Rural Community and Agriculture Bangladesh: An Essay on ...repo.komazawa-u.ac.jp/opac/repository/all/16579/... · Part One, Part Part One Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Pat Tlvo

Part One, PartPart One

Chapter IChapter IIChapter III

Pat TlvoChapter IV

Part ThreeChapter IV

Introduction

This paper is primarily concerned with the re-cent change of agricultural land-use of ChandipurVillage, Kushtia District (Fig. I-1 and Figs. II-8and -9 in the appendix). More specifically, it at-tempts to identiry the changing characteristics ofagricultural land-use of the studied village by ex-amining a plot-to-plot data base over years underan associated study framework (Komoguchi L982,1988, and 1989), and to provide a changing land-use model of the western region of Bangladesh.

In order to fullfil the above objective, we willdescribe and analyze the concerned problems bymainly taking into account the change of the fol-lowing aspects: (1) the general conditions of culti-vation, (2) cultivated area of individual seasonalcrops, (3) their yields per unit area, and (4) types

Rural Community and Agriculture in Bangladesh:An Essay on Three Selected villages

Part trlour

Yoshimi Komoguchi*

Two, and Part Three of the same title consisted of the following chapters:**

Framework of the StudyStudy AreasGeneral Cropping Patterns and Recent Agricultural Programs in Bangladesh

Land-uses and Their Associations in Three Villages: South Rampur

Land-uses and Their Associations in Three Villages: Palas

CHAPTER IVLand-uses and Their Associations in Three Villages:

Chandipur

of crop-rotations throughout the year.

Unlike in our other studied areas of South Ram-pur Village of Comilla District and Palas Villageof Dhaka District, the field survey in Chandipurwas conducted only in two phases as indicated inthe footnote. Thus, most of our discussion in thispaper will be made based on the data obtained in1967-69 and 1983-85.

Study Area

The studied village, Chandipur, is located in a partof the western region of Bangladesh. We can pointout some basic physical elements associated withthe settlements and agriculture of Chandipur andits surrounding area as follows:

(1) The western region of Bangladesh receives

*Department of Geography at l(omazawa University, Tokyo.*Yoshimi lbmoguchi, "Rural Community . . ., Part One," Tlu Konauttn Geogrvphl, No.18 (Ibkf,o: Science Reportof Komazarva University, March 1982), pp.63-1U2,; and "Rural Community. . ., Part Twol' Regiorul Views, No. I(Tokyo: Institute for Applied Geography, I(omazawa Univ'ersity, March 1988), pp. 8l-103; and *Rural Communi-ty. . ., Fart Threl' Regional Views, No.2 (Tokyo: Institute of Applied Geography, March 1989), pp.lli!-B2. Thispaper is a part ofthe results mainly based on my fieldwork conducted in two phases: (l) during 1967-69 throughan advanced fellowship of East-West Center (Hauaii) and (2) during 1983-85 through an Overseas Research Fundof the Government of Japan and Komazawa University Research Fund. This publication itself was made possibleby the l(omazawa University Research Fund for 1989-1990.

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Rural Community and Agriculture in Bangladesh: Part Four (Komoguchi)

about 60 inches (I,424 mm) of annual rain-fall on average and is regarded as the driestpart in the nation;

(2) The region is located where the Ganges forkssouthward to form "the Ganges Delta," and

the physiomorphology itself seems to have

fluctuated and thus influenced the history ofsettlements and agricultural activities; and

(3) The recent developments of embankment andcanal irrigation works under the Ganges-Kobadak (G-K) Project (the inception ofwhich was in 1954) has provided more directchanging conditions for the settlements andagricultural activities.

In the pre-G-K Project, the major sources ofwater for agricultural uses in the studied villageand its adjacent areas had been provided by directrainfall and the annual floodings from the Ganges(Padoma) during the monsoonal rainy season. Theflood waters in the studied village had taken a

course through khal (natural water channel) run-ning from north to south alongside the presenteastern linear settlement; and then expanded itscoverage further east on one hand, and toward thewest on the other, leading to the central section ofthe village crossing some lower parts of the linearsettlement (Fig. II-9 in appendix).

After completion of the embankment and irri-gation works, Chandipur's physiographic unit has

been more sharply divided into the central andeastern sections, in each of which cultivation has

been more depenent upon irrigation under the G-K Project along with the rain-fed waters.

As already described, there are some characteris-tic land surhces or slopes in relation to major land-uses observed in Bangladesh (Komoguchi \982,86-94). Unlike our other studied villages, SouthRampur of Comilla District and Palas of DhakaDistrict, there are only four land surfaces in Chan-dipur, which are designated in this study as kvel-lthrough kvel-4 corresponding respectively to thegraduation from the highest down to the lowest lev-els. The first two surfaces are free or made freefrom flood waters; and the rest are submerged un-der flood waters during the rainy season.

The highest land (Level-l) is partly used forhomestead and partly still covered by forest, or-chards, thatching grass, and shrubs. The nexthigher surface (Level-2) distributed around theLevel-l land is used for some homestead; and

croplands for vegetables, seedlings, and rice cul-tivation itself in the different seasons. In 1968-69

there was some sizeable Level-2land observed inthe central portion of the village, but it was en-

tirely lowered to Level-3 land by 1984-85.

The major croplands in the studied village are

those on Level-3 and -4, t detailed discussion on

this land-use appears in the following sections.The bodies of water mostly consist of the main

canal of the G-K Project at the western side and

a lower narrow strip with khal and a lake at the

southeastern section of the village.lhble IV-19 shows the summary of land-uses in

Chandipur in 1968-69 and 1984-85. This table re-

veals some important changes during the 16 yearsbetween the two periods as follows:(l) expansionof the homesteads and associated areas; (2) expan-sion of croplands; (3) decrease of forest and or-chards; and (4) decrease of thatching grass andshrub lands.

