A three-day conference of the Asian Society of Agricultural Economists (ASAE) kicks off at BRAC Center for Development Management (BCDM), Savar, on October 15 (Wednesday). The 8th international conference will be hosted jointly by the BRAC and the ASAE. The theme of the conference 'Viability of Small Farmers in Asia' bears testimony to the fact that the ASAE has responded to the call of the time, especially in the context of developing countries where small farmers now-a-days serve 'plough to the plate'. Â
It should be noted here that Bangladesh is a country where agriculture is dominated by small and marginal farmers. The large and medium farmers are almost in the process of leaving agriculture as a source of livelihood. The reasons are not far to seek: high costs of monitoring and supervision along with relatively more remunerative non-farm activities have led to their departure. However, they have not sold out lands. Rather those are being tilled by the small and marginal poor farmers under share tenancy. Thus the tenancy market over time has grown thick and roughly 40 per cent of the cultivated land is transacted through the tenancy market. The million-dollar question is whether the small farmers are able to eke out a living from land-based activities. The question looms large as the land size is usually considered to be 'uneconomic'. Besides, small farmers are faced with many non-land constraints such as lack of access to credit market, extension services, etc. Low prices for produce, lack of knowledge about crop diversification, problems in availing appropriate marketing chain etc. are no less serious problems. By and large, a large number of small farmers are facing big problems with little innovative ways before them.
 It is in this special sense that the ASAE conference is expected to come out with a cure. As we understand, eminent economists of the world such as Joachim von Bruan and Prabhu Pingali are likely to deliver keynote papers on the theme. Both of them have long experience in dealing with agricultural issues. They have headed - and are still heading - many research organisations contributing to agricultural development and food security. The conference will be graced by the participation of leading agricultural economists of the world like Rondolph Barker, Thomas Reardon, Kalus Deininger, Agnes Quisumbing, Jikun Huang, Tetsushi Sonobe, Will Martin, and Mahabub Hossain.
Let us say a few words on the theme of the conference. It is a fact that with rapid rural-to- urban migration in the process of economic development, the farm size gradually expands to facilitate adoption of labour-saving technologies, growth of agricultural productivity and marketed surplus for the growing population. The history of agricultural development of all developed countries in Latin America and Europe followed that process. However, the Asian experience has been an exception to this pattern. In Japan, South Korea and Taiwan that already went through the process of economic transformation, the farm size has hardly increased despite removing restrictions on the ceiling of land ownership that was imposed after the World War II. Except in Thailand, Pakistan and northwestern India, in all other South and Southeast Asian countries, including Bangladesh, the farm size has continued to be smaller with the process of economic development. The pertinent question is: could an upward trend in real wages, a fallout from rapid structural reforms and growth, reverse the trend or would Asian agriculture linger with low farm size? If dominated by small farms, would that be adversely affected by low levels of investment, productivity and technology? What kind of public policies need to be orchestrated at this critical juncture?
According to the programme of the conference, a total of eight sub-themes, in addition to pre-conference symposia or post-conference panel discussions, are likely to be highlighted. The sub-themes are: Transformation of Agrarian Structure in Asia, Farm Size and Productivity Revisited, Institutional Innovations and Development of Markets for Agricultural Services, Agricultural Value Chain, Migration, Gender and Farming Systems, Rural Non-farm Economy, Lessons from Japan and South Korea, and Public Policy Support for Small Farmers. Special speeches are also likely to come on climate change and agricultural growth.
Just looking at the sub-themes, we can perhaps be assured that the ongoing conference has much to deliver for Bangladesh's agricultural development in the coming years. As we all know, Bangladesh's agricultural sector has been passing through a critical phase with falling farm size, rising migration, climate change, market-oriented production, changing value chain with growing super markets and contract farming etc. With yield rates of HYVs reaching almost a plateau, the need for looking for newer technologies are knocking at the door. Water levels have been going down and thus raising the costs of irrigation and reducing profitability of farming. The overall growth rate in crop production has approached the frontier necessitating a shift to sub-sectors such as livestock, fisheries, and other non-rice crops.
Most importantly, the growth of non-farm activities and that of remittances has induced changes within agricultural spectrum. Migration and non-farm activities have raised real wage rates and use of mechanised agricultural practices. Despite all such changes taking place, the fact remains that agricultural production contributes to more than half of the household income in nearly half of the total Bangladeshi villages, perhaps pointing to its growing role in employment generation and poverty reduction.  Â
The importance of this international conference in Bangladesh's present-day context is not difficult to discern. The experiences of different countries going through the same process and challenges are likely to shed some light on Bangladesh's future policy options. It is hoped that Bangladesh would immensely benefit from the deliberations of the conference.
The writer is a Professor of Economics at Jahangrinagar University. abdulbayes@yahoo.com