The milestone policies behind Bangladesh’s agricultural expansion

Smooth supply of agricultural inputs, fair prices of outputs, improved credit facilities and marketing of produce were inscribed in the National Agriculture Policy in 1999. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

More than 50 years since Bangladesh's independence, the agrarian country's national territory remains the same, but its population size, or the number of food consumers, has increased by manyfold. 

Surprisingly though — to us and international observers alike — the South Asian country has increased its food production capacity to a level so remarkable that no one now can term Bangladesh as a 'bottomless basket'. 

The credit goes to the farmers who enrich Bangladesh's agriculture by investing their hard labour, but discussion over some pro-agriculture policies is important as they benefit the farmers and agricultural expansion as well. 

Let us start by reminiscing how Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman initiated an integrated agricultural operation to boost the newly liberated country's economy and people's food security. 

After the 1971 Liberation War that left many economic sectors broken, Bangabandhu devised policy frameworks to provide farmers with better quality seeds of high-yielding paddy and wheat, chemical fertilisers and irrigation facilities at subsidised prices so that they could grow more crops. 

His measures are still being followed to this day. 

The 1st Five Year Plan for the 1973-78 period still carries great value as a policy document. The importance of self-sufficiency in the production of food grains was highlighted in the plan. So, the plan upheld a reformation of traditional practices by modern agriculture with the aim of sustainable growth of the rural economy. 

During his tenure as the first president of the country, Bangabandhu established the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation, the Bangladesh Sugarcane Research Institute, and the Fisheries Development Corporation. Bangladesh Krishi Bank was also formed to offer soft loans to farmers. The marginalised or landless farmers were allocated government-owned 'khas' lands to carry on agriculture. 

In the 1974-75 period, 32.02 lakh acres of land were irrigated. Out of this, 15.39 lakh acres of land were irrigated through power pumps and tube wells and only 2.93 lakh acres of land were irrigated from canals. Between 1981 and 1982, the total land irrigated was 40.64 lakh acres while irrigation through canal water stood at 4.03 lakh acres. That was possible as the then government revamped the restoration and expansion of the canal networks across the country — which was initiated by Bangabandhu — to facilitate farmers with easy access to irrigation. During this government's tenure, around 26,000km of canals were cut and restored.   

The military ruler at the time, Ziaur Rahman, formulated the Seed Ordinance (now repealed) in 1977 and later reformed the distribution system of agricultural inputs by liberalising the trade of seeds, fertilisers, farming machinery and irrigation facilities. Earlier, only some public sectors controlled the production, marketing and distribution of seeds and irrigation facilities and the practice seemed inefficient for agricultural extension. 

Construction of multi-purpose flood-control, drainage and irrigation projects was the earliest approach to the expansion of irrigation facilities. That approach was successful in protecting coastal and river belt areas from flooding and saline water intrusion. 

However, the private sector promoted the rapid expansion of irrigation in the early 1980s through small-range shallow tube wells. In early 1986, the government removed the ban on private sector imports of agricultural equipment, abolished standardisation requirements imposed for quality control and easy availability of spare parts, and reduced import duties on farm machinery, which led to a substantial reduction in the cost of tube wells, and development of a market for irrigation services.

The '80s was also important for strengthening the public sectors related to agriculture. In 1982, six government agencies including the Department of Agriculture, Horticulture Board, Plant Protection Directorate, Tobacco Development and Central Extension Resource and Development Institute were merged to form the present Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE). 

The DAE itself revolutionised its approach through a policy shift. 

Till 1990, the agriculture extension activities followed the concept of training and visit (T&V). But in the early 1990s, DAE took on the 'group approach' while implementing its block-based activities. As a result, grassroots-level farmers can now access agricultural science and information. 

The 1990s witnessed the setting of some milestones in the history of pro-agriculture policy-making in Bangladesh. The country got its first Seed Act in 1997. Before that, the Seed Policy 1993 laid the foundation for the breeding of crop varieties suitable for high-yielding agriculture and instructed a balanced development of public and private sector seed enterprises. 

"The Seed Policy played a crucial role in flourishing seed business by the private sector. At the same time, the policy provided the necessary guidelines for shaping the country's seed sector," said Anwar Farooq, a former secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture. 

In 1996, a new Agricultural Extension Policy was formulated that provisioned efficient decentralisation and demand-led extension services to all types of farmers. The policy also emphasised strengthening agriculture-centric research and environmental protection.

Bangladesh got its first National Agriculture Policy in 1999. The policy was amended in 2013 and 2018. The 1999 policy was formulated to ensure food security, profitable and sustainable agricultural production, increased productivity of land and income gains of the farmers. 

Smooth supply of agricultural inputs, fair prices of outputs, improved credit facilities and marketing of produce were also inscribed in the policy document. The next amendments in 2013 and 2018 updated the agriculture policy following projections of the future food demand.  

"The amendments have accommodated the timely needs for the introduction of modern varieties, commercialisation, mechanisation, application of biotechnology, nano-agriculture, agricultural marketing, climate impacts and others," Anwar said. 

Similarly, the Seed Act was amended in 2005 and 2018 to allow diversification while bringing discipline in seed export and import, certification, preservation and distribution.  

Different donor organisations initiated imports and piloting of high-yielding seeds in Bangladesh before its independence. But diversification of seeds, local production and commercial distribution kicked off widely following the enactment of seed-related policies that opened privatisation. "At present, Bangladesh is being benefited by those milestone policies," Anwar opined. 

In 1995, farmers blocked roads and highways in Satkhira, Narail, Meherpur, Khulna, Rangpur and Rajshahi with coffins and shrouds, demanding necessary fertiliser. The then BNP-led government brutally tried to resist them. At least 18 farmers were shot dead in different parts of the country.

Keeping the incident in mind, the incumbent Awami League government has brought discipline in the distribution of seeds and fertiliser. Farmers have been provided with facilities to open bank accounts with only Tk10 deposits and they can access interest-free or soft loans for farming. 

Digitisation of agricultural services helps disseminate important information among the farmer communities. Moreover, the government provides 50-70% subsidies in mechanisation in the integrated management of agriculture. 

"At present, no cropland is ploughed by oxen. The practice of mechanised harvesting is gaining popularity across the country as the number of farm labourers is decreasing. These are happening because of the government policies that support inclusion of modern technologies in agriculture," said Md Asadullah, a former DAE director general.