4 lakh acres of farmland turn non-arable in a decade

In the span of a decade, around 4 lakh acres of arable land have passed into the non-agricultural sector, according to the Agriculture Census 2019.

The volume of agricultural land in the country has decreased to 186.81 lakh acres, which was 190.97 lakh acres in the previous census in 2008, notes the latest government census.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) released the census, the sixth in its series, at a programme held in its office in Dhaka on Tuesday.

The agriculture sector plays a vital role in accelerating the country's economic growth, contributing around 14% of GDP and providing employment for around 40% of the total labour force.

Some research institutes, at different times, have stated that the country's agricultural land is shrinking at a rate of 1% per year.

However, addressing the programme as chief guest, Planning Minister MA Mannan said the claim that arable land is depleting at the rate of 1% is not true.

If croplands had been diminishing at such a rate, there would have been no place to grow crops by now, Mannan said.

The new census reveals that cultivable lands are decreasing at a rate of 0.23% a year, not by 1%.

The census also found that despite the decrease in land volume, the amount of crop cultivation has actually increased over time, a fact which can be ascertained from the concentration of crops.

Some 11 years ago, as many as 173 crops were produced in the country. The figure now stands at 214. In other words, the volume of cultivation of various crops on agricultural land has increased, according to the census.

In addition, the number of farm households has also increased by more than 16 lakh over the last decade due to the transformation of the family structure from extended to nuclear. 

According to the agricultural census, the number of agricultural households was 151.83 lakh in 2008, which stood at 168.81 lakh 11 years later. 

The number of farmers, however, was not counted in this census, only farm households.

State Minister of Planning Shamsul Alam said, "Big families are breaking up and getting smaller. People are dividing their lands among their offspring. That is why the volume of land is not increasing."

Besides, there have been some changes in crop cultivation. People are gradually reducing the cultivation of Aush crop. In 2018, Aush was cultivated on 25.53 lakh acres of land, but now the volume has come down to 24.59 lakh acres. On the other hand, jute and maize cultivation has increased significantly, he said.

The use of tractors, power tillers and thresher machines has increased tremendously, the state minister added.

The fisheries and livestock sectors have also been included in the new agriculture census. However, the number of cows, goats and chickens in the country has partially come up in the report. 

Alauddin Al Azad, project director of the Agricultural Census 2019, said, "The census only mentions farm families who have chickens, cows and goats. Farms that rear cows, goats and chickens commercially were not counted."

Planning Minister MA Mannan said commercial or institutional farms are playing an important role in the country's livestock economy.

"The census should not have been made by leaving them out of the calculation."

According to the census, the number of cows, buffaloes and poultry in the country has increased significantly. The total number of cows mentioned in the census is 2,94,52,000, which was 2,58,78,000 in the 2008 census. 

Similarly, the total number of goats found in this census is 1,14,44,000. The figure was 1,60,18,000 in the 2008 census.

Besides, the total amount of land under fisheries in the Agricultural Census 2019 was around 12.12 lakh acres.