"Agricultural Mechanization in Bangladesh: Role of Policies and Emerging Private Sector" presented by M.A. Sattar Mandal at NSD/IFPRI workshop on "Mechanization and Agricultural Transformation in Asia and Africa", June 18-19, 2014, Beijing, China

1. Bangladesh Agricultural University,
Mymensingh
Bijoy-71

2. Agricultural Mechanization in
Bangladesh: Role of Policies and
Emerging Private Sector
Dr. M A SATTAR MANDAL
Professor of Agricultural Economics
Bangladesh Agricultural University
Mymensingh
asmandal11@gmail.com
A presentation delivered at the NSD- IFPRI workshop
on ‘Mechanization and Agricultural Transformation in
Asia and Africa: Sharing Development Experiences’,
held in Beijing, China on 18-19 June 2014.

3. M A S Mandal, 2013, BAU 3
Outline of the Lecture
Context setting
Changing structure of farms & labour market
Expansion of agricultural mechanization
Rice production & poverty reduction impact
Private sector as the key actor
 Major policy focus and issues for mechanization

4. Where is Bangladesh?

5. M A S Mandal, 2011, BAU 5
Land-scape of Agricultural Mechanization
Rice
transplanting
(Negligible)
Tillage/
land
preparation
80% +
Irrigation
80% +
Seeder
(Moderate)
Combine
harvester
(Insignificant)
Rice
threshing
90% +Reaper
harvesting
(Moderate)
Maize
shelling
100%
Hand weeder
(Moderate)

6. M A S Mandal, 2014, BAU 6
How Big is Bangladesh Agriculture?
Items 1983/84 1996 2008
No. of farm HH
(mil)
10 11.8 14.87
No. of non-farm HH
(mil)
3.8 6.0 10.48
Homestead area
(‘000 ha)
391 533 807
Cultivated area
(‘000 ha)
8522 7192 7614
Av. farm size (ha) 0.81 0.60 0.50
 Cultivated area is decreasing at
0.43%, but no. of farms
increasing at 2% per year.
Av. farm size is 0.5 ha,
decreasing, but no sign of
decreasing productivity
 High degree of land
fragmentation, 3.2 plots per farm,
av. size of plots 0.16 ha.
Non. farm HH no. is increasing
at 7% per year.
 Homestead agriculture is
becoming important

7. Farm size (ha) and Land
Distribution, 2008
51
32
14
2
17
44
37
12
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Up to 0.4 0.4-1.0 1.0-3.0 3.0+
P
e
r
c
e
t
a
g
e
% of farm % of Operated area
M A S Mandal, 2014, BAU 7

8. Changing Labour Market (15 yrs. +)
1999/2000 Both (mil.) Male (mil.) Female (mil.)
Total 39.0 31.1 7.9
- Agriculture 20.0 16.2 3.8
- Non-agri. 19.0 14.9 4.1
2010
Total 54.1 37.9 16.2
- Agriculture 25.7 15.2 10.5
- Non-agri. 28.7 23.0 5.7
Total employment +38.5%, ag. employment +28.5%, non ag. employment
+51.0%
Total male lab. employment +21.8%, employment in ag. -6.2%, +54% in
non-agri.
Total female lab. employment +105%, +176% in agri, +39% in non-agri.

9. Growth in Agricultural Wage Rate
 Ag. wage increased 8.4% & rice price up 4.86% annually.

10. M A S Mandal, 2014, BAU 10
17,785
18,255
18,341
18,042
16,833
17,687
18,880
18,862
19,905
23,067
25,085
24,300
25,168
26,189
25,183
26,530
27,312
28,930
31,317
32,260
33,640
y = 15678e0.0346x
R2
= 0.9278
-
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
1990-91
1991-92
1992-93
1993-94
1994-95
1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
1999-00
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
'000MT
Total rice Aus Aman Boro Expon. (Total rice)
How Has Agriculture Done in Rice Production?
 Maize, wheat, potato, jute, vegetables & fruits prod. also increased.
Per capita foodgrain prod. up from 165kg/yr in 96/97- 228kg/yr in10/11.

11. M A S Mandal, 2014, BAU
What Does Increased Rice Production Mean
for Food Security of the Poor?
3.5 3.6
4.4 4.5
3.6 3.7
4.3 4.1
3.7
4.4
5.0 4.8
5.7 5.7
5.2 5.3 5.6
4.9
6.0
6.4
8.4
9.6
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
12.0
90-91
91-92
92-93
93-94
94-95
95-96
96-97
97-98
98-99
99-00
00-01
01-02
02-03
03-04
04-05
05-06
06-07
07-08
08-09
09-10
10-11
11-12
Rice(Kg)foradailywage
Ricewage in Bangladesh (1990-91 to 2011-12)
Poverty HCR declined from 56.6 % in 1991-92 to 31.5 % in 2010, while extreme
poverty rate declined from 41% to 17.6 % over the same period

12. Irrigation Mechanization as the
Key Driver of Rice Growth
Machines Numbers (2012-13)
DTW (Diesel) 2,109
DTW (Elec) 32,412
STW (Diesel) 1,270,136
STW (Elec) 253,473
LLP (Diesel) 159,713
LLP (Elec) 10,856
 In early 80s, only 14,000 DTWs & 93,000 STWs. STWs cover 60% land.
 5.37 mha. (70%) irrigated area, 97% mechanized irrigation, mostly rice,
also wheat, maize, potato and vegetables.
 64% land irrigated by diesel & 36% by electricity, both diesel and
electricity have modest subsidy.

