A holistic approach to the evaluation of socio-economic and environmental impacts of technological change in agriculture: an application in Bangladesh (original) (raw)
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Agricultural Economics, 2005
This article measures the impact of modern technology adoption in raising farmers' environmental awareness and the impact of farmers' environmental awareness on resource use by utilizing survey data from 21 villages in three agro-ecological regions of Bangladesh. The econometric analysis is based on the application of the Tobit model explaining farmers' environmental awareness in the first stage and a profit function examining environmental awareness and resource use relationships in the second stage. Results reveal that the "level" and "duration" of involvement with modern technology raises farmers' environmental awareness, and that farmers' environmental awareness reduces resource use including chemicals. Farmers, who are aware of the adverse environmental impacts of modern agricultural technology, use lower amounts of all inputs in order to avoid further environmental damage. Therefore, efforts to raise farmers' environmental awareness are expected to enhance intangible benefits accruing from a relatively less chemical-intensive environment.
Domestic food production has increased tremendously in Bangladesh as a result of its adoption of the new agricultural technologies associated with the Green Revolution. Unfortunately, however, Lester Brown's comments that such technology 'is literally helping to fill hundreds of millions of rice bowls once only half full' (Brown, 1970) does not apply to Bangladesh (cf. also Remenyi, 1988). In fact its expanding food production has not kept pace with population growth and Bangladesh has become increasingly dependent on imported foodgrain. More rice bowls are now half-filled or not quite·half-filled. In addition, indications are that the growth rate of food production in Bangladesh is tapering off and that sustaining the growth rates of recent years is becoming ecologically more difficult. Furthermore, as a result of its change in agricultural technology (to higher, 'tech' production), Bangladesh has become more dependent on foreign technology and imports of inputs required to maintain agricultural production. This dependence could also threaten the sustainability of Bangladesh's economic growth. While the present study does not wish to take a pessimistic view, there is cause for concern. In terms of the above general background, the main focus of this chapter is on the prospects for Bangladesh's sustainability of foodgrain production in relation to the new agricultural technology − and the identification of factors which could influence this. This leads to a consideration of whether Bangladesh's food production is ecologically sustainable given (1) its increasing dependence on new ('modern') agricultural technology, (2) its reliance of foreign technology, and (3) its dependence on imports of inputs required for 'modern agriculture'. Bangladesh's situation is not unique in the world. Its food sustainability problem, for example, has parallels with those of some African countries and this makes its case of additional interest.
JOURNAL OF EXTENSION EDUCATION, 2020
A study was conducted to investigate the farmers' response on the performance of two specific Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU) technologies viz. BU dhan1 and BU Hybrid lau1. In this connection, two districts of Northern Bangladesh were considered with 80 farmer respondents selected by simple random sampling technique to examine their responses on technology performance, adoption, impacts, associated limitations with possible suggestions and knowledge gap. Findings from this study reveal that the BU dhan1 had a high adoption level. In contrast, BU Hybrid lau1 had a low level of adoption. BU dhan1 performed well with low complexities when it was cultivated in the field. The study further provides information that majority farmers showed low to moderate knowledge gap in cultivating both of these technologies. Moreover, dried empty grains and less market value were listed as major constraints faced by BU dhan1 growers, while BU Hybrid lau1 growers suffered from severe virus attack during cultivation. Provisions of sufficient disease-free seed supply and proper training facilities were suggested by all the farmers interviewed.
This chapter investigates growth and changes in the crop sector of Bangladesh over the last four decades and in so doing attempts·to avoid limitations of previous studies of this subject. It (1) uses a variant of the kinked exponential model; (2) covers a greater number of crops and commodity groups; and (3) employs more recent data. Two sets of estimates are made: 1. For the whole period 1947-8 to 1984-5, dividing it into three sub-periods and thereby two kinks into the exponential growth function. In this exercise, 21 crops are considered of which 13 are non-cereals. These are divided into four groups, namely Cereals, Cash Crops, Oilseeds and Pulses. 2. More detailed and comprehensive estimates for the period 1967-8 to 1984-5 are made. This period is divided into two sub-periods and a single kink is thereby introduced. Compared to the earlier analysis, the number of crops is extended to 36. The number of crop groupings is increased by the addition of the groups Fruits, Vegetables, and Spices and the pre-existing Pulses group is expanded by the addition of peas and khesari. The later part of this chapter employs and critically appraises non-production function decomposition methods (Minhas and Vaidyanathan, 1965; Venegas and Ruttan, 1964; Wennergren et al., 1984) to identify apparent sources of crop output growth by component elements. This chapter provides a more rigorous and in-depth analysis of the underlying sources of growth than some previous studies employing these methods (M. Hossain, 1984; Pray, 1979).
Modern Technology Adoption by the Rice Farmers in the South-West Region of Bangladesh
Khulna University Studies
Modern technology adoption usually leads to an increase in agricultural productivity. The rate of this technology adoption might vary depending on diverse agro-economic and socio-political factors. This study attempts to scrutinize the pattern and level of technology adoption by the rice farmers in the south-west region of Bangladesh. Descriptive and inferential analytical techniques are applied using cross-sectional data collected from randomly selected 120 rice-producing farmers in the south-west region of Bangladesh using a pre-tested interview questionnaire. The surveyed farmers have more than 23 years of farming experience on average. Study findings indicate that around 87 percent of the farming households have adopted modern technologies in terms of improved seed, irrigation management, and chemical fertilizer use in the study area. The ratio decreases to around 60 percent if the adoption of harvesting technology is considered. The farmers are lagging far behind to adopt mecha...
This book concentrates on Bangladesh's economic and social experience with the introduction of Green Revolution technologies. These technologies have brought about considerable socio-economic change in Bangladesh. It is useful to identify these changes and to compare and contrast Bangladesh's experiences with those in other countries. The consequences of Green Revolution technologies in Bangladesh for economic growth, the distribution of income and of resources, and for stability, and sustainability of agricultural production and yields are given particular attention in this study. However, before considering in-depth issues raised by the Green Revolution in Bangladesh, let us outline the broader setting in which the Green Revolution has occurred in that country. By way of background, this chapter provides a brief description of the Bangladesh economy, its growth and structural change since the 1950s and an overview of Bangladeshi agriculture and the introduction of Green Revolution technologies. It then broadly outlines the issues to be covered in this book.