Empowering Marginal Farm Families in Bangladesh

ADELAIDE UNIVERSITY
EMPOWERING MARGINAL FARM FAMILIES

IN BANGLADESH
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO
THE FACULTY OF ARTS
IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICS

NOEL PHILIP MAGOR
B. Ag. Sc. (Adelaide)
Grad. Dip. T. (Adelaide C.A.E.)
M. Agr. (Sydney)
ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
JUNE 1996
This work contains no material which has been accepted for the
award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other

tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
contains no material previously published or written by another
person, except where due reference has been made in the text.
I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the
University Library, being available for loan and photocopying.
Noel Philip Magor
Marginal farm families in Bangladesh face a never-ending risk of loss
of land followed inevitably by a further weakening of their livelihood-base.
The thesis develops a methodology by which the vulnerable can be
identified, characterises their existing and potential production systems and
explores necessary shifts in approach by State and Non-Government
Organisations, that will not only reduce vulnerability but empower marginal
farm families.
The study across eight sites, representing five major ecosystems,
found that 10-12 per cent of rural families, or about one in five small and
marginal farm families, were sliding towards landlessness. The vulnerable
families had only 3-5 months of their own production in rice, sharecropped
one-quarter of the area cultivated, derived 30-50 per cent of household
income from labour, had lost over one-quarter of their land through distress
sale and carried a high crop loan. A surprising resilience was also observed,
with a significant group of small and marginal farm families not only
maintaining their landholding but actually increasing it over the present
generation. An unexpected finding was the apparent movement of land from
non-village control to control by active farm families within the village. The
pattern of shift in landholding varied across ecosystems and sites. Greater
stability was observed amongst the more marginal in locations with more
diversity of income sources. Non-farm income, especially where there was
access to urban markets, was important. Natural calamities, like the 1987
and 1988 floods for the deepwater ecosystem intensified long-term
impoverishment.
III
The enterprise-base of marginal farm families is complex and varies
spatially and temporally. Sustainability requires not only the maintenance of
a complex and diverse set of enterprises at existing levels of productivity
but also the improvement of their capability. Through an unreleased
software package, FARMACTION, developed by the author, both existing
and potential systems were analysed. A total of 185 enterprises, or 18 to
29 per site, were drawn from existing and innovative farmer practice and
researcher developed technologies. Potential interventions were shown to
be more or less able to lift the income of vulnerable families to the level of
.
those families who were managing to increase their landholdings
incrementally. Intensive horticultural systems within and around the
homestead were a major source of the extra potential income.
Recent shifts by the state and international agricultural development
agencies, in approach to research and development have recognised
ecological diversity; however, attention to the resource-poor has been
limited. Research style has been cramped by the division of knowledge; as
for example natural and social sciences or research and extension. As a
result mainstream strategies have failed to tap the 'resilience factor' of
marginal farm families, and thereby missed the catalytic effect of biological
and income synergy. NGOs, alternative players in development, have
focused on the landless and tended to neglect vulnerable farm families.
However, their organisational approach, ability to exploit 'green revolution'
and other technology for predominantly landless families and to capture the
propensity of the poor to save, have been very effective and have
application to vulnerable farmers.
Complexity of livelihood will increase and encompass a synergy
between non-farm, field crop and homestead activities. The thesis
concludes that the next step in development is to build an institutional
pluralism around the strengths of the resource-poor.
IV
r

ODA economist to the BRRI Economics Division. The partnership in field
work, building the database and innumerable discussions has been the
backbone of this thesis. I wish to acknowledge Alastair's professional
contribution and friendship in the pursuit of a greater understanding of
vulnerability.
The section on organisations owes much to cumulative experience
and in that I recognise HEED in the formative years and the numerous
discussions with the staff of BRAC, Grameen Bank, RDRS, Proshika, MCC,
CARE, BRDB, DAE and each of the research institutions in Bangladesh.

