Table of contentsOverview of changesHistorical analysis of the policy foundations of the factorsConstraints for the sustainability of agricultural production in BangladeshThe bar graph on the next page shows the percentage of irrigated land in some Asian countriesSuggestions on Future Policy Directions in Bangladesh AgricultureOverview of ChangesBangladesh, as an agro-based country, has witnessed significant changes over the past few decades; especially since the start of Green Revolution technologies in the late 1960s. The Green Revolution brought productivity-based production by replacing the traditional area-based production process. In other words, we moved from the use of the extensive margin to the intensive margin in agriculture. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The agricultural sector of Bangladesh is dominated by the crop sector, of which rice and wheat are the two major crops. Between these two crops, there is greater concentration on the production of rice which is the staple food. This makes Bangladesh a monoculture economy. Nevertheless, physical production of wheat and rice increased significantly. Green revolution technologies brought about the following changes: (Alauddin and Hossain, 2001, pp. 4) Greater use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Improved irrigation facilities. -Seeds of high yield varieties (HYV). Increase in multiple crops, which lead to agricultural intensification. All the changes mentioned above resulted in the overall mechanization of agriculture. This refers to the increased use of modern irrigation facilities such as low lift pumps (LLP), shallow and deep tube wells (STW and DTW), tractors, tillers, etc. (Alauddin and Quiggin, 2007, pp.114). As a result, excessive use of groundwater has largely replaced the use of surface water for irrigation, making Bangladesh the most irrigation-intensive country in South Asia. (Alauddin and Quiggin, 2007, p. 113). Moreover, to further improve crop productivity, the widespread use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has seen a very rapid increase in Bangladesh compared to other South Asian countries (Alauddin and Quiggin, 2007, pp.114 ). However, until the innovation of HYV seeds, the changes mentioned above did not matter much. HYVs have crowded out traditional crop varieties and other non-grain crops (Alauddin and Hossain, 2001, pp.4, pp.183), but several other new varieties have been innovated through agricultural research and development and it is an ongoing process. . It is a combination of design and capability transfer. Thanks to the Green Revolution, Bangladesh's agriculture shifted from subsistence to more semi-commercial agriculture and underwent considerable changes in terms of inputs and production (Alauddin and Hossain, 2001, pp.39 ). Overall, Bangladesh's agriculture has become more capital intensive and has serious implications in terms of socio-economic changes. A quick overview of Bangladesh's agriculture is illustrated in the following table: Table 1: Overview of Bangladesh's Agriculture Total family: 17,600,804 Total farm: 15,089,000 Total area: 14.845 million hectares Forest: 2.599 million hectares Land cultivable: 8.44 million hectares Cultivable waste: 0.268 million hectares Current: 0.469 million hectares Cultivation intensity: 175.97% Areaof single crop: 2.851 million hectares Double crop area: 3.984 million hectares Triple crop area: 0.974 million hectares Net cultivated area: 7,809 million hectares Total cultivated area: 13.742 million hectares Contribution of the agricultural sector to GDP: 23.50%Contribution of the crop sector to GDP: 13.44%Agricultural labor force: 62%Total demand for food crops: 23.029 million tonnesTotal production of food crops: 27.787 million tonnesNet production: 24.569 million tonnesSource: BBS, 2006 and Handbook Agricultural Statistics, MoA, accessed December 2009. Factors underlying the changes: Now that we are aware of the changes, we can now delve deeper into the factors behind such a transformation. This analysis is divided into two parts. The first part is devoted to the motivations which led to the revolution. The second part is devoted to the measures that led to this favorable jump in agricultural production in Bangladesh. Bangladesh, occupying 0.028% of the earth's surface, happens to be the seventh largest country in terms of population (CIA World Fact book, 2009) and hence the nation experiences a low land-to-man ratio. The situation was further aggravated by continued population growth when arable land was already scarce (Alauddin and Quiggin, 2007, pp. 111-112). Inevitably, Bangladesh was unable to maintain the balance between food and population (Naher, 1997, pA-85). In this context, the solution provided by the Green Revolution suited Bangladesh in the sense that it was more of an increase in internal land. (thanks to the use of HYV seeds and fertilizers). It should also be added that the inequality in the distribution of precipitation between different regions has led to a decrease in the reliability of surface waters. On the other hand, the availability of groundwater, now possible through the use of different types of pumps (thanks to the advent of green revolution technology), has provided a much more stable water supply to irrigation purposes. Apart from the urgent need for such a change For this to happen, the ease of diffusion of technology worldwide as well as the provision of credit from the government (Bangladesh Krishi Bank: BKB) and NGOs have played a role. a central role in stimulating a further increase in agricultural production. The sharecropping system (in which the landowner allows a sharecropper to use the land in exchange for a share of the crop produced on the land) and the ease with which farmers were able to absorb new production techniques (thanks government awareness programs) have contributed immensely to the intensification of agriculture.Historical Analysis of the Policy Basis of the FactorsConsidering the ongoing process of change in Bangladesh's agriculture, it is now important to analyze how and why the policies that fueled these changes evolved historically. During the 1950s and 1960s, in order to cope with the growing dependence on imported foods and the static nature of food grain production, exacerbated by growing population pressure, the government increased investment in food grain production. installation of irrigation and drainage structures. For example: LLP, DTW, canal irrigation, etc. (Alauddin and Hossain, 2001, pp.37). Furthermore, to control the flow of the river, the government constructed dams and dams. However, the construction of dams has led to insufficient recharge of aquifers and insufficient water