The first two aspects are largely complementaryresults associated with the last two. Chandipur'spopulation and households respectively increasedfrom t,512 persons and 249 households in 1968-69

to 2,358 persons and 401 households in 1984-85.

Some of the new households created their resi-dences in new places not only by converting some

forest, orchard, thatching grass, and/or shrublands; but also by converting croplands. However,it should be noted that, as can be generally ob-served in Bangladesh, most of the new householdsin Chandipur have created their residences withinthe existing courtyards.

The expanded residential area (gil acres) out-side the existing courtyards during the 16 yearsmight appear to be a small extent. But, this doesnot belong to the dominant case in rural Ban-gladesh where the new residential areas have been

mostly made by sacrificing the croplands to a moresizeable extent as exemplified both in South Ram-pur Village of Comilla District and Palas Villageof Dhaka District (Komoguchi 1988, 81-82; 1989,

113-114).

The expanded area of croplands in Chandipurduring the 16 years accounted for 32.69 acres. Thishad been mostly made by converting forest, or-chard, thatching grass, and shrub; and partly by"invading" some of the associated area of railwaytracks.l

Since the studied village, Chandipur, has beenincluded in a part of the development area underthe Ganges-Kobadak Project, it is necessary to

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Rural Corrmunity and Agriculture in Bangladesh:Part Four(Komoguchi)

TABLE IV‐ 19SUMMARY OF LAND‐USE OF CHANDIPUR,KUSHTIA DISTRICT

IN 1968‐69 AND 1984‐85

Land-uses 1968… 69 1984-85

Area(in Acre)

PercentArea

(in Acre)

Homesteads and Associated

Arear

Croplands

Forest and Orchard

Thatching Grass and Shrub

Pathways and Roads

Railway Trucks

Water Bodies

Brickfields2

45。 47

388。 33

38。 40

24。 42

36.80

10。 07

58.61

0。 90

7.54

64.39

6.37

4.04

6.12

1.67

9.72

0.15

55。 18

421.92

18.33

7.30

36.80

6.81

56。 56

9.15

69。 97

3.04

1.21

6。 12

1.13

9.38

603.00 100.∞ 603.00 1∞。00

Notes: 1. These areas included schools and playgrounds,2. The brickfields are originally cropland.

Source: The author's fieldwork.

point out the Project's strategy of irrigation workrelated to the land-uses and their associatedproblems of this study.

At the initial stage of irrigation work under theG-K Project in the early 1960s, the developmentstrategy was to provide the proper volume of watersfor the existing crops, especially for different typesof rice crops (aus, aman-I, and aman-Z), &s wellas for "new (irrigated) boro."

However, the newly construct€d Faral*a Barrageof India located about 80 miles northwest along theGanges River from Rajshatri (the District Capital)of Bangladesh started its function, by the late1960s, to divert a large volume of water to the WestBengal. Since then, the Governments of India andBangladesh have had frequent meetings to reachan agreement in order to allocate the Ganges watervolume between the two countries.

Associated with this, the allocated water volumeof the Ganges River in Bangladesh has been largelyreduced in comparison with that in the pre-FarakkaBarrage. As the result, the water level of the Gangesduring the dry season has been lowered to a greatextent in its Bangladesh side, and accordingly, thecapacity of intake volume of water ftom the Gangesat the Pump House of Beramara (about 3 miles tothe studied village) has been largely reduced.

Thus, the irrigation strategy of the G-K Project

mosques and other public buildings.

stated above had to be revised: some areas assignedin the initial plan for the development of the "new(irrigated) boro " were excluded from the develop-ment program. In the studied village, the irrigat-ed boro cultivation started in around lnO andcontinued until 1980, although the cultivated areahad been a small area along the main canal to theimmediate east. In fact, during the boro seassonin 1983-84 and 1984-85, there was no running waterin the main canal of the studied village. Thus, ir-rigation has been supplied only to the crops in thekhnrif, an aggregated term of the first (April-August) and second (August-December/January)seasons in our classification. More specificdly,canal irrigation has been mostly used for the cropsin the earlier part of the first season and later partof the second season (in both of which the culti-vated crops have often been damaged due to short-age of water).

Seasonal Cropping Patterns andTheir Associations in 1960s

Thbles IV-20 and -21 respectively show cultivatedareas and yields of the seasonal crops in 1968 -69;and types of crop-rotation and their correspond-ing areas and yields. Figures IV-11, -I2, and -13

show distribution of cultivated areas of the in-

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dividual crops in three seasons for 1968-69.

Cropland in 1968-69 occupied 64 percent (39I.28

acres) of the total area (603.00 acres) of ChandipurVillage.

During the first season (April-August), the cul-tivated area in 1968-69 was about 81 percent (315.12

acres) of the total cropland. The crops in this sea-

son include d anrs , amnn-I (broadc ast aman ), jute,

Icaun (Italian millet) ,2 and sugarcane (Fig. IV-11).

In this season, aman-I paddy occupied the largestarea followed by ants paddy and jute. I(aun andsugarcane occupied a small area which respectivelyaccounted for 3.27 percent and 0.31 percent of thetotal cropland. Aman-l and aus together occupiedabout 65 percent of the total cropland.

Aman-I paddy was cultivated in the entireT-evel-4lands distributed extensively in the eastern

section and partly in some southern pockets of thevillage. As the amnn-I area is the lowest croplandin the village, it acts as a water channel as the mon-soon rains raise the water table.

