Md. Muzibur Rahman :
Bangladesh is mainly an agricultural country. Still now, agriculture plays a role of dominance in aggregating production of national economy and contributing a large portion of income in GDP. The contribution of this sector (cereal crops, forestry, livestock and fishery) in GDP is 14.79 percent in the financial year 2016-2017. According to labour survey of 2013, 45 percent of total labour force is directly or indirectly are engaged in this sector. From British period to birth of Bangladesh, agriculture was the main occupation of the people of Bangladesh. People in the ancient Bengal were self-sufficient with per capita land and enough domestic animals (bull, cow, bullock, buffalos etc.) which were used for traditional cultivation. They were rich with rice and fish, had enough space and land for breeding animal husbandry, poultry, birds, ducks and other such type of animals in their houses.
Price and production costs of agricultural products were lower because of lower salary of day labourers, lower price of agricultural inputs, lower price of livestock’s food, fertility of land, availability of water resources, more breeding of bulls, cows, bullocks, buffalos for cultivation of land etc. But with the emergence of urbanisation, industrialisation and modern education system, the workforce of Bangladesh is leaving agriculture for a fixed salary job (Government or Non-Government). It is an increasing trend still now.
The main causes may be 1) urban oriented attitude of the people, 2) decreasing profitable cultivation in agriculture sector, 3) increasing costs of agricultural inputs (land, labor, fertilisers, pesticide, seeds etc.) 4) peasants are not getting their reasonable price for rising production cost, 5) lack of knowledge about modern agriculture and agricultural machinery, 6) lack of skills and training of modern cultivation, 7) losing and damaging agricultural products for natural calamities (like drought, flood, cyclone), surplus labour force in agriculture sectors and rural unemployment etc.
Peoples are leaving agriculture because perhaps they are not getting reasonable price of agricultural products; the price of agricultural products is higher than their production costs. So far we know from the latest data of the rural areas, the daily labor cost of a farmer for one labor is tk 800-1000 in season and Tk 550-700 in non-season period. Thus the production cost, harvesting cost, threshing cost, rice miller’s cost are adding to the price of the finished products. They are discouraged for further production by chronic loosing of the prices of their products. Every businessman wants maximum production/profits with minimum costs of his production. If we think that our farmers are agro-businessmen, the same word is applicable for them also. Recently, we have known the disappointment of the farmers about the paddy price which are lower than their production costs. The farmers protested for this purpose in the field level. Now time has come to find out the way to reduce the production costs of the products of our farmers by the government and non-government organisations.
Recently the government has taken several measures for a reasonable price of the paddy produced by the peasants in the rural areas and directed concerned authorities to purchase paddy directly from the farmers. Recently government has given a grant of tk 3000 crore to mechanize agriculture sector to make it modern and profitable. Modernising agriculture and its machinery is the crying need of the hour to reduce the production cost of agricultural-products and to boost agricultural production. This grant will help to increase the purchasing capacity of the peasants for reducing the price of Agricultural Machinery. If a farmer use a tractor and other modern agricultural machineries in exchange of plough and traditional tools, then it will certainly reduce the production cost and significantly reduce the dependence on day laborers. It will save time and money. Our Prime Minister has already ordered to supply of the light Agricultural Machinery to the farmers at a nominal price in the rural areas. It will encourage the farmer to produce more agricultural products with minimum cost and comfortable price.
When agriculture is profitable, then unemployed educated youth will engage and employ themselves in agriculture sector preferring a job as good farmer in his locality. It will reduce unemployment problems in the rural areas and also contribute to reduce migration to city areas. It can help the government election manifesto, “Village will be the Town” to become a reality. That is, with other civil and urban facilities, agriculture should be modernised, there will be a division of labour and division of responsibilities, more modern dairy and poultry farm, animal husbandry, development of livestock will be geared up. Scientific irrigation, modern fish culture, economic use of water resources must be ensured.
Under a grand programme, there can be an intensive and extensive training, display and orientation programmes of the latest agricultural machinery for the farmers in rural areas at least at the Upazila level. Local Administration, Agriculture and Fishery Department can facilitate these programmes to be fruitful in time. Agriculture is our main profession. We cannot ignore or avoid it for any reason. It is our existence. So we must adopt modern commercialisation of agriculture for more agricultural output. Thus we can export more agro-products to foreign countries and enrich our national exchequer.
