Impact of Versatile Multi-crop Planter on service providers’ livelihood in some selected areas of Bangladesh

The cropping intensity of Bangladesh is increasing year after year because most small holders start growing three or more crops in a year. Over a 5-year cycle due to changing profitability of crops, farmers cultivate 4-6 crops with diverse seed sizes, seed rate, row spacing, fertilizer rates, and seed depth. Hence a planter for such diverse cropping systems needs to have multi-functional capabilities. Service providers also need to be able to hire out their planter for business all year round to justify the investment cost. There are a number of other criteria and challenges that would need to be satisfied by potential purchasers of a planter. The VMP (Versatile Multi-crop Planter) is such a unique machine for two-wheel tractor which can meet the above criteria and successfully establish a diverse range of crops since 2008 (Haque et al., 2011). It has designed with capability for seeding and fertilizing with fluted roller or vertical plate meters in lines for single-pass shallow-tillage, strip planting, zero tillage and bed planting. The service providers remove seeding unit from VMP and convert only for high speed rotary tiller (HSRT). Most of the grain seeds like wheat, paddy, maize, jute, pulses, oilseeds etc. can be sown in line using VMP. It owners are using this device for their own land cultivation and earning cash income through custom hiring to other farmers and could improve their livelihood through this machine. Therefore, an attempt was made to assess the profitability of VMP operations at farm level and the impacts of its operations on service providers’ livelihood

Impacts of conservation tillage machinery on service provider’s livelihood: A farm level study

Most tillage operations in Bangladesh are done by power tiller to lower cost and decrrease time required for cultivation (Islam, 2000; Miah, 2000; Barton, 2000; Miah et al., 2002; Haque et al., 2008). The traditional tillage method reduces soil organic carbon at double rate and decreases soil fertility (Grace, 2003), has losses of irrigation water and soils (Sayre and Hobbs, 2003), and damages the ecological environment (Grace, 2003). Therefore, the concept of conservation tillage has arisen all over the world which is new in Bangladesh. A power tiller operated seeder (PTOS) is a two wheel tractor operated seed drill, widely used for establishment of various crops. The sowing of seeds and laddering operations are completed simultaneously in a single pass using PTOS in many areas of Bangladesh. Most of the grain seeds like wheat, paddy, maize, jute, pulses, oilseeds etc are sown in line using PTOS. The owners of PTOS are using this device for their own land cultivation and earning cash income through custom hiring to other farmers. The custom hiring of PTOS is highly profitable at farm level (Miah et al. 2010) and many service providers could improve their livelihood through this machine. The socioeconomic impacts of this popular conservation tillage implement have not been done in the country. Therefore, the present study was conducted to explore the socio-economic profile of the PTOS service providers; to find out the usages pattern and problems of PTOS at service providers’ level; and to determine the impacts of PTOS on the livelihoods of service providers

RETURNS TO INVESTMENT IN SUMMER ONION RESEARCH AND EXTENSION IN BANGLADESH

The study estimated the rates of returns to investment on research and development of summer onion in Bangladesh. The Economic Surplus Model with ex-post analysis using secondary data was used to determine the returns to investment and its distribution between the production and consumption. Several discounting techniques were also used to assess the impact of summer onion research. The results revealed that the growth of area and production of onion increased manifolds due to farm level adoption of summer onion. The summer onion adoption rate was found increasing trend over the period. The yield of summer onion was 57.04% higher than the local variety. The internal rate of return (IRR), net present value (NPV), and benefit cost ratio (BCR) were estimated to be 25%, Tk.35.29 million and 3.09 respectively. Sensitivity analysis revealed that under various assumptions IRR ranged from 20 to 41%, NPV from Tk.18.37 to Tk.64.05 million, and BCR from 2.31 to 5.95. The results indicated that investment in research and development of summer onion was a good investment

