Six decades of agricultural land use change in Bangladesh: effects on crop diversity, productivity, food availability and the environment, 1948-2006

Rahman, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0391-6191 (2010) Six decades of agricultural land use change in Bangladesh: effects on crop diversity, productivity, food availability and the environment, 1948-2006. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 31 (2). pp. 254-269. ISSN 1467-9493 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9493.2010.00394.x

Abstract/Summary

This paper provides a detailed analysis of agricultural land use change in Bangladesh over a 59-year period (1948–2006) and examines how these have impacted crop diversity, productivity, food availability and the environment. The key findings of the analysis are: first, land use intensity has increased significantly over this period, mainly from the widespread adoption of a rice-based Green Revolution technology package beginning in the early 1960s; second, contrary to expectation, crop diversity too has increased; third, although land productivity has increased significantly, declines in the productivity of fertilizers and pesticides raise doubts over sustaining agricultural growth; fourth, food availability has improved, with a reversal in the dietary energy imbalance in recent years despite a high population growth rate; and finally, the production environment has suffered with widespread soil nutrient depletion experienced in many agroecological regions. The policy implication points towards crop diversification as a desired strategy for agricultural growth to improve resource economy, productivity and efficiency in farming in Bangladesh.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/107878
Identification Number/DOI	10.1111/j.1467-9493.2010.00394.x
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	No Reading authors. Back catalogue items
Publisher	Wiley
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