,4us paddy and jute (tossajute or tosha pant) arecultivated mostly in Level-3 land, and partly inI-evel-2land in the studied village. In fact, the two

crops share almost the same physiographic condi-

tions for its cultivation, and thus they are competi-tive with each other in these lands during the firstseason; although "better lands"3 are usually allo-cated for jute cultivation within each farm. As ex-

emplified in our other studied village, Palas ofDhaka District, the other type of jute (white juteor deshi paat) is also cultivated in the lowerIrvel-4 land and it is competitive with amnn-l pad-

dy (Komoguchi 1989, 115). However, this was notthe case for Chandipur where, as stated above,

amnn-t paddy was cultivated in the entire Level-4land in 1968-69.

Comparing cultivation and other costs betweenjute and etts, the former's costs are almost doublethose of the latter. This is because of the fact thatjute cultivation requires more labor and fertilizerinputs than that required for aus cultivation; andthat jute also has higher processing costs after har-vesting, such as for retting, separating it fromsticks, drying, bundling, etc.

Kaun is cultivated in some pockets on Level-Zland in the central section of the studied village(Fig. II-9 in appendix and Fig. IV-11). The land for

TABLE IV‐ 20

CULTIVATED AREAS AND YIELDS OF SEASONAL CROPS IN CHANDIPURKUSHTIA DISTRICT(1968‐ 69)

CroppingSeasons

CropsAreal

(in Acres) Percent

Yield/Acre2

(in Maund)3

lst Season

(Apr.-Aug.)AusJute

Aman-1KaunSugarcane

124.15

47.88

129。 10

12。 78

1.21

31.73

12.24

32.99

3.27

0。 31

10.5

(11.0)

(5。 0)

315.12 80.54

2nd Season(Aug.-Dec.)

Aman-1Aman-2Sugarcane

Other NRCs

129.10

182.71

1.21

39.01

32.99

46。 70

0.31

9.97

12.0

15.0

(4。 0)

352.03 89。 97

3rd Season(Dec.-Apr.)

Sugarcane

Other NRCs1.21

64.09

0.31

16.38

(15。 0)

(4。 0)

65。 30 16.99

Notes: l. The total cropland was 388.33 acres . The percentage was calculated on the basis of each season.

2. The yields are weighed in unhusked rice. The yields ofnon-rice crops are converted to the rice equivalent figuresshown in the parentheses.

3. Orp trnwd corresponds to 37.32 kg or 82.29 lbs.


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Rural CoIImunity and Agriculture in Bangladesh:Part Four(Korrloguchi)

TABLE IV‐ 21TYPES OF CROP‐ROTATION,THEIR AREAS,AND YIELDS IN

CHANDIPUR,KUSHTIA DISTRICT(1968‐ 69)

Types of Crop-rotation

FirstSeason

Second

Season

Third

Season

Area(in Acres) Percent

Yield/Acrel

(in Maund)2

l. Aus

2. Aus

3. Aus

4. Aus

5. Jute

6. Jute

7. Jute

8. Jute

9. Aman-l

10. Aman-l

I l. Kaun

12. Kaun

13.

14.

15.

16. Sugarcane

Aman-2

AInan-2

NRCs

AInen-2

AInan-2

NRCs

Aman-2

NRCsArnan-2

Aman-2

NRCs

NRCs

NRCs

NRCs

NRCs

7.59

86.05

19.84

10.67

3。08

12.18

16.76

15。 86

11.63

117.47

10.37

2.41

32.02

31.42

9.77

1.21

1.96

22.16

5。 11

2.74

0。 79

3.14

4.32

4.08

2.99

30.25

2.67

0。 62

8.25

8.09

2.52

0.31

29.5

25.5

14.5

10.5

30。 0

26.0

25.0

11.0

16.0

12.0

20。 0

9。 0

19.0

15.0

4。 0

15。 0

Total 388.33 1∞。∞ 17 .4(Average)

Notes: l. The yields are weighed in unhusked rice.lent figures.

2. One maund corresponds to 37 .32 kg orSource: The author's fieldwork.

The yields of NRCs(non‐ rice crops)are COnverted to the rice equiva―

82.29 1bs.

l<nun and its immediate surroundings took shapeof a rugged landform in 1968 -69, and thus, in thefirst season, there was a mosaic of land-use con-sisting of lcnun, aus,jute, and amnn-l observed inthe compact area.

During the second season (August-December/January) in 1968-69, the cultivated areawas about90 percent of the total cropland. The cultivatedcrops in this season included aman-\ (broadcast),sugarcane, amnn-Z (trarrsplanted), and other NRCsconsisting of tobacco, oil-seeds, various types ofpulses, vegetables, etc. (Fig. IV-12). Among theabove, aman-l (broadcast) paddy and sugarcanewere grown from the previous season, as the form-er usually takes nine months to harvest and the lat-ter almost one year.

Aman-Z (transplanted) occupied the largest area(182:7I acres) among cultivated crops in the studiedvillages in 1968-69. It should be noted that 65.3percent (119.27 acres) of the above aman-Z area in

the second season was the same as had been usedfor either eus, jute, or l<nun in the first season.More specifically examining the aman-2 area inrelation to the croppings in the previous (first) sea-

son, we identified four types of crop-rotation as

follows: (1) aus + amnm-2 (93.64 acres), (2)jute+ anutn-2 (15.25 acres), (3) l<aun +amrrn-2 (10.37

acres), ffid (4) fallow + amnn-Z (63.!,l,4s1ss) (Ta-ble IV-zr).

Since aman-2 paddy generally provided thehighest yields among cultivated crops in the studiedvillage (Table IV-20), farmers have been trying toexpand the paddy area as much as possible bychanging physiographic conditions to make themfit for successful cultivation.

