Adoption Determinants of Exotic Rice Cultivars in Bangladesh

Agrarian Bangladesh relies heavily on rice. Since independence, many varieties have been released and targeted to increase productivity, farmers' income, and food security. However, few gained widespread adoption. Moreover, farmers in the border regions are adopting exotic cultivars, and it's gradually spreading throughout the country. But, the reasons for adopting exotic rice cultivars are still unexplored. Using field data from 1,260 farm households and 42 focus group discussions, this study analyzes farmers' preferences for domestic and exotic rice varieties and identifies the factors of adoption linked to design national breeding programs and farmers' welfare. Findings show, exotic varieties (69%) monopolized the area coverage in the dry season, whereas in the wet season, domestic varieties (58%) dominated. Farmers select exotic varieties for their better yield and price, low production costs, high grain quality, resistance to pests and diseases, and ability to withstand stresses. Risk analysis shows domestic varieties adoption is riskier with lower returns. The empirical findings indicate that household characteristics, access to institutions and infrastructure, varietal characteristics, and weather condition, all play a significant role in adoption decisions. National breeding should focus on developing rice varieties in response to market demands and farmer preferences toward sustainable food security in Bangladesh

Four decades of research on rice intercropping: A bibliometric analysis

Intercropping stands as a crucial strategy in promoting sustainable crop intensification while optimizing the use of natural resources. Rice intercropping, predominantly prevalent in upland and deepwater ecosystems characterized by less favorable conditions, represents a crucial area of research within this context. To the best of our knowledge, no prior research has explored the landscape of rice intercropping through bibliometric methods. Using the comprehensive Web of Science database, we conducted a meticulous analysis of 187 articles spanning the years 1980–2022, employing specialized software tools such as VOSviewer, Biblioshiny, and OriginPro. These articles were authored by a diverse group of 561 researchers hailing from 68 different organizations across 36 countries and disseminated through 67 distinct journals. Notably, the average annual growth rate of publications in this field was found to be 5.37 %. Our findings reveal that India, China, Brazil, and Indonesia emerged as the leading countries in publishing rice intercropping research. Among the numerous organizations, South China Agricultural University secured the highest rank, closely followed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers. The research landscape was further illuminated by identifying the three most prominent journals in which these articles were published: Indian Journal of Agronomy, Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, and Field Crops Research. Classification of these research publications into categories exposed the primary domains of interest, including agronomy, multidisciplinary subject, soil science, and environmental science. A keyword analysis unequivocally pointed to ‘intercropping’ as the focal point of interest within this research area. As we look to the future, it is imperative that forthcoming studies delve into the realms of mechanization in rice intercropping, soil microbiology, and harnessing solar energy for more efficient agricultural practices. This comprehensive review serves as a valuable reference for pinpointing research priorities in tackling global food security challenges

Foreign direct investment and agricultural output nexus in Bangladesh: An autoregressive distributed lag approach

Foreign Direct Investment’s (FDI) contribution to the agricultural share of GDP is a questionable topic in Bangladesh’s current economy. Therefore, this study aims to inspect the effect of FDI inflow in agriculture on the agriculture sector’s contribution to Bangladesh’s economic development. The study used advanced econometric tools to the time series data obtained from the Bangladesh Bank and the Bangladesh Economic Review from 1996 to 2021. For the empirical analysis, the authors employ the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) co-integration approach to measure short-run dynamics and long-run relationship between FDI inflow in agriculture (AFDI) and agricultural share to GDP (AGDP) in Bangladesh. The findings from the estimation confirm that AFDI has a statistically significant effect on AGDP in the short run; in the long run, it is insignificant. Bangladesh will have to improve its policy for creating the environment to attract FDI in the agricultural sector to draw more promising investments to boost agricultural productivity. In this regard, the country can reform its taxation and agricultural investment policies to create an ‘investment-friendly climate’ for attracting long-term foreign capital in agriculture

