growing a variety of crops in rotation with rice wasundertaken, based on farmers' own choice and performances with respect to soil and climaticconditions, thereby ensuring a variety of diverse dietary standards and nutritional status of therural households. Due attention was given to the protection of nutrient balances in the soil and ofall major basic resource endowments in crop production. Improved crop sequences involvingrotation of soil exhausting crops followed by recuperative ones, shallow rooted crops followedby deep-rooted ones, legumes in rotation with non-legumes, etc., are envisaged to enrich andmaintain soil fertility and crop productivity. In this way it becomes possible to ensure somedegree of constancy in crop production, by destabilizing many of the limiting biotic and abioticstresses.The key objectives of agricultural development, involving sustainable intensification ofrice production and location-specific attempts on crop diversification in the small farmerholdings of Bangladesh, have been aimed at achieving self-sufficiency in food grains productionin a sustainable manner by improving the productivity on a short and medium term basis.Another objective is to attain self-reliance in the long-term. To enhance farmers' income throughthe production of high-value crops and to help maintain a better soil structure for long-termsustainability, a recent policy statement on crop agriculture has called for a departure from "riceled"growth to a more diversified production base that includes several non-rice crops. The* Director-General, Department of Agriculture Extension, Ministry of Agriculture, Khamarbari, Farmgate, Dhaka,Bangladesh.5
production of rice as of now has exceeded 22.5 million tonnes and that of wheat 2 milliontonnes. Maize production increased by 138 percent during the period 1995/96 to 1997/98. Thegovernment is also implementing programmes to promote crop diversification involving highvaluecrops, fruits and vegetables, potatoes, oilseeds, pulses and spices through appropriatepackages of seed-fertilizer-irrigation technologies, This is expected to increase employment,rural income and improve nutritional standards.2. CROP PRODUCTION AND ECONOMIC SCENARIO2.1 Review of Past Performance of the Crops SectorBangladesh made steady progress in crop agriculture in the post-Independence period.The cropping intensity increased from 148 to 179 percent and foodgrain production almostdoubled during the period from 1969/70 to 1992/93. Contributing about 75 percent of the valueadded,crops form the largest sub-sector of agriculture. Rice is the dominant crop and largelydetermines the rate of progress in the agriculture sector and to a significant extent, that of thenon-agricultural sectors. It covers about 75 percent of the cropped area and accounts for about70 percent of the value of crop output. In fact, the entire growth in crop production is due to thegrowth in foodgrain production, particularly rice. Yield of other non-cereal crops such as pulses,oilseeds and vegetables almost stagnated, while that of wheat increased only marginally.In 1993/94 and 1994/95, foodgrain production declined as a result of depressed pricesand natural disasters, particularly floods and droughts in the northwest, which is the country'ssurplus gain production region. The average foodgrain production during these two yearsdropped to 18.71 million metric tonnes (Mt) from the average of 19.31million Mt during thepreceding three years from 1990/91 to 1992/93. While drought conditions prevailed during theseyears, the decline in the rice production in 1993/94 was also due to both damage by floods andthe farmers' response to the fall in the price of rice in the preceding year as evidenced by morethat 4 percent decline in fertilizer consumption, more than 2 percent reduction in area sown andsimilar decline in irrigation command area. In 1994/95 total foodgrain production was only18.17 million Mt as against the expected production of 20 million Mt. This trend startedimproving from 1995/96 with a foodgrain production of 19.14 million Mt. The year 1996/97witnessed an all time high foodgrain production of about 20.43 million Mt and it is touchingalmost 25 million tonnes during the current year 1999/2000. Food production, though continuingto depend on the vagaries of nature, increased substantially over the years, following theintroduction of high yielding varieties (HYV) and application of modern inputs like fertilizersand pesticides. However, its dependence on weather continues to result in fluctuations inproduction. Wide fluctuations in production leads to large instability in foodgrain prices havingserious implications for household food security and also for the welfare of the people.Production of jute fibre reached as high as 8.66 million bales in 1985/86. The productionlevel declined to 4.92 million bales in 1992/93 and has hovered around this level since then.Sugar cane production has remained more or less 7.50 million Mt since 1987/88. Production ofpotatoes has shown a steady increase. It increased from 0.89 million Mt in 1975/76 to 1.47million Mt in 1994/95. Other crops like pulses and oilseeds have shown only marginalimprovement nationwide. However, implementation of the crop diversification programme6
Page 2 and 3: RAP PUBLICATION: 2001/03CROP DIVERS
Page 4 and 5: CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN THEASIA-PAC
Page 6 and 7: 13. INTENSIFICATION OF CROP DIVERSI
Page 8 and 9: INTRODUCTORY REMARKSMinas K. Papade
Page 10 and 11: New opportunities that would benefi
Page 14 and 15: (CDP) during 1990/95 in 125 Thanas
Page 16 and 17: SlName of Crops1 Aus:HYVLocalTable
Page 18 and 19: Table 4. Trade of Crops/products (I
Page 20 and 21: through development projects implem
Page 22 and 23: y the terminal year of the Fifth Pl
Page 24 and 25: cropping. This has only been possib
Page 26 and 27: process and export those labour int
Page 28 and 29: g) restoration/improvement of soil
Page 30 and 31: 8. RECOMMENDATIONSConsidering the i
Page 32 and 33: enthusiasm of the farmers in their
Page 34 and 35: 3.3 The Formation and Development o
Page 36 and 37: carried out for years, guarantees t
Page 38 and 39: environment protection. Special att
Page 40 and 41: 2. CROP PRODUCTION AND ECONOMICS SC