During the third season (called rabi) in 1968-69,the cultivated area occupied only tl percent (65.30acres) of total cropland of Chandipur. Unlike thecases of our other studied villages, there were noboro cultivation observed in the village. Thus, ex-

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Rural Community and Agriculture in Bangladesh: Fart Four (Komoguchi)

Figure IV-ll

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面蔽瀬面覇戸下面雨面可両面百,IPUR VILLAGE

LAND‐ USE rAucusT_DECEMBER 1968,

IEI]WA丁[R30DY

匡 ≡ ヨRttltWAY TRACκ

翻FORST AND ORCHARD

国

丁‖ArCHNC鷺浪 ‖RUB ■

HOMLsIムD

EヨυNttι

ttIPAD 匡ヨ触出 Y

卜._。

司Ⅶ MCE30UNDA鮮

Figure Ⅳ ‐12

-155-


BANCLADESH KUSHTIA DISTRiC丁

CHANDIPUR VILLAGE

二AND‐ USE(DECEMBER‐ APR11 7968‐691

Figure ry,13

∵●‥‥‥‥……ノ

　

一〇

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cept for a small area of sugarcane, the remainingarea was entirely under NRCs.

with regards to the water sources for the farm-ing, irrigation under the G-K project cannot beprovided to all the already mentioned characteristiccroplands. As generally observed in Bangladesh,irrigation in the studied village can be suppliedonly to the Levels-3 and -4 lands, but not to theLevels-l and -2lands. Moreover, until around thelate 1960s in and around the studied village, thefield canals have been only available in the kvel-3land, but not in the Invel-4land. Furthermore, thekvel-3 land itself assumed a rugged landform, ffidthus some of it was often disconnected from thefield canals.

Thus, until around the late 1960s, irrigation hasonly been provided to the major part of the kvel-3land. And, as suggested before, the strategic cropsfor irrigation have been those in the kharifseason(first and second seasons), especially aus in thefirst season (April-August) and aman-Z in secondseason (August-December/January). Thus, in other

lands (on Levels-l, -2, and -4), farming has beenalmost entirely dependent upon rain-fed waters.

Yields of individual crops in given fields havesome variations largely depending upon such ele-ments as degree of agricultural inputs, technolo-gies and practices adopted, and variedphysiographic conditions for the respective cropcultivation, which are well reflected in the charac-teristic croplands on different land levels.

For example, the yield of aus paddy for 1968-69was ll-12 mnunds (mds)/acre in kvel-3 land,whereas it was only 9 mds/acre or less in Levels-land -Zland, although its overall average was 10.5mds/acre in the studied village. This kind of vari-ation of yields can be applied for jute in the firstseason and for aman-Z in the second season. Theyield of aman-| (broadcast) paddy is less variablein given fields, because the physiographic condi-tions are almost the same among them. In 1968 -69,the yield of aman-l was I2.0 mds/acre on average.

So far in the above we examined cropping pat-terns and the associated aspects of Chandipur

TABLE IV‐ 22CHANGE OF CULTⅣ ATED AREAS OF SEASONAL CROPS BETWEEN 1964‐ 65 AND

1968‐69 1N CENTRAL PART OF CHANDIPUR,KUSHTIA DISTRICT

1964-65 1968-69 VarianceCropping

SeasonsCrops Area(I)

(in Acres)

Area (II)(in Acres)

(Ⅱ )― (I)

(in Acres)

lst Season(Apr.-Aug.)

AusJute

Aman-1Kaun

Sugarcane

106.48

43.32

12.83

19.24

5。 80

91.55

21.97

15.24

12.21

-14.93-21.35

+2.41- 7.03

- 5.80

187.67 140。 97 -46。 70


Aman-lAman-2SugarcaneOther NRCs

15。 24

143.13

26:84

+2.41+57.08- 5.80-H。04

12.83

86.05

5.80

37.88

142.56 185。 21 +42.65


Sugarcane

Other NRCs5.80

22.32 38。 46

- 5.80

+16。 14

28.12 38.46 +10.34

Intensity of Cropping 173。 96 182.03

Notes: l. The total examined area was 191.95 acres.2. Aman-l and Aman-2 correspond to broadcast Aman and transplanted Aman respectively.3. Aman-l requres two cropping seasons to harvest.4. Sugarcane requires l0 - 12 months to harvest.5. Intensity of cropping = the total cropped area + the net area x 100


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Village based on three seasons in the single crop-year of 1968-69. Then, how did these problemschange by the late 1960s? This is an imporant ques-

tion which must be answered in order to identifythe changing elements of land-use in the cultiva-tion systems. In relation to this, we found very valu-able plot-to-plot data of 1964-65 recorded by oneof the field overseers under the G-K Project,although the data covered only 191.95 acres in thecentral section of Chandipur. Thus, based on thedata of 1964-65 and the author's o\ryn data of1968-69 in the same area, we will examine theabove question.

Thbles lV-22 and -23 respectively show thechange of cultivated areas of individual seasonalcrops in a four-year period between 196/.65 and1968-69, ffid their corresponding types of the year-round crop-rotation. The intensity of cropping inthe examined area (191.95 acres) was increasedfrom I74 percent in 1964-65 to I82 percent in1968-69. Accounting for croppings on a seasonalbasis, there were some imporant changes observed

in a four-year period as follows:

(l) The first season's cropped area (187.67 acres)was decreased by about 25 percent (46.70

acres) for which the shrinkage of both aus andjute were greatly responsible. Sugarcane andkaun also decreased to a sizeable extent. Infact, sugarcane disappeared completely fromthe central section of the village.