I wish to thank IRRI for its support both while I was located in
Bangladesh and for a study grant towards the first year of my thesis
programme. I thank Dr Frank Sheppard Jr. and Dr Jerry Mcintosh,
successive team leaders of the BRRI -IRRI project and former Directors
General of IRRI, Dr M.S. Swaminathan and Dr Klaus Lampe. For ongoing
professional support in farming systems research I thank Dr Pexi Carangel,
IRRI coordinator for the Asian Rice Farming Systems Network.
Dr Peter Mayer, my thesis supervisor, is worthy of so much thanks.
He has that rare ability to recognise an idea that a person has within and
then to patiently nurture its birth.
I thank my wife, Rose, who has been such an encouragement. I
acknowledge her common commitment to justice for vulnerable
communities that has made this development a form of partnership. I thank
my children, Scott (in typing some of the early manuscript), Stephanie and
Joshua. Each has been supportive and gone without due to the cost of my
being a student for a number of years.
There are many friends and colleagues that I have not mentioned that
have contributed in many ways over many years. To each I say thankyou.
VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ........................................................ ii
ABSTRACT ................................................................................... iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................. v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................... vii
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................... x
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................... xvii
LIST OF ABBREViATIONS ........................ ................... .......... ....... xxii

Chapter
1 . A MEASURE OF SELF-DOUBT
Introduction .................................................................... 1
Pillars of Learning ............................................................ 2
Shaped by Experience ...................................................... 2
Change and Risk ............................................................. 8
Cooperation Across Disciplines .......................................... 9
Structure of Argument ..................................................... 9
Conclusion .................................................................................................. 17
2. ECOSYSTEMS OF BANGLADESH
Introduction .................................................................. 18
Order in Complexity ....................................................... 19
The Major Ecosystems and Site Selection .......................... 33
Ecological Risk and Change .................... ......................... 54
Not a Static System: Agricultural Change .......................... 60
Concluding Remarks ....................................... ............... 67
vii
Chapter. .......................................................................................................... Page
3. UNEXPECTED RESILIENCE: SHIFTS IN LANDHOLDING
Introduction ................. .............................. ................. .. 70
What is Vulnerability? ........................ .. ...... .... ................ 78
Vulnerable Farm Households and Changes in Distribution .... 79
Comparable Village Studies ........ .. .......................... .. .. .. . 118
Conclusion ........ ... .. .................. ................ .................. 142
4. THE SYSTEMS OF VULNERABLE FARM FAMILIES
Introduction .............. ......................... ......................... 148
Understanding the Farm Systems of Marginal Families ...... 152

Existing and Potential Systems for Each Ecosystem .......... 177
Comparison Across Ecosystems .......................... .. ........ 197
Conclusion ............. ... ........................................... ...... 210
5 CHOICE AND SOURCES OF TECHNOLOGIES FOR ENHANCED
PRODUCTIVITY
Introduction ........................ ....... .... .......................... ... 213
Local Innovation: The Vegetable System of Jadabh Singh .. 221
An Organisational Intervention: the BRAC Poultry Model ... 231
The Green Revolution Technology .................................. 237
A Different Thread .......................... .. ... ...... .. ......... ..... .. 266
Conclusion ................................................................. 269
6. TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AND
VULNERABLE FARM FAMILIES
Introduction ............................. ................................... 272
Research and Development Institutions in Bangladesh ....... 274
A Single Crop Focus .................................................... 278
Whole-System Emphasis ...... ......................................... 289
