SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN BANGLADESH: ACHIEVEMENT AND CHALLENGES

Agriculture-based rural economy of Bangladesh contributes a significant portion to GDP; alleviate poverty and the determining factor for food security. The main obstacle to development of agriculture is the limited supply of land for cultivation, negligence of technology adoption and climate change. Thus, the study was undertaken to make an in-depth review study to fill in the knowledge gap in the way of achievement and challenges in sustainable agriculture production in the country. The study used the secondary information to provide a general view on prospect and challenges of crop sector and suggested necessary measures based on the present analytical review. Cropping intensity increased in the last two decades due to rapid expansion of irrigation, use of fertilizer, crop diversification and a number of policy initiatives by government. Double and triple cropped lands have been increased 37.6% and 273.5% respectively in the last 4 decades. Irrigated area has been increased 4 times in the last 3 decades whereas rice production has been increased 3.33 times in the last 45 years. Low increasing trend of agricultural production attributed to gradual loss of cultivable land, lack of intervention, adoption and dissemination of new technology, lack of sufficient support for agricultural research and training. Technology transfer capacity of extension and research needs to be developed to overcome the present slow and weak research-extension-farmer-market linkage. Agro-ecosystem could be improved using appropriate soil and crop management techniques and enhancing research and extension services and by increasing national and international collaborations