(2) On the contrary the second season's croppedarea was increased by about 30 percent (42.65acres) for which the expansion of aman-2 areawas most responsble. More specificdly,aman-2 area alone increased 66 percent (57.08acres), despite NRCs area decreased to a size-able extent (11.04 acres).

(3) Although the cropped area in the third sea-son was still small, there were a sizeable ex-pansion of NRCs area.

TABLE IV‐ 23CHANGE OF CROP‐ ROTATION TYPES AND THEIR AREAS BETWEEN 1964o65 AND

1968‐69 1N CENTRAL PART OF CHANDIPUR,KUSHTIA DISTRICT

Types of Crop-rotation 1964-65 1968-69 Variance

FirstSeason

Second

Season

Third

Season

Area (I)(in Acres)

Area (II)(in Acres)

(II)― (I)

(in Acres)

1. Aus2. Aus3. Aus4. Aus5。 Jute

6. Jute

7. Jute

8。 Jute

AInan-2

AInan-2

NRCs

AInen-2

Aman-2

NRCs

Aman-2

NRCsNRCs

AInan-2

AInan-2

NRCs

NRCs

NRCs

NRCs

NRCs

18.33

41.15

20。 77

26。 23

0.62

7.33

15。 27

20。 10

0.62

12.21

2.75

11。 59

1.84

3。06

4.28

5.80

4.28

68.04

16。 17

3.06

1.53

7.62

9。 14

3.68

5。 18

10。 06

10.68

1.53

27.47

23。 51

-14。 05

+26。 89

-4.60

-23.17

+0。91

+ 0.29

-6。 13

-16。 42

+ 4.56

-2.15

- 2.75

-0.91-0.31

-3.06

+27.47

+19◆ 23

- 5。 80

9。

10。

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

Aman-1

Aman-1

Kaun

Kaun

Kaun

Kaun

Sugarcane一　

↓

Total

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191.95 191.95

Notes: The total examined area was 191.95 acres.Source: The author's fieldwork.


In all, the above facts reveal that the emphasisof seasonal cultivation has shifted from the firstseason to the second season during the four yearsbetween 1964-65 and 1968-69 in the central sec-tion of the studied village.

rhl?,."[H,Tlfi:"i""ilt*

Thbles IV-24 and -25 respectively show cultivat-ed areas and yields of seasonal crops in 1984-85;and types of crop-rotation and their correspond-ing areas and yields through the year (cf. ThblesIV-20 and -2I). Figures IV-14, -15, and -16 showdistribution of cultivated areas of the individualcrops in three seasons for 1984-85. Thbles IV-26and -27 respectively show Table change of culti-vated areas of the individual seasonal crops in the16 years between 1968-69 and 1984-85; and typesof crop-rotation and their corresponding areas andyields through the year.

Cropland in 1984-85 occupied 70 percent (421.92

acres) of total area (603.00 acres) of Chandipur

Village which accounted for an increase of 5.6 per-cent (33.59 acres) compared with that in 1968 -69.The intensity of cropping in 1984-85 was as highas 228 percent which accounted for 73 percentmore than that in 1968-69 (Table IV-26). Thechange of cultivated area on the seasonal basis inthe 16 years was the greatest in the third season(197.34 acres) followed by that in the first season(89.43 acres) and in the second season (44.5Iacres).

During the first season (April-August) in1984-85, about 96 percent (4M.55 acres) of the to-tal cropland was under cultivation which account-ed for 28 percent (89.43 acres) more than that in1968-69. The cultivated crops in this season includ-ed aus, aman-|, jute, sugarcane, and other non-rice crops (NRCs). Among these, aus and amnn-lrice crops respectively occupied 59 percent (246.81

acres) and 24 percent (100.88 acres) of the totalcropland. It should be noted that the aus paddy areaincreased 99 percent (122.66 acres) in the 16 years,and that its yield per unit of area increased from10.0 mds/acre in 1968-69 to 49.0 mds/acre in

TABLE IV‐24CULTⅣATED AREAS AND YELDS OF SEASONAL CROtt IN CHANDIPUR

KUSIttrIA DISTRICT(1984‐ 8o

CroppingSeasons

CropsAreal

(in Acres)Percent

Yield/Acre2(in Maund)3

lst Season(Apr.-Aug.)

AusJute

Aman-1Sugarcane

Other NRCs

246.81

53.90

100。 88

0.73

2.23

58.50

12.77

23.91

0。 17

0.53

49。 0

(25。 0)

(20。 0)

404.55 95.88


Aman-lAman-2

Sugarcane

Other NRCs

100.88

246.02

0。 73

48.91

23。 91

58。 31

0.17

11.59

26.0

52.0

(6.0)

396。 54 93。 98


Sugarcane

Other NRCsBoro

0。 73

248.55

13.32

0.17

58◆ 91

3.16

(35。 0)

(6.0)

25。 0

262.60 62.24

Notes: 1. The total cnrpland was 421.92 acres . The p€rcentage was calculated on the basis of each season.2. The yields are weighed in unhusked rice. The yields of NRCs (non-rice crops) are converted to the rice equiva-

lent figures shown in the parentheses.