Conclusion ................................................................. 315
viii
Chapter. ................................................. ................. ................. Page
7. TAILORING INSTITUTIONS FOR MARGINAL FARM FAMILIES
I ntrod uction ....................... ..... .................................... 31 7
Case Studies from State-led Services .............................. 325
Innovations in Credit Delivery .........................................334
Linkages in Innovative Technology Delivery Systems ........ 343
Where is the Direct Interface for Small and Marginal Farm
Families? .... .................................................... ............... 348
Where to, for Vulnerable Farm Families? . .........................354
Conclusion ............................................. .................. ..372

8. UNLOCKING THE WEALTH OF MARGINAL FARM FAMILIES
Introduction ........................................................ ........ 377
A Fragile Resilience ...... ..................... ........................... 378
Technology Development as an Enabler .......................... 381
The Proactive State ..................... ................................ 396
NGOs at the Crossroads ........................................... .. .. 399
The Whole is Greater Than its Parts ............................... 400
Appendix
1. MOBILITY MATRICES BY LANDHOLDING GROUP ...................402
2. LIST WITH REFERENCE SOURCES FOR ENTERPRISES
ANALYSED BY SITE AND ECOSYSTEM .......................... .... ... 407
3. SYSTEMS OF FARM FAMILIES WITH RICE PROVISION ABILITY
OF 3-5 AND 6-8 MONTHS ...................................................423
4. EXISTING AND POTENTIAL PRODUCTIVITY FOR MARGINAL
FARM FAMILIES AND EXISTING PRODUCTIVITY FOR SMALL
FARM FAMILIES FOR EACH SITE ..........................................430
BIBLIOGRAPHY .........................................................................453
IX
Table.............................................................................................. Page
1 . Crops and vegetables grown by farmers in the two
distinct growing seasons ....................... .... .................. 26
2. Area under production of major crops in Bangladesh
1989-90 ............................... ..... .. ............................. 30
.
3. Area and production of major rice types in Bangladesh
in 1990 .................................................................... 35
4. Landuse associations for each major ecosystem in
Bangladesh .............. .......................... ....................... 37
5. Dominant cropping patterns for five major ecosystems
for eight selected sites .... ............................................ 42
6. Percent area of each rice type by ecosystem and site ...... 43
7. Cropping intensity by rainfed and irrigated land for each
ecosystem and site (1989-91) ...................................... 44
8. Proportion of land by flooding pattern for Sariatpur and
Mirzapur ........................................... ........................ 50
9. Irrigation by type and per cent area irrigated for each
ecosystem and site (1989-91) .............................. .. ...... 50
10. First stage cluster analysis for differentiating the
population sample for eight sites across five
ecosystems, Bangladesh, 1991 .................................... 88
11. Second stage cluster analysis for differentiating
vulnerable households for eight sites across five
ecosystems, Bangladesh, 1990-91 .............. .. ............... 89
12. Second stage cluster analysis for differentiating medium
farmer household sample for eight sites across five
ecosytems, Bangladesh, 1990-91 .......... .. ..................... 90
X
Table ....................................................................................... Page
13. Characterisation of major households identified by
cluster analysis for eight sites across five ecosystems in
Bangladesh, 1990-91 ................................................. 91
14. The transfer of control of land, within the generation,
from outside or town, or new land or government land
to persons within the village across eight sites and five
ecosystems in Bangladesh, 1990-91 ............................. 97
15. Change in land owned and relative share, within the
generation, by each landholding group within the
village, across eight sites and five ecosystems in
Bangladesh, 1990-91 ................................................. 113
16. Changes in relative shares of land owned, between
inheritance and present, by decile group, for three
Indian villages and one Bangladesh village (Cain, 1981). 124
17. Mobility matrix for Char Gopalpur, Bangladesh (Cain,
1981) ... .. ..... .................... .............. ......................... 125
18. Relative stability index of land ownership with upward