(Muzibur Rahman writes on development and economic issues)
Bangladesh is mainly an agricultural country. Still now, agriculture plays a role of dominance in aggregating production of national economy and contributing a large portion of income in GDP. The contribution of this sector (cereal crops, forestry, livestock and fishery) in GDP is 14.79 percent in the financial year 2016-2017. According to labour survey of 2013, 45 percent of total labour force is directly or indirectly are engaged in this sector. From British period to birth of Bangladesh, agriculture was the main occupation of the people of Bangladesh. People in the ancient Bengal were self-sufficient with per capita land and enough domestic animals (bull, cow, bullock, buffalos etc.) which were used for traditional cultivation. They were rich with rice and fish, had enough space and land for breeding animal husbandry, poultry, birds, ducks and other such type of animals in their houses.
Price and production costs of agricultural products were lower because of lower salary of day labourers, lower price of agricultural inputs, lower price of livestock’s food, fertility of land, availability of water resources, more breeding of bulls, cows, bullocks, buffalos for cultivation of land etc. But with the emergence of urbanisation, industrialisation and modern education system, the workforce of Bangladesh is leaving agriculture for a fixed salary job (Government or Non-Government). It is an increasing trend still now.
The main causes may be 1) urban oriented attitude of the people, 2) decreasing profitable cultivation in agriculture sector, 3) increasing costs of agricultural inputs (land, labor, fertilisers, pesticide, seeds etc.) 4) peasants are not getting their reasonable price for rising production cost, 5) lack of knowledge about modern agriculture and agricultural machinery, 6) lack of skills and training of modern cultivation, 7) losing and damaging agricultural products for natural calamities (like drought, flood, cyclone), surplus labour force in agriculture sectors and rural unemployment etc.
Peoples are leaving agriculture because perhaps they are not getting reasonable price of agricultural products; the price of agricultural products is higher than their production costs. So far we know from the latest data of the rural areas, the daily labor cost of a farmer for one labor is tk 800-1000 in season and Tk 550-700 in non-season period. Thus the production cost, harvesting cost, threshing cost, rice miller’s cost are adding to the price of the finished products. They are discouraged for further production by chronic loosing of the prices of their products. Every businessman wants maximum production/profits with minimum costs of his production. If we think that our farmers are agro-businessmen, the same word is applicable for them also. Recently, we have known the disappointment of the farmers about the paddy price which are lower than their production costs. The farmers protested for this purpose in the field level. Now time has come to find out the way to reduce the production costs of the products of our farmers by the government and non-government organisations.
Recently the government has taken several measures for a reasonable price of the paddy produced by the peasants in the rural areas and directed concerned authorities to purchase paddy directly from the farmers. Recently government has given a grant of tk 3000 crore to mechanize agriculture sector to make it modern and profitable. Modernising agriculture and its machinery is the crying need of the hour to reduce the production cost of agricultural-products and to boost agricultural production. This grant will help to increase the purchasing capacity of the peasants for reducing the price of Agricultural Machinery. If a farmer use a tractor and other modern agricultural machineries in exchange of plough and traditional tools, then it will certainly reduce the production cost and significantly reduce the dependence on day laborers. It will save time and money. Our Prime Minister has already ordered to supply of the light Agricultural Machinery to the farmers at a nominal price in the rural areas. It will encourage the farmer to produce more agricultural products with minimum cost and comfortable price.
When agriculture is profitable, then unemployed educated youth will engage and employ themselves in agriculture sector preferring a job as good farmer in his locality. It will reduce unemployment problems in the rural areas and also contribute to reduce migration to city areas. It can help the government election manifesto, “Village will be the Town” to become a reality. That is, with other civil and urban facilities, agriculture should be modernised, there will be a division of labour and division of responsibilities, more modern dairy and poultry farm, animal husbandry, development of livestock will be geared up. Scientific irrigation, modern fish culture, economic use of water resources must be ensured.
Under a grand programme, there can be an intensive and extensive training, display and orientation programmes of the latest agricultural machinery for the farmers in rural areas at least at the Upazila level. Local Administration, Agriculture and Fishery Department can facilitate these programmes to be fruitful in time. Agriculture is our main profession. We cannot ignore or avoid it for any reason. It is our existence. So we must adopt modern commercialisation of agriculture for more agricultural output. Thus we can export more agro-products to foreign countries and enrich our national exchequer.
(Muzibur Rahman writes on development and economic issues)
