Sustainable Agriculture: A Challenge in Bangladesh

Abstract

The sustainability of conventional agriculture in Bangladesh is under threat from the continuous degradation of land and water resources, and from declining yields due to indiscriminate use of agro-chemicals. Government is pursuing efforts to promote sustainable agriculture with emphasis on better use of on-farm resources and the reduction of external inputs. This paper presents four dimensions of agricultural sustainability as productivity, environmental stability, economical profitability, and social and economic equity. Six characters were selected to evaluate sustainability. Significant differences were found between the two systems (conventional and sustainable agriculture) in crop diversification, soil fertility management, pests and diseases management, use of agrochemicals and environmental issues. However, no significant variations were found in other indicators such as land-use pattern, crop yield and stability, risk and uncertainties, and food security. Although crop yield and financial return were found to be slightly higher in the conventional system, the economic return and value addition per unit of land did not show any difference. It can be suggested that sustainable agriculture has a tendency towards becoming environmental, economically and socially more sound than conventional agriculture, as it requires considerably less agro-chemicals, adds more organic matter to the soil, provides balanced food, and requires higher local inputs without markedly compromising output and financial benefits. Broad-policy measures, including the creation of mass awareness of adverse health effects of agrochemical-based products, are outlined for the promotion of sustainable agriculture.

A comparative study on the costs and returns of organic vs. inorganic farming practices at selected areas near Dhaka, Bangladesh

“…The country also faces occasional food challenges due to climatic events such as flooding, water logging, droughts or any such unexpected situation (Ahmed, 2006). Despite several such economic drawbacks, Bangladesh fulfills its food demand through primarily inorganic farming, modern technology and trained/untrained farmers (Faroque et al, 2011). Also, in recent times, some crops like rice and wheat have helped Bangladesh to reach self-sufficiency and others, like jute and tea are being exported, bringing in more money and helping to alleviate poverty (Nations Encyclopedia, 2019).…”

“…On the other hand, organic farming can be environmentally, socially and economically good for the developing countries (Ramesh et al, 2005;UNEP and UNCTAD, 2008) as apart from keeping the environmental qualities intact, the cost of the use of technology is cut down. Moreover, inorganic food has a higher content of valuable nutrients and is free from chemical residues (Faroque et al, 2011). The most important thing about organic farming is that it has positive externalities like the enhancement of the quality of food and freedom from pests and diseases which damage freshness and color (Halberg, 2006): all these affect the economy of the country positively.…”

Present status and problem confrontation of Dyke vegetable production at freshwater ghers of Bagerhat district in Bangladesh

“…The production system adopted during Green Revolution has been explorative and the natural resources like soil and water were subjected to exploitation, as a result sustainability of agricultural production system has been jeopa rdized (Faroque et al, 2011). This suggests the integration of land-based enterprises viz.…”

“…dairy, fishery, poultry, duckery, apiary, field and horticultural crops within the farm, with the objective of generating adequate income and the employment of the small and marginal farmers and thereby improves their livelihoods. Integrated farming is a multi-commodity farming system which can be defined as an innovation in which two or more commodities are farmed together on a common infrastructural base with the objective to optimize the operational cost (Faroque et al, 2011). Due to shrimp cultivation and water logged condition in the southwest region of Bangladesh; the scope of vegetables production is decreasing day by day in field condition.…”

Organic Amendments with Chemical Fertilizers Improve Soil Fertility and Microbial Biomass in Rice-Rice-Rice Triple Crops Cropping Systems

“…Conventional agriculture on the Indo-Gangetic Plains is in a fragile state due to the overexploitation of land and water resources, and the indiscriminate use of agrochemicals [9] which reduce the diversity and quantity of microbes in the soil [10]. The use of different organic and inorganic fertilizers improves crop yields and also has direct or indirect effects on the physicochemical and biological properties of the soil.…”