and downward mobility for aggregated sites,
Bangladesh 1990-91 ..................................... ... ........ 129
19. Land mobility matrix for a developed village, Jamalpur
District: 1951-1981 (Rahman, 1986) ........................... 137
20. Land mobility matrix for a backward village, Hatshahar,
Joypurhat District: 1951 - 1981 (Rahman, 1986) ......... 137
21. List of enterprises for farmplans for five ecosystems and
eight sites across Bangladesh, 1990-91 ........................ 160
22. Homestead and livestock resource base for farm
households with a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months
and 6-8 months, for the deepwater ecosystem at
Sariatpur, Bangladesh, 1991 ...................................... 163
23. The percentage area under different crops in the
summer and winter seasons for marginal and small
farmers, Sariatpur 1991 .................... ........................ 167
XI
Table ...................................................................................... Page
24. Input and labour requirements and output value and
quantity for a vulnerable farmer with a Rice Provisional
Ability of 3-5 months at Sariatpur Deepwater
Environment, Bangladesh, 1991 ................................. 171
25. Potential extra requirements and output for a vulnerable
farmer, Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months, adopting
new or innovative technology in Sariatpur Deepwater
environment, Bangladesh 1991 .................................. 173
quantity for a vulnerable farmer with a Rice Provision
Ability of 6-8 months at Sariatpur Deepwater
Environment, Bangladesh, 1991 ................................. 176
27. Existing farming systems for vulnerable farm households
with 3-5 months Rice Provision Ability, by site and
ecosystem, Bangladesh 1990-91 ................................ 182
28. Potential farming systems for vulnerable farm
households with 3-5 months Rice Provision Ability, by
site and ecosystem, Bangladesh 1990-91 .................... 183
29. Comparison between existing and potential farming
systems for vulnerable farm households with 3-5
months Rice Provision Ability, by site and ecosystem,
Bangladesh 1990-91 ................................................ 184
30. Existing farming systems for vulnerable farm households
with 6-8 months' Rice Provision Ability by site and
ecosystem, Bangladesh 1990-91 ................................ 208
31 . Examples of organisational support and complementary
capital requirements for each component of the Green
Revolution rice technology ........................................ 242
32. Cropping pattern recommendations for rainfed lowland
environments for heavy textured soils based on the aus
transplanting cut-off dates ............................ ............. 245
33. Case studies for the modern rice technology linked to
different institutions and irrigation type ....................... 249
34. Government Institutions linked to agriculture in
Bangladesh ....................................... ...................... 277
35 Examples of mobilisation of capital in Bangladesh ......... 368
XII
Table ....................................................................................... Page
36. Mobility matrix showing shift from inheritance until
present (1990) in landholding group for eight sites
across five ecosystems, Bangladesh .... .. ..................... 402
present (1990) in landholding group for Kamalganj site,
Bangladesh ............................. .. .............................. 403
present (1990) in landholding group for Sitakundu site,
Bangladesh ............................................................. 403
39. Mobil ity matrix showing shift from inheritance until
present (1991) in landholding group for Sreepur site,
Bangladesh ......................................................... .... 404
present (1991) in landholding group for Char Matua,
Bangladesh . ................................................................ 404
41 . Mobility matrix showing shift from inheritance until
present (1991) in landholding group for Mirzapur site,
Bangladesh .................................................................... 405
present (1991) in landholding group for Sariatpur site,
Bangladesh ................................................................... 405
present (1991) in landholding group for Thakurgaon
site, Bangladesh ....................................................... 406
present (1991) in landholding group for Boda site,
Bangladesh ............................................................. 406
45. Farm enterprises used in whole farm plans for rainfed
lowland favourable rice ecosystem, Kamalganj site,
Bangladesh ............ ... .... ........ .................................. 407
