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The present study aims at measuring the technical efficiency of wheat production under changing climate in drought prone areas of Bangladesh. The study employed farm level cross sectional data taken from 100 farmers using purposive random sampling technique from three upazilas of Thakurgoan district of Bangladesh. The study considered two successive years 2006 and 2007 as drought and normal year respectively on the basis of farmers' opinion and information collected from meteorological station. Semi-logarithmic regression model with dummy variable was used to estimate production variability of wheat due to drought. The findings showed that wheat production decreased by 17.4 percent on an average due to drought occurrence in the study areas. Cobb-Douglas stochastic frontier production function was used to determine the technical efficiency of the wheat growers and the factors which influence technical efficiency in wheat production. The empirical results of technical efficiency model showed that the effects of seed, pesticide, tillage, irrigation and fertilizer costs were significant in the production of wheat. Education, family size, farming experience, credit, extension-contact and farm size had negative effects on technical inefficiency of farmers which indicates that technical inefficiency decreases with the increase of these factors in both normal and drought years. The mean technical efficiencies were 67.00 and 86.40 percent in normal and drought years respectively. The results also indicate a good potential for increasing wheat production by 33 and 14 percent in normal and drought years respectively using the available resources and technology. Wheat farmers should give more attention to their farming practices and should take rationale decision for using farm resources efficiently.

Aims: The study was carried out to determine the socio-economic status of wheat farmers in Bangladesh. Study Design: Simple random sampling technique was used for the study. Place and Duration of the Study: Birganj Upazila under Dinajpur and Thakurgaon Sadar, and Pirganj Upazila under Thakurgaon district were purposively selected for the study. The survey was conducted from February to March 2019. Methodology: A total of 150 wheat growers were selected as sample farmers. Data were collected from the respondents through direct interviews using pre-tested interview schedules. Descriptive statistics such as mean, frequency, and percentage were employed to analyze the data. Results: The study estimated that the average farm size was 1.38 ha, and most of them were medium farmers (40 percent). Most of the wheat growers were middle-aged (51–60 years old), while a small portion of them were younger (18–30 years). Findings revealed that about 35.3 percent of farmers were literate, while 34.7 percent completed secondary education. The average family size was 4.96 persons. However, the large farm household had relatively more family members than other farm households. Most of the respondents had more than 30 years of farming experience. Nevertheless, agriculture, notably wheat farming, was their primary occupation (92 percent), and about 70.67 percent of their average yearly income came from agriculture. Furthermore, the study found that only a small percentage of farmers obtained training from the government's agricultural extension office, while most farmers did not receive any training opportunities. In this study, about 53.33% of respondents received loans from banks or NGOs, whereas around 46.67% received no credit. Conclusion: Therefore, the government should provide more institutional and infrastructure support to promote wheat production, which will increase efficiency, income and enhance the livelihood conditions of wheat farmers in the study areas.

This paper is an endeavor to depict the reasons for migration and involving with garments industry, adequacy, sources and utilization of credit, and empowerment of the female garments workers in a selected area of Dhaka City. Primary data were collected from 60 respondents in two categories such as: 30 helpers and 30 operators, randomly. Descriptive statistics such as percentage and arithmetic mean were applied to analyze the data and to describe socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents. Poverty, search for job and husbands' work in Dhaka, financial help to family, secure more income and assure basic needs were the main reasons for involving with garments industry. Average amount applied for loan was Tk. 5650.00 and average amount of loan received was Tk. 4450.00 which was 78.23% of total applied amount in the category of 'Helper'. On the other hand, average amount applied for loan was Tk. 10540.00 and average amount of loan received was Tk. 7670.00 which was 72.77% of total applied amount in the category of 'Operator'. About 94% respondents (Helper) keep their earnings and spend independently; this figure was about 97% for operator. Level of income, human and social capital improved in both helper and operator categories but savings decreased 66.67% and 40% respectively. In the areas of decision making like food selection, treatment, visit to relatives, family planning all the cases vastly improved. This study recommended measures for improving the prevailing microfinance facilities, to a great extent, to achieve female workers' empowerment and satisfaction at the maximum level.