The number of landless farmers in renting cultivated land has doubled to 47.5 per cent in the last three decades, according to a study conducted by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).
It said the share of landless tenants in total cultivated land was only 23.4 per cent in 1988 which increased to 32.8 per cent in 2000, 39.8 per cent in 2008 and 47.4 per cent in 2014.
BIDS Research Director Binayak Sen presented the findings of the study during the BIDS Research Almanac 2018 that kicked off in the city on Sunday.
Landless farmers have been engaged in cultivation through rent for many factors, he said, adding that educational qualification, getting jobs in non-farming sectors, domestic migration have encouraged them to invest in the landless renting out of agricultural lands.
The research director, however, said agent banking and mobile banking also helped change the scenario, breaking all previous thoughts.
In his paper, researcher Binayak said the share of landless tenants in total rural households increased to 17.7 per cent in 2014 which was 9.3 per cent in 1988.
According to the 2008 agricultural census, 43 per cent of land were cultivated under the sharecropping system while the rest under fixed rental and or long-term mortgage arrangement.
"Bangladesh has made silent transition from inefficient sharecropping to efficient fixed rental system," he said while presenting the paper.
In another presentation on cattle yield, research director Kazi Ali Toufique showed that Bangladesh should go for livestock development mainly cattle raising rather buffalo for getting positive returns.
Despite the high rates of returns, it needs to improve supply side demand of livestock services including milk market, increasing grazing ground and ability to purchase fodders.
Citing a study, the researcher also showed that cattle owning households decreased to 1,643 in 2015 from 1,817 in 2011.
Estimated average and marginal returns from cows and bullocks are positive with 46 per cent increase in 2015 from 40 per cent in 2011 in cows and 15 per cent increase from 8.0 per cent in bullocks.
It also found that 27 to 30 per cent of the households raised bullocks have negative returns.
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