46. Farm enterprises used in whole farm plans for rainfed
lowland favourable rice ecosystem, Sitakundu site,
Bangladesh .................... .................... ..... ................ 408
47. Farm and non farm enterprises available for whole farm
planning for upland dissected partially irrigated
environment, Sreepur site, Bangladesh ......................... 409
XIII
Table ............................................................................................ Page
planning for coastal saline ecosystem, Char Matua,
Bangladesh .......... ................................................... 410
planning for deepwater ecosystem, Mirzapur site,
Bangladesh ............................................................. 411
planning for deepwater ecosystem, Sariatpur site,
Bangladesh ....... ....................................................... 412
51 . Farm and non farm enterprises available for whole farm
planning for irrigated lowland favourable, Thakurgaon
and Boda sites, Bangladesh ....................................... 413
quantity for a vulnerable farm family, with a Rice
Provision Ability of 3-5 months, at the rainfed lowland
site, Kamalganj, Bangladesh, 1990 ............................. 431
farm family, with Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months,
adopting new or innovative technology at the rainfed
lowland site, Kamalganj, Bangladesh 1990 ................... 432
quantity for a vulnerable farm family, with a Rice
Provision Ability of 3-5 months, at the rainfed lowland
site, Sitakundu, Bangladesh, 1990 .............................. 433
farm family, with a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months,
adopting new or innovative technology at the rainfed
lowland site, Sitakundu, Bangladesh, 1990 .................. 434
Ability of 3-5 months at the upland partially irrigated
site, Sreepur, Bangladesh, 1991 ................................. 435
farmer, with a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months,
adopting limited identified interventions at the upland
partially irrigated site, Sreepur, Bangladesh 1991 .......... 436
XIV
Table .......................................................................................... Page
Ability of 3-5 months at the coastal saline site, Char
Matua, Bangladesh, 1990 ..................................... 437
adopting the main MCC intervention at the coastal
saline site, Char Matua, Bangladesh, 1990 ................438
Ability of 3-5 months at the deepwater site, Mirzapur,
Bangladesh, 1991 ............................................... 439
farmer, Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months, adopting
new or innovative technology at the deepwater site,
Mirzapur, Bangladesh 1990 .................................... 440
Ability of 3-5 months at the lowland favourable irrigated
site, Thakurgaon, Bangladesh, 1991 ........................ 441
adopting limited identified interventions at the lowland
favourable irrigated site, Thakurgaon, Bangladesh 1991. 442
site, Boda, Bangladesh, 1991 .................................443
adopting identified interventions at the lowland
favourable irrigated site, Boda, Bangladesh 1991 ......... 444
Ability of 6-8 months at the rainfed lowland site,
Kamalganj, Bangladesh, 1990 .................................445
xv
Table ......................................................................................... Page
Ability of 6-8 months at the rainfed lowland site,
Sitakundu, Bangladesh, 1990 ................................. 446
Ability of 6-8 months at the upland partially irrigated
site, Sreepur, Bangladesh, 1991 .............................. 447
Ability of 6-8 months at the coastal saline site, Char
Matua, Bangladesh, 1990 ......................................448
Ability of 6-8 months at the deepwater site, Mirzapur,
Bangladesh, 1991 ................................................449
site, Thakurgaon, Bangladesh, 1991 ......................... 450
site, Boda, Bangladesh, 1991 ................................. 451
73. Farmplan files for existing and improved farm systems
for Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months and existing
systems for Rice Provision Ability of 6-8 months, for
eight sites across five ecosystems, Bangladesh 1990-91.....452
XVI
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure..................................................................................... Page
1. Eight sites, representing five major ecosystems and
both remote and accessible locations, for the
vulnerability study, Bangladesh, 1989-91 ...................... 12
2. Generalised map of annual rainfall of Bangladesh .............21
3. Number of months with greater than 200 mm of rainfall.. ... 22
4. . Characterisation of thermal regimes for Bangladesh ......... 25