Page 42 and 43: What is most notable is the change
Page 44 and 45: 8.36 m/ha involved in the area shif
Page 46 and 47: fact that the area shares of the do
Page 48 and 49: country. Therefore, a judicious use
Page 50 and 51: 5.3 Emerging Technology and Crop Di
Page 52 and 53: 7. CONCLUSIONSIndia, being a vast c
Page 54 and 55: Table 3. All India: Temporal Change
Page 56 and 57: Table 5. All India: Temporal Change
Page 58 and 59: CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN JAPANMasa I
Page 60 and 61: production, these ratios were deter
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soybean using paddy fields should c
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food industry have sharply increase
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7. CONCLUSIONSThe Japanese socio-ec
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Figure 2. Change of Rice Productivi
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Figure 4. Aid Provided by Major Cou
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The Natural Rubber (NR) industry co
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About 78 percent of the rubber grow
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should be attractive to justify the
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REFERENCESAnon. 1990. Proceedings o
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Table 3. Agriculture Land Use in Sa
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Table 7. Paddy Production, 1985-199
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Table 10. Imports and Exports of Fr
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Table 14. Exports and Imports of Pr
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CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN NEPALK. C.
Page 90 and 91:
We know hill farmers face many prob
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Table 2. Growth of Agricultural Com
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3. PATTERN OF CROP DIVERSIFICATIONN
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With regard to success stories of c
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5. CHALLENGES, OPPORTUNITIES AND PR
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It recognizes the need for a differ
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CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN THE PHILIPP
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2.3 Yield Per Hectare of Agricultur
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In coconut, diversification means t
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were used in the preparation of the
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There are a variety of factors that
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Table 1. Production Area of Commerc
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Table 3. Yield (tonnes) Per Hectare
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Table 5. Selected Macroeconomic and
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Table 7. Dominant Rice Cropping Pat
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1.2 Soils in the Crop Diversificati
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Table 1. Major Crops, Their Extents
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drained and rice on poorly drained
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Figure 3. Schematic Representation
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The potato production in the up cou
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Table 6 clearly shows that there is
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In addition to the above scenario,
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6. GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND STRATEGI
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Panabokke, C.R. 1996. Soils and agr
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y promoting diversified crops inste
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Over the past few years, agricultur
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Land TenureMore than half of the Th
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The New theory is a novel approach
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Mushrooms: nang-fah mushroom (Pleur
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- Farmers can sell their rice at a
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In order to maintain the growth rat
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REFERENCESAthipanan, Withaya. 1995.
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CROP DIVERSIFICATION IN VIET NAMNgu
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3. PATTERNS OF CROP DIVERSIFICATION
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the contour with mulching using ric
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development of new crop varieties a
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• Cultivated and growing area und
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other hand, the size of an average
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4.1 Crop NutritionA major contribut
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increased from 130 million ha to 15
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in tobacco nurseries. These also he
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past experience. A sustainable prog
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diversification, taking into accoun
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The major outputs are:- Integration
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• Database and information materi
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• Business plans have been formul
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minimize such losses. The developme
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LIST OF PARTICIPANTSBANGLADESHM. En
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SRI LANKAH.P.M. GunasenaDirectorPos
Page 188 and 189:
FAOR.B. SinghAssistant Director-Gen
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