Helping spread of improved farm technology

Bangladesh agriculture has gone through a process of striking transformation, if not a revolution, during the last three and a half decades. A country that used to experience severe food deficit in the seventies is now near self-sufficient in food production, though its aggregate population has more than doubled during this period. The government has already exported a small quantity of rice to Sri Lanka, despite controversies surrounding the issues. This laudable progress in agricultural sector has taken place, notwithstanding the shrinkage of the country's arable land in an unabated manner. Valuable arable land is being used to meet the housing, infrastructure and other physical needs of a rising population.

Undoubtedly, the deployment of improved farm technology that includes the use of machines and tools has contributed to raising the farm output to a great extent, the cereal production in particular. In most areas of the country, farmers are these days largely dependent on power tillers and tractors that have replaced the draft animals in land-tilling or processing of farm produces, in a slow but steady way.  The acute scarcity of both farm labourers and draft animals has also expedited the switch-over to improved farm technology from the traditional one. However, the process of farm mechanisation has been slow and many small and marginal farmers are yet very much dependent on traditional way of farming.    

With more and more farmers picking up the use of machines and tools in farming, the size of the market of mechanised agri-implements has grown bigger. The annual turnover, in terms of sales of various kinds of such implements, rose to Tk 80 billion in 2014 as against that of Tk 23 billion in 2006. What is further gratifying to note is that the country's dependence on imported farm machines and related tools, has been reduced to a great extent; local manufacturers are now making available most farm machinery and tools and the quality of the latter is reportedly on a par with the foreign ones. But the prices of locally produced farm implements are relatively higher because of their higher cost of production.

The pace of mechanisation of Bangladesh's farming sector has created interest among foreign companies engaged in manufacturing of farm machinery and various other tools. The participation of as many as 15 foreign companies in an ongoing international farm technology fair in the city bears this out. Undeniably, the mechanisation of country's farming sector would continue because of the cost factor. Traditional farming is now more cost-intensive because of higher wages of farm labourers and shortage of draft animals. Moreover, in terms of output, outdated farming practices are far less rewarding.

The domestic producers of farm tools and machines are being supported by banks by way of extension of loan facilities carrying lower lending rates. The authorities concerned do need to see what more can be offered to them to help cut their cost of production. The majority of the farmers cannot afford buying farm machinery individually and they take such services on a rental basis. So, lower procurement cost of farm implements would also help reduce the cost of their hiring. In the context of the important role that the agriculture plays in the national economy, a few incentives to farm machinery producers would be most welcome.