5. Generalised agro-ecological regions of Bangladesh .......... 28
6. Typology for inundation landtype for Bangladesh ............ 32
7. Major ecosystems for Bangladesh ................................. 36
8. Major ecosystems for vulnerability sites ........................ 38
9. (a) Comparison of aggregate paddy production by rice
type per hectare and (b) per hectare contribution of
non-rice crops across eight sites for five major
ecosystems, Bangladesh, 1990-91 ............................... 55
10. Comparison of per hectare taka value of output across
eight sites for five major ecosystems, Bangladesh,
1990-91 ................................................................... 56
11. Comparison of irrigated and non-irrigated per hectare
gross returns for deepwater, lowland favourable and
upland dissected ecosystems ....................................... 57
12. Comparison of broadcast aman and bora rice area (in
hectares) for Tangail and Faridpur Greater Districts from
19968-69 to 1989-90 ................................................ 69
13. Per cent difference between observed and expected
frequency for each household cluster across eight sites
and five ecosystems in Bangladesh, 1990-91 ................. 94
14. Venn diagram illustrating shift in control of land from
nearby townships to the village over time ...................... 98
XVII
Figure ....................................................................................... Page
15. Shift in composition of landholding groups at inheritance
and now for each cluster, Bangladesh, 1990-91 ........... 103
16. Downward shift (as percentage) in landholding category
at the time of inheritance for present owners compared
to their fathers' landholding category, Bangladesh,
1990-91 .... .............................................................. 105
17. Percentage of upward, downward and zero mobility
across landholding groups for eight sites and five
ecosystems in Bangladesh, 1990-91 ........................... 107
18. Percentage upward, downward and zero change in
mobility for each landholding category, Bangladesh,
1990-91 ......... ................. ....................................... 109
19. Mobility of landless, marginal, small and medium
landholding households across eight sites and five
ecosystems, Bangladesh, 1990-91 .. ........................... 110
19. (cont.) Mobility of landless, marginal, small and medium
landholding households across eight sites and five
ecosystems, Bangladesh, 1990-91 .................... .. ....... 111
20. Lorenz curves and modified curve for changes in
distribution of owned land at inheritance and the time of
survey according to decile distribution at inheritance
and at time of survey ................................................ 116
21. Changes in mean owned land for each decile at
inheritance and at time of survey according to decile
distribution at inheritance and at time of survey ............ 117
22. Percentage of land transfers according to reason for
eight sites and five ecosystems, Bangladesh, 1990-91 ... 122
23. Landownership at three points in time, 1951, 1972 and
1981 for (a) a remote village in Bogra District and (b) a
developed village in Jamalpur District, according to
Rahman, 1986 ......................................................... 138
24. Observed generic cropping patterns for the deepwater
ecosystem in Sariatpur, Bangladesh, 1991 ................... 168
XVIII
Figure 1 .............................................................................................Page
25. Existing and potential farm plans for a marginal farm
family with a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months,
compared with a family with a Rice Provision Ability of
6-8 months for the deepwater ecosystem, Sariatpur,
Bangladesh, 1991 ~ 9 1 ............................................... 172
26. Monthly taka balance for existing and potential farm
systems for marginal farm families in the deepwater
ecosystem, Sariatpur, Bangladesh, 1991 ..................... 175
27. Monthly cash input for existing and potential farm
systems for marginal farm families for the coastal saline
ecosystem, Char Matua, Bangladesh, 1991 ................. 191
28. Monthly taka output for existing and potential farm
ecosystem, Char Matua, Bangladesh, 1991 ................. 192
29. Monthly labour requirements for existing and potential
farm systems for marginal farm families for the coastal
saline ecosystem, Char Matua, Bangladesh, 1991 ......... 193
30. Estimated paddy available for consumption for marginal
farm families across five major ecosystems and eight
sites, Bangladesh, 1990-91 ....................................... 200
31. Percentage of gross returns for field crops from paddy
and paddy equivalents in kgs required to cover cash