availability during dry seasons (Alauddin and Hossain, 2001, pp. 200). Worse still, the STWs hadnegative environmental consequences due to increased use of fossil fuels (Alauddin and Sharma, 2009, pp. 19-20). In this regard, it is worth noting that these policies have focused more on large-scale irrigation projects with less or no emphasis on chemical fertilizers, small-scale irrigation and biological innovations (Alauddin and Hossain, 2001, pp. 38). Towards the last part By the 1960s, it seemed that it was no longer possible to depend on external land augmentation as per capita arable land declined, indicating that Bangladesh's agriculture then had to move towards intensive margin policies. This ultimately led to the adaptation of green revolution technologies (Alauddin and Hossain, 2001, pp. 38). This happened in several phases. It was initiated by the increased use of chemical fertilizers, followed by improved irrigation facilities. However, it was not until the innovation of high-efficiency vehicles that the above-mentioned factors had a real impact on Bangladesh's agriculture. In fact, for the complete adaptation of HYV technology in Bangladesh, there were three phases of technology transfer. These include material transfer, design transfer and capability transfer in chronological order (Alauddin and Hossain, 2001, pp. 38-39). New varieties of HYV rice seeds such as IR-5, IR-8, etc. were imported into the United States. However, it was not until the early 1970s that HYV wheat seeds were introduced to Bangladesh (Alauddin and Hossain, 2001, pp. 39). These seed imports have made Bangladesh heavily dependent on multinational companies, which has increased the cost of production for farmers. Indeed, when the government first introduced green revolution technologies to Bangladesh, it provided farmers with attractive subsidies to encourage greater use of new technologies such as the diffusion of irrigation equipment (Alauddin and Quiggin, 2007, pp.118). Subsequently, when the government's wish for widespread adaptation of these technologies was realized and farmers became accustomed to them, the subsidies were gradually removed; leading to increased costs for farmers who depend on multinationals for their HYV seeds. Therefore, due to greater dependence on HYV seeds of rice and wheat only due to their higher yields, other crops have been seriously neglected, thereby making Bangladesh a monoculture economy. As history shows, Bangladesh's trade liberalization during the 1980s and 1990s further dampened the growth of other non-agricultural sectors such as the jute, paper, sugar and tea industries. Due to synthetic substitutes, exports of jute products have declined significantly, while the paper industry has also been affected due to competing imports. The low price of Indian sugar compared to that of Bangladesh encouraged imports, thereby crowding out local sugar producers. Bangladeshi tea exports increased by less than 1% during the same period (Bakht, -----, pp. 118-119). From the above discussion, it becomes evident that the introduction of the Green Revolution led to an increase in both inputs and output, as evidenced by increased cropping intensity and total irrigated area, utilization increased fertilizer, etc. since the 1960s until today. It appears that the government has made efforts to disseminate green revolution technologies, butfailed to raise awareness among farmers about environmental risks. These risks include waterlogging, declining water table, soil quality and many more. The government should have taken initiatives to ensure an environment-friendly economy rather than an environment-intensive economy in the agricultural sector. Constraints for the sustainability of agricultural production in Bangladesh As we have already highlighted, the severity of population growth has led to an increase in food demand thus a decline in per capita arable land. This allowed Bangladesh to experience the highest agricultural intensification in South Asia, brought about by multiple cropping and dry season crops through irrigation (Alauddin and Quiggin, 2007, pp.117). As a result, considerable damage has been caused to the physical environment, such as the depletion and degradation of natural resources and the unsustainable use of land and water resources (Alauddin and Quiggin, 2007, pp. 111 ). Starting from a very low base, Bangladesh has seen the fastest growth in irrigation intensity and incidence. Much of this irrigated water comes from excessive groundwater pumping. Although surface water is abundant in Bangladesh, a riparian country, the uncertainty and uneven distribution of precipitation as well as easy access to groundwater lead to the rapid depletion of this difficult to renew natural resource (Alauddin and Quiggin, 2007, pp.112). . For example, Bogra uses about 98% of its groundwater for irrigation, posing a serious threat to Bangladesh's agriculture. Additionally, it also leads to environmental risks such as salinization and contamination of soil and arsenic water in some areas. In addition, new irrigation facilities such as STW, DTW, etc. require adequate power supply, which itself poses a constraint to the production process due to lack of sufficient power generation in Bangladesh. The bar graph on the next page shows the percentage of irrigated land in selected Asian countriesFig1: Irrigated land as a proportion of agricultural land in selected Asian countries -2001Source: FAO Production Yearbook, Vol. 52-1998 & Vol. 53, 1999 and RAP publication: 2003/10, accessed December 2009. Figure 1 shows that in terms of irrigated land as a percentage of agricultural land, Bangladesh is in a rather threatening position. Furthermore, increased use of fertilizers and poor irrigation management lead to soil acidification and waterlogging, decline of organic matter and thus deterioration of soil quality (Alauddin and Hossain, 2001, pp.4). In fact, unsafe use of pesticides also leads to the loss of beneficial insects as well as pests. Hundreds of pests have already become resistant to pesticides and their numbers will increase, further increasing costs for farmers in the long term. Several other constraints including deforestation causing significant soil erosion, industrial waste dumped into water bodies and other factors mentioned above. contribute greatly to deadly water pollution, thereby also affecting fishing. In addition, more than 2 million hectares of land are affected by drought (Alauddin and Hossain, 2001, pp. 199). Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj are the two districts worst affected by drought. Finally, natural disasters, particularly floods and cyclones (caused by climate change and global warming), are increasingly..