3. One nwnd corresponds to 37.32 kg or 82.29 lbs.Source: The author's fieldwork.

-159-

Rural Community and Agriculture in Bangladesh:Part Four(Kolmoguchi)

TABLE IV‐ 25

TYPES OF CROP口ROTATION,THEIR AREAS,AND YIELDS INCHANDIPUR,KUSHTIA DISTRICT(1984‐ 8o

Types of Crop-rotation

FirstSeason

Second

Season

Third

Season

Area(in Acres)

Yield/Acrel

(in Maund)2

1. Aus

2. Aus3. Aus

4. Aus

5。 Jute

6. Jute

7. Jute

8. Jute

9。 Aman-1

10。 Aman-1

Ho Aman-1

12。 NRCs13. NRCs

14. 二

15。二―

16。一

17. 一

18。 ――

19。 Sugarcane

Aman-2

AInan-2

NRCs

AInen-2

Aman-2

NRCs

Aman-2

AInan-2

AInan-2

AInan‐2

NRCs

NRCs

NRCs

Boro

NRCs

NRCs

NRCs

Boro

NRCsNRCs

221.90

17.85

0。 73

6。 33

0.12

2.35

47.15

4.28

10.79

11.52

78.57

0。 90

1.33

0.84

0。 73

2.53

1.03

12.24

0。 73

52.59

4.23

0.17

1.50

0.03

0.56

11.18

1.02

2.56

2.73

18.62

0.21

0.32

0.20

0。 17

0.60

0.24

2.90

0。 17

107.0

101。 0

55。 0

49。 0

83.0

77.0

31。 0

25。 0

51.0

32.0

26.0

78。 0

72。 0

58.0

52。 0

25。 0

12.0

6.0

35。 0

Total 421.92 1∞ .∞ 73.6(Average)

Notes: 1. The yields are weighed in unhusked rice. The yields ofNRCs (non-rice crops) are converted to the rice equiva-lent figures.

2. One mawd corresponds to 37.32 kg or 82.29 lbs.Source: The author's fieldwork.

1984-85. The higher yield of the aus paddy itselfhas given a great incentive to expand its cropped

area in recent years.Jute crop occupied a sizeable area (53.90 acres)

in 1984-85 which accounted for 6.02 acres morethan that in 1968 -69. The expanded area was mostlydistributed along narrow strips on both sides of the

railway track of the village in which farming was

entirely dependent upon the rain-fed water. Since

this area belongs to the Bangladesh Railways, the

cultivaters have had tenancy contracts with itsauthority.

Sugarcane and other NRCs were cultivated in asmall area respectively. Kaun (Italian millet) whicharea occupied D.78 acres in 1968-69 disappeared

completely by 1984-85. More specifically, the erst-

while lcnun area (on Level-2) has completely beenconverted, by ground-lowering, to the kvel-3 landin which at least two major crops (aus in the firstseason and amnn-Z in the second season) canusually be cultivated.

During the second season (August-December/January) in 1984-85, the cultivated area was 94 pr-cent (396.54 acres) of the total cropland of the vil-lage which was 13 perc ent (44.51 acres) more thanthat in 1968 -69. The increased amnn-2 area (63.31

acres) largely contributed to the expansion of cul-tivated :nea in the second season, although aman-lpaddy (the sirme crop continued from the previ-ous season) reduced its cultivated area by 28.22acres. There was also a sizeable expansion of NRCsof which kochu (the same crop known as taro in

-160-


Figure ry-14

-161-


Figure IV-fs

-162-


Figure IV-16

-163-


the Pacific area) has become popular in recentyears.

Among the cultivated crops in the second sea-son, aman-2 paddy occupied the largest area ac-counted for 58.3 percent (246.02 acres) of the totalcropland. Moreover, the yield of amnn-Z was as

high as 52.0 mds/acre in 1984-85 which was ac-counted for 3.47 times of that in 1968-89. It shouldbe noted that 99.36 percent (244.55 acres) of thetotal amnn-2 area in the second season for 1984-85was the same as had been used for either aus,jute,or some other non-rice crops (NRCs) in the previ-ous (first) season. Examining the amnn-2 area as-sociated with the croppings in the previous season,there were four types of crop-rotation as follows:(1) aus amnn-2 (239:75 acres) , (2) Juteamnn-2 (2.47 acres), (3) NRCs + anutn-Z (2.23acres), ffid (4) Fallow -+ aman-2 (1.57 acres) (Ta-ble IV-27).

It is important to note that the area for first type(aus + amnn-z) occupied as high as 97.5 percentof the total aman-2 areaand g7.1percent of the to-

tal aus area resspectively. Examaining the changeof the aus --' amnn-2 area between 1968-69 and1984-85, we note that it was increased by 156.3 per-cent (l46.lL acres) in the 16 years.

The expansion of the cultivated areas of aus pad-dy in the first season and aman-2 in the secondseason in the studied village have been made pos-sible by the following physical change of the con-cerned lands:

(1) Conversion of forest, orchard, thatching grass,

and shrub into croplands (Levels-l, -2 andlor-3);

(2) Creation of more productive Level-3 land bylowering Levels-l and -2 land; and

(3) Conversion of kvel-4 land into more produc-tive kvel-3 land by ground raising on l-evel-4surface which has been complementary workassociated with (1) and (2).

In the above, we reahze that the farmers in thestudied village have been trying to create and ex-

TABLE IV‐ 26CHANGE OF CULTⅣATED AREAS OF SEASONAL CROPS BETWEEN 1968‐ 69

AND 1984o85 1N CHANDIPUR,KUSHTIA DISTRICT

1968-69 1984¨ 85 VarianceCropping

SeasonsCrops Area(I)

(in Acres)

Area (II)(in Acres)

(Ⅱ )― (I)

(in Acres)

lst Season

(Apr.-Aug.)Aus

Jute

Aman-lKaunSugarcane

Other NRCs

124.15

47.88

129。 10

12。 78

1.21

246.81

53.90

100.88

0。 73

2.23

+122.66

+ 6.02- 28.22- 12.78- 0.48+ 2.23

315.12 404.55 + 89.43


Aman-1Aman-2

Sugarcane

Other NRCs

129。 10

182.71

1.21

39.01

100.88

246.02

0.73

48.91

- 28.22

+ 63.31- 0。48

+ 9。90

352.03 396.54 + 44.51


Sugarcane

Other NRCsBoro

0。 73

248.55

13.32

- 0.48+184.46+ 13.32

1.21

64。 09

65.30 262.64

Intensity of Cropping 154.74

-164-

227.85

+197.34

Notes: l. The total cropland in2. The total cropland in


1968-69 was 388.33 acres.

