DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS AND REGIONAL VARIATIONS IN BANGLADESH AGRICULTURE

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the progress and regional variations in agricultural development. The secondary data were used and collected for the years 1980-81 to 2002-03 from the `Statistical Yearbooks of Bangladesh', `Yearbook of Agricultural Statistics' and census of different years. The study was conducted during the period from September 2006 to February 2008. Methodological framework of ranking, indexing, principal component analysis and composite index of development were formulated. An empirical analysis was done for twelve mutually exclusive agro-ecological zones by assigning various indicators of agricultural development. Level of development of these zones was classified according to low, medium and high developed regions using hierarchical positions of the regions. The remarkable progress of rural literacy rate, ratio of agricultural workers to population, number of farmer's co-operative societies and per capita regional domestic agricultural products in two decades was observed in different regions. Wide disparities in the level of agricultural development had been observed across the regions. The hierarchical position of the regions reveals that `Old Himalayan Piedmont Plain and Tista Floodplain', 'Karatoya Floodplain and Atrai Basin', 'Brahmaputra- Jamuna Floodplain', `Middle Meghna River Floodplain' and 'Chittaging Coastal Plain and St. Martin's Coral Island' were the high developed regions in Bangladesh. For minimizing disparities among the agro-ecological zones and to promote balanced agricultural development, the resources should be distributed on the basis of equity. efficiency, productivity and sustainability