13. M A S Mandal, 2011, BAU 13
STW provides 60% irrigation
70% STW owned by SF <1ha

14. Irrigation-led Mechanization
Machines Number
Tractor (4WT) 35,000; 6000+ imported/yr
Power tiller (2WT) 0.7 mil
Thresher (manual + powered) 350,000
USG applicator 17,000
Rice transplanter 25 (?)
Sprayer (Local + Imported) 1.2 mil
Maize Sheller 8,000
Rice milling 1,000 semi/auto, 15,000 husking &
0.1 mil traditional huller
 70 foundries, 2000+ manufacturing & 20,000 repair workshops, 0.6 mil
rural mechanic; Ag. machinery market size is US$ 800 mil+
PT density: 68.58/1000 ha. (Bangladesh); Tractor density: 4.61/1000 ha.
(West Bengal); 17.03/1000 ha. (India)
Source: Alam, et al. (2013), DAE Survey (2012), BARI(2014),Tewari (2013)

15. Use of power tillers by farm size group
Page 15
Source: Ahmed, IFPRI, 2013

16. M A S Mandal, 2014, BAU 16
What Role for Public Policy?
Privatization
of
agriculture
Technology &
productivity
gains
Support to
farmers
Food
security from
domestic
production

17. Policy Changes Influencing Irrigation Expansion
491
824
1085
1343
1956
3204
3661
4992
5212
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
A
r
e
a
(
'
0
0
0
h
a
)
Irrigated Area (000 ha)
1951-1974: Public Sector
Initiation
- Subsidized 4-cfs 380 DTWs installed
- 2 cusec DTWs by farmers cooperatives
1974-79: Public Sector
Rationalized
- Pump rental stopped, STWs
subsidy reduced
- Credit liberalized for STWs
purchase
1979- 84: Private Sector
Expansion
- STW import duties reduced,
liberal credit
- Private sector gathered
momentum
- Reduced public sector control
continued

18. Policy Changes Influencing Irrigation Expansion
491
824
1085
1343
1956
3204
3661
4992
5212
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
A
r
e
a
(
0
0
0
h
a
)
Irrigated Area (000 ha)
1984- 87: Reversal to public
sector control
- Temporary drawdown of aquifer
in 1983
- Ban on STW sales & embargo
on engine import
- Imposed engine standards &
Pump spacing rules
1987-- : Rapid expansion by
private sector
- Withdrawal of equipment import ban and
spacing regulation
- Elimination of import duties
- Removal of engine standardization
- Credit and extension support
Continuation of liber al
impor t of engines pushed
over all mechanization.
Slowdown
of irrigation

19. Private Sector as Main Actor- 2WT & 4WT
 Recent CIMMYT- IDE study reports:
• 7/8 suppliers import duty free 60,000 2WT each year, all
from China. Monopoly by one importer (80%).
• One local manufacturer produces each year around
4000 2WT with imported Chinese engines.
• 2WT fits well with tiny fragment plots, compared to 4WT
• 9 large importers of 4WTselling from their own outlets.
• 50% new entrepreneurs are commission agents for
4WT, mostly tractor drivers and helpers, receiving
brokerage commission.
M A S Mandal, 2014, BAU 19

20. RD&E for Ag. Mechanization
 BAU- REFPI project (2000- 2003):
• Pioneer initiative for research capacity building, training, networking
& dissemination of small- scale farm machinery.
 BARI/BRRI/RDA:
• Develop/ improvise large no. of farm machinery, field demonstration
& training, BRRI’s focus on rice related equipment.
 DAE-Ag.Engg: Promotes machinery sales with 25% subsidy &
provide training & field demonstration.
 CIMMYT/ IDE: Design scale appropriate machinery for RC
agriculture and business development in agricultural machinery.
 Private workshops (SME): manufacture small- scale cheap
equipment, spare-parts, repair services.
M A S Mandal, 2014, BAU 20

21. Issues for Interventions
Farmers are ready to adopt/adapt, but need appropriate machines.
Immediate emphasis is needed for transplanting & harvesting
mechanization due to rising wages for labour.
• Rice transplanters need synchronization of tillage, raising seedlings &
planting by individual farmers.
• Combine harvesters chop up rice straw and also need synchronizing
harvest time in the neighbourhood.
• Multi- crop Reaper binders cut long straw, but still need collection &
threshing labour.
 Adaptation of machines to increase returns to investment (i.e.
adding feasible options, axial flow pumps (BARI- CIMMYT work).
 Rationalizing duties & definition of ag. machinery items.
M A S Mandal, 2014, BAU 21

22. What Do We Learn or Unlearn?
• Wide spread farm mechanization does not fit in small fragmented
landholding agriculture is not necessarily true. Appropriate size,
design and management of machines are important.
• Innovative contractual arrangements can act as operational
consolidation of small holdings. i.e. Irrig. water market, tractor/
thresher hire services.
• As competition increased ‘Land lords’, ‘Water lords’ or ‘Tractor
lords’ did not develop, rather a new breed of young entrepreneurs
emerged as tomorrow’s farmer.
• With mechanization, there are no signs of declining productivity or
ag. employment, especially women employment in ag. increased.
• Important pull factors i.e. labour shortage, rural roads & electricity
connections, availability of technology, while push factors i.e.
growth of local manufacturing, income attraction to educated rural
youth, sales drive by companies accelerate mechanization.
• Look beyond agril. mechanization to rural mechanization.
M A S Mandal, 2014, BAU 22

23. M A S Mandal, 2011, BAU 23

24. M A S Mandal, 2011, BAU 24

25. M A S Mandal, 2011, BAU 25

26. Thank you