A description and analysis of rural land use of Bangladesh with the help of different available data, books and journal.

1. Prepared by-
Mohammad Mohaiminul Islam,
Department of Geography & Environmental Studies,
University of Chittagong.

2. Introduction
 Land use in Bangladesh has evolved through natural forces as well as human
needs. Cultivated land, forestland, settlements and homesteads are the major
land use types in Bangladesh.
 Like many other countries, land is overwhelmingly the greatest national
resource of Bangladesh on which it's entire population depends for food
supply.
 To understand the nature and properties of the soils in Bangladesh and their
geographical distribution, this country has conveniently been divided into
three physiographic units having three distinct geological ages, such as:
(1) Tertiary hills (12 %)
(2) Pleistocene terraces (8%) and
(3) Recent floodplains (80%).

3. Abbreviations
BBS= Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
FAO= Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations

4. Concept of Land and land Use
 Land: Land is the solid surface of the earth; an area or ground. Though land
and soil are same in general sense‚ but geographically and geologically there's
a difference‚ and that is- land includes both plant growing and non-growing
surface of the earth‚ where soil includes only plant growing portion of the
earth's surface.
 Land Use: Land use or utilization is the statisfaction‚ which the farm
population derives from the type of agriculture developed‚ the provision for
future production and the contribution to national needs. (Buck‚ 1951)
It also has been defined as "the arrangements, activities and inputs people
undertake in a certain land cover type to produce, change or maintain it."
(FAO‚1997)

5. Functions of Land
1. Production Function.
2. Space function for socio-economic and infrastructural
development.
3. Human settlement space function.
4. Biotic environmental function.
5. Climate regulative function.
6. Hydrologic function.
7. Waste and pollution control function.
8. Storage function.
9. Archive or heritage function.

6. Classification of Land Use
The classification of land according to it's use-
A. Agricultural (Used for Cultivation and farming)
B. Industrial (Used as a space for manufacturing
industries)
C. Residential (Used as a space for settlement)
D. Recreational (Used as a space for amusement park or
entertainment purposes)

7. Rural Land Use in Bangladesh
Bangladesh has a large area having rural setting.
According to Rashid, only Dhaka and Chittagong have the
appropriate urban setting, other regions of the country
have a strong rural influence.
Rural land mainly has two types of uses- cultivation and
settlement. 25% of the total land of Bangladesh, are
invaded by settlement spaces, lest are covered by
agriculture lands or forests.

8. Physical Basis of Land Use in
Bangladesh
An understanding of physical environmental condition is essential for
understanding land use and copping practices in a region. The
following phenomena are known as the physical basis of land use in
Bangladesh.
1. Climate: Which includes 4 seasons- Premonsoon, Monsoon, Post
Monsoon and Dry Season.
2. Physiography and Relief: Bangladesh has three major physiographic
units- Hills, Terrace and Recent Floodplain.
3. Hydrology: It includes river flow, floods and flooding.
4. Soils: Bangladesh has a wide diversity in soils, and they often occur
in complex pattern.

9. Land Use Scenario of Bangladesh
(BBS,1999)
Land Use Types Hectares (in 000) %
Total land area 14,845 100
Not available for cultivation 3,700 24.9
Forest 2,255 15.2
Cultivable waste 445 3
Current fallow 2,999 20.2
Double cropped area 979 6.6
Single cropped area 451 3
Triple cropped area 4,013 27

10. Crops Produced in Rural Lands of
Bangladesh
The main crop of Bangladesh is rice which occupies 80% of the cropped area
and annual production of rice is 26-27 million metric tons. Apart from this,
there are some other crops that reaches the necessity of population and
enriches national economy-
1. Rice
2. Wheat
3. Cereals
4. Jute
5. Tea
6. Pulses
7. Oilseeds
8. Vegetables
9. Spices
10. Fruits
11. Potato
12. Sugarcane
13. Tobacco

11. Conflicts of Land Use in Bangladesh
Land is a notorious phenomenon for various conflicts
in Bangladesh. It's reported that half of murders in
Bangladesh happened because of contradiction of land
ownerships. Also there is a shortage of land in
comparison to the size of population.

12. Calamity and Land Vulnerability in
Bangladesh
The geographical settings as well as some man-made activities have made the country
vulnerable to various natural disasters. These natural calamities occasionally cause
drastic crop failures along with huge loss of lives and properties-
1. Floods
2. Cyclones and Tidal Surge
3. Drought
4. Riverbank Erosion
5. Saline water Instruction
6. Water Logging
7. Deforestation
8. Acidification
9. Plough Plan Formation
10. Sedimentation
11. Chemical Pollution
12. Arsenic Problem
13. Global Warming and Sea Level Rises

13. Estimated Land Degraded Situation in
Bangladesh
Type of
degradation Areas affected (million ha) Total area % National
(M ha) Area
Light Moderate Strong
Water erosion 0.1 0.3 1.3 1.7 12
River bank erosion - - - 1.7 12
Soil fertility
decline 3.8 4.2 - 8 54
Organic matter
depletion 1.9 1.6 4 7.5 51
Water logging 0.7 - - 0.7 5
Stalinization 0.6 0.3 - 0.9 6
Plough pan - 1 - 1 7
Acidification - 0.6 - 0.6 4
Deforestation - 1.5 - 1.5 10
Total 7.1 11.2 5.3 23.6 -

14. Summary of Land Capability Classes
and Percentage
Land capability class Area (million ha) %
I. Very good agricultural land 0.19 2
II. Good agricultural land 4.19 34
III. Moderate agricultural land 4.82 39
IV Poor agricultural land 1.92 16
Source: FAO, 1988.

15. Conclusion
Appropriate land use and adoption of suitable
management technology can enhance and sustain
high productivity and soil management, include crop
and livestock management.