costs for paddy cultivation for five major ecosystems
and eight sites, Bangladesh, 1990-91 ......................... 201
32. Diversity of income for five major ecosystems and eight
sites, Bangladesh, 1990-91 ....................................... 202
32. (continued) Diversity of income for five major
ecosystems and eight sites, Bangladesh, 1990-91 ........ 203
33. Net returns for existing and potential farm systems of
marginal farm families with an RPA of 3-5 months as a
percent of net returns for families with an RPA of 6-8
months for five major ecosystems and eight sites,
Bangladesh, 1990-91 ............................................... 209
34. Plant geometry for Jadabh Singh vegetable system ....... 227
xix
Figure ................................................................................................... Page
35. Annual net cash balance by level of adoption, vv,ith a
comparison of the estimated balance for high adopters
operating at the low level of productivity, Kamalganj
rainfed lowland ecosystem, 1989-90 (adjusted to per
ha)................................................................... 248
36. Comparison of total land irrigated by each land class (a)
and percent of irrigated land in each class (b) for the
deep-tubewell, BWDB, and treadle pump, RDRS,
programmes in north-west Bangladesh, 1991 ............... 253
37. Comparison of change in landholding since inheritance
for (a) deep-tubewells, BWDB, and (b) treadle-pumps,
RDRS, programmes; in north-west Bangladesh, 1991 .... 254

38. Growth of winter boro rice from 1948 to 1989 showing
the rapid increase since 1987 (a) and the corresponding
transfer of land by land class (b) in a deepwater area
since 1988 .............................................................. 265
39. Matrix of interventions for farm families at the Sreepur
Farming Systems Research site, 1989-90 .................... 307
40. Percent of families, by landholding group, for HEED PDP
groups, BRDB KSS Cooperatives and DAE Contact
farmers, Kamalganj Upazila, 1991 .............................. 350
41. Percent of families by Rice Provision Ability for
population sample, BRDB KSS Cooperatives and DAE
Contact farmers, Kamalganj Upazila, 1991 ................... 351
42. Themes in tailoring institutions / organisations for the
enhanced resilience of marginal farm families ............... 356
43. Each technological innovation develops a production-
income gap that is potentially available for the landless
and marginal farm families depending on the presence
of a targeted institution ............................................. 375
44. A shift in capability of the landless to take advantage of
innovative technology due to the presence of a targeted
institutional intervention. However, marginal farm
families lack such institutional targeting ....................... 376
xx
Figure .................................................................................... Page
45. Alternative scenarios for the composition of sm?1I and
marginal farm families in terms of the extent of
vulnerability and resilience depending on agricultural
growth, non-farm opportunity, safety nets and disaster
management, credit and savings and the overriding
impact of population growth ........................ .............. 382
6-8 months for the rainfed lowland site, Kamalganj,
Bangladesh, 1991 .................................................... 423
6-8 months for the rainfed lowland site, Sitakundu,
Bangladesh, 1991 ....... ............................................. 424
6-8 months for the upland dissected site, Sreepur,
Bangladesh, 1990-1991 ................................ ............ 425
6-8 months for the coastal saline site, Char Matua,
Bangladesh, 1991 .................................................... 426
6-8 months for the deepwater site, Mirzapur,
Bangladesh, 1991 .................................................... 427
6-8 months for the irrigated site, Thakurgaon,
Bangladesh, 1991 ......................... .... ....................... 428
6-8 months for the irrigated site, Boda, Bangladesh,
1990 ...................................................................... 429
XXI
ACIAR
ADAB
ADC
ASARRD
ASSP
BADC
BARC
BARD
BARI
BAU
BBS
BFRI
BIDS
BJRI
BKB
BLRI
BRAC
BRDB
BRRI
BWDB
CGIAR
CIRDAP
CYMMIT
DAE
DoL
DTW
DWR
FAO
FAP
FRI
FSR
FSR/E
FY
GB
GKF
GoB
GR
GUP
HEED
HYV
Australian Council of International Agriculture Research
Association of Development Agencies of Bangladesh
Area Development Centre (BRAC)
Asian Survey of Agrarian Reforms and Rural Development
Agricultural Services Support Project
Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation
Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council
Bangladesh Academy of Rural Development
Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute
Bangladesh Agriculture University