Rice farmers’ technical efficiency under abiotic stresses in Bangladesh

This study was an attempt to investigate the economic performance of stress tolerant rice varieties in different abiotic stress prone areas (submergence, drought, and salinity) of Bangladesh. The study used production frontier approach to measure the technical efficiency at the farm level. Benefit-cost analysis revealed that farmers in all stress environments obtained positive margin on cash cost basis and the profit became negative on full cost basis in all environments with exception for submergence. That means rice production was marginally benefited to farmers in all the stress environments. Farm specific technical efficiency of all stress environments indicated that large farmers were comparatively more efficient due to their economic solvency as they could apply adequate amount of inputs in due time with proper doses. Inefficiency model indicated that farm size, farmers ‘education, households’ size, farming experience, extension contact, and main occupation of the farmers, were the important factors causing variations in the efficiency. However, BRRI released stress tolerant rice varieties had significant positive impact on technical efficiency. Plausible policies have been recommended according to the study outcomes

Rice farmers’ technical efficiency under abiotic stresses in Bangladesh

This study was an attempt to investigate the economic performance of stress tolerant rice varieties in different abiotic stress prone areas (submergence, drought, and salinity) of Bangladesh. The study used production frontier approach to measure the technical efficiency at the farm level. Benefit-cost analysis revealed that farmers in all stress environments obtained positive margin on cash cost basis and the profit became negative on full cost basis in all environments with exception for submergence. That means rice production was marginally benefited to farmers in all the stress environments. Farm specific technical efficiency of all stress environments indicated that large farmers were comparatively more efficient due to their economic solvency as they could apply adequate amount of inputs in due time with proper doses. Inefficiency model indicated that farm size, farmers ‘education, households’ size, farming experience, extension contact, and main occupation of the farmers, were the important factors causing variations in the efficiency. However, BRRI released stress tolerant rice varieties had significant positive impact on technical efficiency. Plausible policies have been recommended according to the study outcomes

Thinking out of the ‘Man box’: An intersectional exploration of gender dynamics in northern Bangladesh via gender tracking framework

Placing people on boxes and drawing gender lines based upon the social codes of education tend to result in long-term gender inequality in the global context, and in this regard, Bangladesh is not an exception. Our study is an endeavor to explore how both men and women have socialized themselves with the underlying principles of the ‘Man box’ and how such socialization translates into social infanticide of womenfolk in northern Bangladesh. A wide range of qualitative research tools was employed to collect primary data from two regions of northern Bangladesh. Accordingly, we combined three key concepts ‘Man box’, women's subordination, and intersectionality to capture the gender nuances and degrees as well as to unravel the subsequent repercussions on gender dynamics using an author-modified ‘Gender Tracking Framework’. The study noticed that the social education system in northern Bangladesh is largely shaped and driven by deep-rooted ‘Man box’ codes resulting in high levels of gender disparity concerning property rights, workload, wage rate, control over earnings, decision autonomy, social mobility, market participation, power, agency, and voice against violence. Moreover, the intersectional analysis unveiled the multilayered powerlessness of marginalized groups, stemming from their intersecting identities and exacerbated by governance leakage. Their resulting miseries reached to such an ultimate position that even hope seemed like a luxury to them. The findings suggest that gender equality in Bangladesh can only be attained in its true sense through collective socio-cultural transformation by breaking the ‘Man box’ trap and by familiarizing a social education system in which each individual will be taught to treat others equitably without any form of biases, which we termed as ‘Human box’ ideology

Cultivation of Local Rice Varieties in Bangladesh: Assessing the Farm Level Determinants

One of the main objectives of the green revolution is to replace the local (traditional) cultivars with high-yielding varieties (HYVs). Replacing HYVs in the local cultivars-intensive areas would increase rice production and strengthen national food security. To do this, it is necessary to identify the determinants of cultivating local rice varieties by farmers. Therefore, this study used fractional logistic regression and a cognitive approach in the popular Aman and Boro season local rice variety-intensive areas to find out the causes of cultivating local rice varieties. The findings reveal that the main cause is the adverse ecology, where HYVs are not suitable, but local cultivars have physiological attributes to be well suited. The local cultivars are growing mainly in the Haor and flood-prone ecosystems, where modern varieties can not be sustained. The profitability of local rice cultivars is better than the HYVs as well. Moreover, farmers' socioeconomic conditions such as age, education, occupation, income, and farm size influence the cultivation of local rice varieties. The yield, land topography, and market price also have an impact on the adoption intensity of local cultivars. The farmers also opined that the special grain quality of the local rice cultivars attracts the farmers, consumers, and market price that lubricate the intensity of local rice varieties adoption in the specific areas of Bangladesh. The findings of this study would be helpful for the rice breeders, scientists, and policymakers to develop suitable modern rice cultivars and management packages for boosting rice production in the targeted local rice cultivars intensive areas of Bangladesh. [J Bangladesh Agril Univ 2023; 21(1.000): 46-56

