Bangladesh needs to increase productivity of grains
Sunday, 3 May 2009
Ferdous Alam
BANGLADESH needs to increase food grain production as a priority. The existing gap between food production and demand compels Bangladesh to import some food grains each year to meet the shortfall. But it strains the economy and if the country has to import more, it would obviously increase the burden.
This year's bumper harvest of boro rice shows that Bangladesh can increase its food grain production. Under a long term plan, this country can attain complete self-sufficiency in food grain production and pretty quickly. The long-term plan should seek to gradually increase food grain production to ultimately double the output. The surplus can then be exported.
Every year, the country loses nearly 80 thousand hectares of arable land due to erosion, building of houses and infrastructures. Thus, one per cent of arable land is lost annually when the demand for food is rising at a rate of 1.4 per cent due to population growth and other factors. The gap between demand and supply is growing. This is bound to worsen in the years to come unless vigorous steps are taken to reverse the trend.
The strategy for Bangladesh to that end should be to increase production from limited or shrinking cultivable area. Higher production from less land is an attainable objective. According to experts, Bangladesh can significantly increase its food grain production immediately by only expanding the acreage of the higher yielding seed varieties. By increasing high yielding rice cultivation to 60 per cent from existing 20 per cent, Bangladesh will be able to produce an additional 30 million tons of rice a year.
The challenge would be producing and reaching the higher yielding seeds to the farmers. Out of a total demand for rice seeds estimated at 0.3 million metric tons, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) supplies 80 thousand metric tons and 20 per cent is supplied by the private sector. So, both the BADC and the private sector will have to increase production of higher yielding seeds for timely and efficient distribution to farmers.
Besides, agriculture as a whole in Bangladesh needs to be modernised for higher productivity. Farmers, in many areas, are already doing it on their own. That is why power tillers are replacing the traditional bullock and the plough. Threshing machines have replaced the manually operated system. In this connection, effective official policy support can speed up such transformation to benefit the whole country. Besides, timely availability of agricultural inputs at the doorsteps of farmers at affordable prices would support the objective. Bangladesh agriculture must be transformed for higher productivity for achieving food security.
BANGLADESH needs to increase food grain production as a priority. The existing gap between food production and demand compels Bangladesh to import some food grains each year to meet the shortfall. But it strains the economy and if the country has to import more, it would obviously increase the burden.
This year's bumper harvest of boro rice shows that Bangladesh can increase its food grain production. Under a long term plan, this country can attain complete self-sufficiency in food grain production and pretty quickly. The long-term plan should seek to gradually increase food grain production to ultimately double the output. The surplus can then be exported.
Every year, the country loses nearly 80 thousand hectares of arable land due to erosion, building of houses and infrastructures. Thus, one per cent of arable land is lost annually when the demand for food is rising at a rate of 1.4 per cent due to population growth and other factors. The gap between demand and supply is growing. This is bound to worsen in the years to come unless vigorous steps are taken to reverse the trend.
The strategy for Bangladesh to that end should be to increase production from limited or shrinking cultivable area. Higher production from less land is an attainable objective. According to experts, Bangladesh can significantly increase its food grain production immediately by only expanding the acreage of the higher yielding seed varieties. By increasing high yielding rice cultivation to 60 per cent from existing 20 per cent, Bangladesh will be able to produce an additional 30 million tons of rice a year.
The challenge would be producing and reaching the higher yielding seeds to the farmers. Out of a total demand for rice seeds estimated at 0.3 million metric tons, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) supplies 80 thousand metric tons and 20 per cent is supplied by the private sector. So, both the BADC and the private sector will have to increase production of higher yielding seeds for timely and efficient distribution to farmers.
Besides, agriculture as a whole in Bangladesh needs to be modernised for higher productivity. Farmers, in many areas, are already doing it on their own. That is why power tillers are replacing the traditional bullock and the plough. Threshing machines have replaced the manually operated system. In this connection, effective official policy support can speed up such transformation to benefit the whole country. Besides, timely availability of agricultural inputs at the doorsteps of farmers at affordable prices would support the objective. Bangladesh agriculture must be transformed for higher productivity for achieving food security.