LIVESTOCK MARKET INTEGRATION AND PRICE DYNAMICS IN THE UNITED STATES

This study examines livestock market integration and price dynamics in the United States using weekly price series of five major livestock market from October 2005 to March 2015. Engle-Granger and Gregory-Hansen bivariate co-integration tests and Johansen multivariate co-integration test were employed to measure integration among spatially separated markets. Price dynamics among livestock markets were investigated by the Vector Error Correction model. The result indicates that all markets are co-integrated with sharing a common stochastic trend suggesting the ‘Law of One Price’. The long-run and short-run dynamics of price suggest that the transmission of price changes from one market to another market during the same week is very fast. Livestock markets in the United States are well integrated reflecting satisfactory level of price discovery and market efficiency

Factors Affecting Conservation Agriculture Technologies at Farm Level in Bangladesh

Conservation agriculture (CA) is a win-win approach that reduces operational costs, including machinery, labour, and fuel, while increasing yields, profit and better utilization of natural resources. Data and information on farm level CA technology adoption are scarce in Bangladesh.Therefore, the study was conducted at three Upazilas of Rajshahi and Thakurgaon districts to assess adoption and farmers perceptions on CA technology, and to determine the factors of CA technology adoption at farm level in 2017. A total of 405 farmers taking 135 adopters and 270 non-adopters were selected randomly for this study. The study revealed that CA technology adoption is still going on in the study areas. However,the rates of adoptions of crop residue retention (67%) and crop rotations (38.9%) were much higher compared to minimum tillage (14.9%). Residue retention (68.9%) and suitable crop rotations (34.4%) were also practiced by the non-adopters. The age, innovativeness, and extension contact of the farmers and availability of VMP had significant positive influence on the adoption of CA technologies. The major problems of adoption were non-availability of minimum tillage planter, lack of knowledge and awareness of the farmer, and no/little subsidy provision on planter.Increasing the availability of VMP, providing training on CA methods,and providing subsidy on planter are important to increase CA technology adoption at farm level

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Not AvailableThe increasing importance of maize in Asia – the second most important crop after rice – can be attributed to a manifold increase in demand. This is due to its diversified end-uses such as for poultry and cattle-feed, high quality starch and a wide array of industrial derivatives such as dextrose, maltose, ethanol, maize oil, etc., besides different variants of food items such as sweet corn, popcorn, baby corn and other corn-based fast food items. Maize supply and demand, in Asia, played an influential role in the world maize economy.Not Availabl

DEMAND, SUPPLY AND REASONS FOR PRICE HIKE OF POTATO IN BANGLADESH

The objective of the study is to find out the factors behind the supply, demand and thereby prices of potato and explore the existence of syndicate in the market. The study is mainly based on secondary data. Additionally, some qualitative data were collected through FGD and KII from Bogura, Rangpur and Munshiganj areas. The area, production and yield of potato grew by 4.58%, 6.61% and 1.95%, respectively per annum since independence. The production of HYV potato rose sharply, while local one rose at a slower pace. Potato production exhibits high fluctuation with roughly three years’ cycle, which sharply decreased in the recent past. The nominal prices of potato witnessed upward trend, while real prices experienced downward trend since independence. There exists wide seasonal price variation of potato with the lowest price in March and the highest in December. Potato market seemingly integrated as prices at all levels move together. The rising trend of potato prices seems to be halted after re-fixing prices by DAM. Real prices displayed wide price variation as volatility index stands at 73.16%. The total surplus of potatoes in 2020 stands at 3.40 lakh MT which is much lower than the previous years. The profit earned by the potato growers was estimated at around Tk. 1.1 million /ha. The estimated DRC implies that Bangladesh had comparative advantage in potato production for export promotion. In 2020, 73% capacity of 392 cold storages in operation is utilized. It is concluded that main cause of the price hike was the artificial crisis created by some profit seeking traders rather than the low production and higher consumption of potato in the country. Fixation of price, regular market monitoring and taking legal action to the artificial crisis creators may be the way of avoiding unexpected price hike of potato in the country