Rural Bangladeshi consumers’ (un)willingness to pay for low-milled rice: Implications for zinc biofortification

First published: 15 September 2022Zinc deficiency is a severe public health problem in Bangladesh. We examine the effects of nutritional information on rural consumers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for two ways to increase zinc intake through rice, the main staple crop–low-milling that gives rice grains a distinctive light brown color (a visible trait) and sets it apart from the culturally preferred high-milled white rice grain and biofortification of rice with increased zinc content (an invisible trait), which is also low-milled to retain maximum zinc content. Results of our economic experiments suggest that with nutritional information, consumers are willing to pay a premium of 4.6% for zinc biofortified rice compared to non-biofortified rice, when milled at the same level. However, results confirm the strong preference for high-milled rice by Bangladeshi consumers who discounted low-milled rice by 8%–10% even after receiving information on the nutritional benefits of biofortified or low-milled rice. We find that consumers’ WTP for the two high-zinc-low-milled rice types (biofortified and non-biofortified) is positively correlated with being a female, more educated, belonging to households engaged in non-farm activities and with children under 5 years of age. Results point to the importance of nutritional awareness campaigns for increasing zinc biofortified and low-milled rice consumption and guiding the targeting strategy for such campaigns. Given the consumer preference for high-milled rice, this study also points to the need for exploring the rice fortification strategy to address the challenge of malnutrition

Response and resilience of Asian agrifood systems to COVID-19: an assessment across twenty-five countries and four regional farming and food systems

Context: The COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting health and economies across the world, although the nature of direct and indirect effects on Asian agrifood systems and food security has not yet been well understood. Objectives: This paper assesses the initial responses of major farming and food systems to COVID-19 in 25 Asian countries, and considers the implications for resilience, food and nutrition security and recovery policies by the governments. Methods: A conceptual systems model was specified including key pathways linking the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 to the resilience and performance of the four principal Asian farming and food systems, viz, lowland rice based; irrigated wheat based; hill mixed; and dryland mixed systems. Based on this framework, a systematic survey of 2504 key informants (4% policy makers, 6% researchers or University staff, 6% extension workers, 65% farmers, and 19% others) in 20 Asian countries was conducted and the results assessed and analysed. Results and conclusion: The principal Asian farming and food systems were moderately resilient to COVID-19, reinforced by government policies in many countries that prioritized food availability and affordability. Rural livelihoods and food security were affected primarily because of disruptions to local labour markets (especially for off-farm work), farm produce markets (notably for perishable foods) and input supply chains (i.e., seeds and fertilisers). The overall effects on system performance were most severe in the irrigated wheat based system and least severe in the hill mixed system, associated in the latter case with greater resilience and diversification and less dependence on external inputs and long market chains. Farming and food systems' resilience and sustain-ability are critical considerations for recovery policies and programmes, especially in relation to economic performance that initially recovered more slowly than productivity, natural resources status and social capital. Overall, the resilience of Asian farming and food systems was strong because of inherent systems characteristics reinforced by public policies that prioritized staple food production and distribution as well as complementary welfare programmes. With the substantial risks to plant- and animal-sourced food supplies from future zoonoses and the institutional vulnerabilities revealed by COVID-19, efforts to improve resilience should be central to recovery programmes. Significance: This study was the first Asia-wide systems assessment of the effects of COVID-19 on agriculture and food systems, differentiating the effects of the pandemic across the four principal regional farming and food systems in the region