Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
almost six folds from 110 thousand ton in 1971 to 1,840 thousand ton in 2000 and then
declined sharply to 735.5 thousand ton in 2006. The yield also increased from 0.9 t/ha in 1971
to 2.2 t/ha in 2000 and then fell to 1.5 t/ha in 2006. The lower panel of Figure 2 presents the
average annual compound growth rates of wheat area, production, yield and import for each
decade. The first decade (1971-1980) has been the period of vigorous performance with
remarkable growth in wheat yield, which then stagnated in the 1980s. This increased area,
production and yield of wheat in the 1970s spurred mainly because of the introduction of
modern seed-water-fertilizer technologies. During the 1980s, the stagnation occurred due to
natural constraints such as high temperature during the growing period of wheat and pre-
monsoon rainfall before harvesting which badly affected the enthusiasm of the farmers
previously observed in the 1970s (Ahmed and Meisner, 1996). Growth rates again picked up
during the 1990s. However, from 2001 the fall in all three indicators has been dramatic
particularly the fall in production. Overall, wheat area, production, and yield grew at a rate of
5.1%, 6.9%, and 1.9% per annum over the past 36 year period. One possible explanation of
such sharp declines in area, production and yield in Bangladesh in recent years is due to
adverse weather conditions characterised with short spell of cold days and day-night
temperature during grain filling stage. Another important reason is the competition of limited
land for high-value non-cereal crops grown during the winter months (the Rabi season) which
are mainly destined for exports as well as urban consumer markets in the cities.
According to the Bangladesh Soil Survey report, an estimated 3.1 million hectares are
suitable for wheat (Hossain, 1985). During the early 1990s, a comprehensive review of food
policy in Bangladesh dismissed wheat as a competitive crop in terms of economic and social
profitability (Mahmud et al., 1994). However, it was later realised that wheat provides highest
returns in non-irrigated zones and in areas that are unsuitable for Boro rice (dry winter
irrigated rice) and represents the most efficient use of domestic resources when inputs and
outputs are assigned economic prices (Morris et al., 1996).
Constraints of Wheat Production in Bangladesh
Research into the constraints of wheat production in Bangladesh by wheat agronomists
during 1988 to 1990 revealed that a host of natural as well as managerial factors are affecting
wheat yield. The reduction in wheat yield is estimated at: (a) 23-42% due to foliar diseases;
(b) 8-16% due to soil pathogens; (c) 25-46% due to farmers' fertilizer doses (which is lower
than the recommended doses); (d) 2.1% and 33.7% due to lack of irrigation under high- and
the low- fertility situations; and (e) late seeding at the rate of 1.3% per day of delay after
November 30 th (Ahmed and Meisner, 1996).
One unique feature of wheat in Bangladesh at present is 100% adoption of high yielding
varieties as opposed to rice. Also, the use rate of modern inputs in wheat production is very
high. Nevertheless, On-Farm Research Division (OFRD) of Bangladesh Agricultural
Research Institute (BARI) reports that there is still a yield gap of 41-61% between farmers'
practice and recommended package of the research station. Wheat yield with recommended
package is 3.2 t/ha whereas actual production at farm level varies between 1.3 to 1.9 t/ha
(OFRD, 2001). Nevertheless, best practice farmers can produce 2.8 t/ha when compared with
1.9 t/ha by the average farmers, thereby, revealing a 29% yield gap (Hasan, 2005). Such a
yield gap between best practice farmers and average farmers amounts to a loss of 25% of
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