1984-85 was 421.92 acres.

Rural CoIImunity and Agriculture in Bangladesh:Part Four(KoIIloguChi)

TABLE Ⅳ ‐27CHANGE OF CROP‐ ROTATION TYPES AND THEIR AREAS BETWEEN 1968‐ 69

AND 1984‐85 1N CHANDIPUR9 KUSHTIA DISTRICT

Types of Crop-rotation 1968-69 1984-85 VarianceFirst

Season

Second

SeasonThird

SeasonArea (I)

(in Acres)Area (II)(in Acres)

(II)― (I)

(in Acres)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5。

6.

7.

8。

9.

10。

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18。

19.

20.

21.

Aus

Aus

Aus

Aus

Jute

Jute

Jute

Jute

Aman-l

Aman-l

Aman-1

Kaun

Kaun

NRCs

NRCs

Sugarcane

Aman-2

Aman-2

NRCs

AInen… 2

AInan-2

NRCs

AInan-2

NRCs

AInan-2

AInan¨ 2

Aman-2

AInan-2

NRCs

NRCs

NRCs

Boro

NRCs

NRCs

NRCs

Boro

NRCs

NRCs

7.59

86.05

19.84

10.67

3.08

12.18

16.76

15,86

11.63

117.47

10.37

2.41

32.02

31.42

9.77

1.21

221.90

17.85

0。 73

6.33

0.12

2.35

47.15

4.28

10.79

11.52

78.57

0。 90

1.33

0。 84

0.73

2.53

1.03

12.24

0.73

+214.31

- 68.20

-19.H

- 4.34

- 2.96- 9.83

+ 30.39

- 11.58

+ 10。 79

- 0。 H- 38.90

- 10.37

- 2.41

+ O.90

+ 1.33

-231.18

- 30。 69

+ 2.53

+ 1.03

+ 2.47- 0。48

Total 388.33 421.92 + 33.59

Notes: 1. The total cropland in2. The total cropland in

Source:The author's fieldwork.

1968-69 was 388.33 acres.

1984-85 was 421.92 acres.

pand the productive kvel-3 land by either ground-raising or -lowering where at least the major twocrops (aus in the first season and aman-2 in thesecond season) are possible to cultivate with goodharvests.

During the third season (December-April) in1984-85, the cultivated area was 62 prcent (262.ffiacres) of the total cropland which accounted for302 percent more than that in 1968 -69. The non-rice crops (NRCs) areaincreased from &.09 acresin 1968-69 to 248.55 acres in 1984-85. The increaseof the NRCs area primarily contributed to the greatexpansion of the cultivated area in the third season.

Although the NRCs' yields were conspicuouslylow in comparison to other crops, they occupied

considerable area as stated above; and thus con-tributed to a great extent to the overall agricultur-al production in the studied village. Moreover,cultivation of the field crops (major crops amongthe NRCs) improves the harvest of their associat-ed crops in the subsequent season, because theyenrich the soil fertility by creating nitrogen in theirroots (Komoguchi 1989, ll7).

Boro paddy occupied 3.16 percent (13.32 acres)of the total cropland in the third season. This cropwas newly introduced to the lower part of Level-4land along one of the secondary canals and the l<hal(natural water channel) of the eastern section ofthe village. Since boro cultivation in the studiedvillage was almost completely dependent upon the

-165-


Crops

TABLE IV‐28APPLICAT10N OF FERILIZERS PER ACREIN CHANDIPUR,KUSHTIA DISTRICT(1984o8o

only provides higher yield of the crops itself, butalso shortens the crop's ripening so that early trans-

planting of amnn-2 is possible in the same fieldsin the subsequent season.

In general, the yields of individual crops in the16 year period between 1968-69 and 1984-85 in-creased to a great extent, of which those of aus inthe first season and aman-2 in the second season

were remarkably increased (Ihbles fV-20 and -24).By extention, in the same perid, the average rice

equivalent yield per unit area throughout the yearin the studied village increased from f7.4 mds/acrein 1968-69 to 73.58 mds/acre in 1984-85 (Tables

IV-21 and -25).The above outcome has been provided through

the development of irrigation systems associatedwith modern agricultural inputs, and adoption ofimproved practice and technology.

In the cases of our other studied villages, SouthRampur of Comilla District and Palas of DhakaDistrict, the strategic crops are amltn-Z in the se-cond season and (irrigated) boro in the third (dry)season.

However, in Chandipur, they are aus in the firstseason and amnn-2 in the second season both ofwhich are the rotational crops cultivated in I-evel-3lands. It should be noted that the farming systemsin the studied village have been only possible un-der the new physical conditions for agriculture in-cluding the development of flood control andirrigation systems initiated by the Ganges-KobadakProject.

Examining the land-use and its associatedproblems in 19&-65, 1968-69, and 1984-85, "tradi-tional" elements remained to a varied degree ineach stage; but there were fairly constant develop-ments observed in the studied village.

Notes

l. The respective areas on both sides of railwaytracks have never been used for cropland atleast before 1968-69 crop year. However, by1983-84 and onward, some of the areas havebeen under cultivation.

2. Among various types of millet cultivated inBangladesh, kaun (Setalia italica) and chee-tur (Panicum millaceum) are most popularcrops. I(aun can be cultivated both as a ldrnrif(first and second seasons') crop and as a rabi(third season') crop, whereas cheenn only as

a rabi crop. See Rashid tn8, pp.249-252.3. In this usage, fertility of the fields with good

Manure C)ilcake

(in Ma“んど)1 (in s`θ r)2

Cheinical

Fertilizers

(in i4α““

グ)

AusAman-1Aman-2BoroJute

70-90

0-70

70-90

30

30

30

14

4.5

4.5

1.1

2.6

Field CropsVegetables

Notes: 1. One 励“グ corresponds to 37.32 kg or

82.29 1bs.

2. Forty s``rs make up one““磁。

Source: ′rhe author's fleldwork。

TABLE IV‐29VttTES USED FOR EACH TYPES OF

RICE CROPS IN CHANDIPUR,KUSHTIA DISlⅡucT(1984p8o

Crops TraditionalVarieties

ModernVarieties

Aus

Aman-l(broadcast)

Aman-2(transplanted)

Boro

Kalostezali,Sadastezali

Nazishail,ZftamatiHidi, Gangashar,

MurkimalerKalo-boro

IR-76,BR-3

BR-4,BR-10,BR-11


traditional method (rain-fed water only, no fertilr;rorinputs, no adoption of modern varieties, etc.) itsyield was only 25.0 mds/acre which accounted foran extremely small amount compared with thosein our other studied villages, South Rampur (54.9mds/acre) of Comilla District and Palas (48.3mds/acre) of Dhaka District (Komoguch 1988, 93;1989, 122). This yield, however, was not so small,since the estimated yield on average in Bangladeshwas 25.91mds/acre in 1983-84 and 26.91mds/acrein 1984-85 (BBS 1987,48-53).

It is generally true that degree of agriculturalinputs and adoption of modern varieties varydepending upon the individual crops' potentialproductivity (Table IV-28 and -29). When farm-ers realize that the specific crops provide poten-tially higher yield by adopting some improvedcultivation method without much costs, they usual-ly try to achieve it. In the aus cultivation, for ex-ample, the "traditional" broadcast method has beenchanged into the transplanted method; which not

-166-

Rural Community and Agriculn'rre in Bangladesh: Fart Four (Komoguchi)

drainage is of primary importance. This termalso includes a distance factor fromhomesteads to the fields, because jute requiresmuch more care than aus.

References

BBS (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics). 1987. year-

book of Agricultural Statistics of Bangladesh1985-86, Dhaka.

Komoguchi, Yoshimi . 1982. Rural Community andAgriculture in Bangladesh: An Essay on ThreeSelected Villages, Part One, Komnzawa Chiri(Science Report of Geography), no.18, pp.63-102. Tokyo: Department of Geography, Koma-

zawa University.Komoguchi, Yoshimi. 1988. Rurl Community and

Agriculture in Bangladesh: An Essay on ThreeSelected Villages, Fart Tlvo, Chiikigaku lfunlEu(Regional Views), no.1, pp.81-103. Tokyo: Insti-tute for Applied Geography, Komazawa Uni-versity.

Komoguchi, Yoshimi. 1989. Rural Community andAgriculture in Bangladesh: An Essay on ThreeSelected Villages, Part Three, ChiikigakuIknlcyu (Regional Vicws), no.2, pp.113-32.Tokyo: Institute for Applied Geography, Koma-zawa University. Rashid, Haroun Er. 1978. Ge-ography of fungladesh. Boulder: WestviewPress, Inc.

Appendix

The following three figures which appeared in Part one are included here again for t}re reader's con-venience.

-167 -


26°

24]

23°

88° 89° 9■°

91°

92°

920

90°

Figure I-1

26°

25°

24°

23°

2・ 2°

2■°

22°

2r

88°

BANGLADESH

DISTRICTS AND STUDY AREAS

District Capita■ = ●

Study Areas: ―

士

Sylhごt●

SYLHET

/36uth Rampurア

omilla

COMILLA

●Maij di

CHITTA¨GONGHILL

静《醜黒t:

も° ヽ ●

「ヽ・?J

８̈。ｎｇ̈ＧＯＮＧ

ヽ‐‐、″ヽご、ヽだ濯

BAY OF BENGAL

0 50 ■oo Mi■ es,

0 50 ■oo ■50 Km

fsiti撃

I毛二re 、FARIDPI

-168-


Figure II_8

-169-

|

|

BANCLADESH KUSHTIA DISTRiC丁

CHANDIPUR VILLAGE

PHYSrCAL SETTINCS

囲Ю RSwPRCHARD

国‖ArCHIN鴇

爵AND SHRU3 _H%羅

r,D

11菫甕 ]ιFyfι _2饉轟卜

Fyfι2 :≡ヨ

ιEVEl‐ 3 圏嚢 ]LEttL4 [亜コ

WArfR 30DY

―RAIWAγ

'M∝

―uNMFttLED ROAD 卜 =名 M‖WAY

朧朧

朧

櫂

権

鞣

継

権

権

轟o tgo '.E'E'(J 3oo

loo -;-^- 300

国覇VECFη

鵠踏RDEN

卜六

「

|‖[ι D CANALS

卜 _』 ⅥιιACF 30UNDARY


Figure II-9

-170-

Rural Community and Agriculture Bangladesh: An Essay on ...repo.komazawa-u.ac.jp/opac/repository/all/16579/... · Part One, Part Part One Chapter I Chapter II Chapter III Pat Tlvo

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