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
Bangladesh Forestry Research Institute
Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies
Bangladesh Jute Research Institute
Bangladesh Krishi Bank
Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute
Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee
Bangladesh Rural Development Board
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute
Bangladesh Water Development Board
Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research
Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific
Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo
Department of Agriculture Extension
Directorate of Livestock Services
Deep-tubewell
deep water rice
Food and Agriculture Organisation
Flood Action Plan
Fisheries Research Institute
Farming Systems Research
Farming Systems Research and Extension
Financial Year
Grameen Bank
Grameen Krishi Foundation
Government of Bangladesh
Green Revolution
Gonno Unnayan Prochestra (NGO)
Health Education and Economic Development (NGO)
high yielding variety
XXII
ICLARM
IFAD
IFPRI
IGVGD
ILO
IRDP
IRRI
KSS
LDC
LLP
MCC
MLT
MOA
MV
NGO
NPK
ODA
PDP
R&D
RCP
RDP
RDP
RDRS
RFSD
RPA
RPP
RRA
SACP
SDI
SFDA
SFDB
SFDP
SRDI
SRTI
STW
TCCA
UCCA
UNDP
VGD
VO
International Centre for Living Aquatic Resource Management
International Fund for Agriculture Development
International Food Policy Research Institute
Income Generation for Vulnerable Group Development (BRAC)
International Labour Organisation
Integrated Rural Development Board
International Rice Research Institute
Krishi Shamobai Samity or Farmers' Cooperatives
Less Developed Country
Low-lift pump
Mennonite Central Committee (NGO)
multi-location testing
Ministry of Agriculture
modern variety
Non-Government Organisation
Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium fertiliser
Overseas Development Assistance
Participatory Development Programme (HEED)
Research and Development
Rural Credit Programme (BRAC)
Rural Development Programme
Rural Development Programme (BRAC)
Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (NGO)
Rice Farming Systems Division (BRRI)
Rice Provision Ability
Rural Poor Programme (BRDB)
Rapid Rural Appraisal
Special Agriculture Credit Programme (GoB)
Subsidy Dependence Index
Small Farmer Development Agency (India)
Small Farmer Development Bank
Small Farmer Development Programme
Soil Resources Development Institute
Sugarcane Research and Training Institute
Shallow-tubewell
Thana Central Cooperative Association
Upazila Central Cooperative Association
United Nations Development Programme
Vulnerable Group Development (BRAC)
Village Organisation (BRAC)
XXIII
CHAPTER 1
A MEASURE OF SELF-DOUBT
I ntroduction
Where to begin? I come to this thesis with a sense of frustration. A
solid commitment for many years to improving the livelihoods of marginal
farm families in Bangladesh has resulted in a sense of being ill at ease with
both my own professional knowledge-base and the blinkers that so often
paralyse competent professionals from stepping out from behind the walls
of acceptability of their own profession.
I have come to learn that the questions asked are most critical. Once
a question is posed and accepted, it all too often rules out alternative
enquiry. The reason is simple; resources like my own time, personnel and
finances are limited. The accepted questions within a discipline of learning,
like agronomy, economics, sociology, animal nutrition, irrigation engineering
and so on may or may not match the points of vulnerability and opportunity
for a marginal farm family. In fact the questions can compete and even
exclude options. The divide between agricultural research and extension is a
very obvious example. In the gap that is the grey area of the two
disciplines there is so much missed opportunity. Chambers, in a study on
the management of canal irrigation, identified many recurrent problems that
fell outside ... the normal domain of any profession. What Chambers
found most puzzling was that the reasonable problems were not seen as
subjects for research at all. There was an apparent professional blindness.
1

1
Robert Chambers. 1988. Managing Canal Irrigation: Practical Analysis from South
Asia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 247.
1
2
I do not feel the returns in development in Bangladesh have matched
the efforts made. Within that I include my own as a farming systems
agronomist, state-led research and service delivery, the international
research centres and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). That sense of
dissatisfaction has given a measure of self-doubt. It is that searching for
greater impact that has formed the framework of this thesis. Before framing
the argument, I commence by relating some early experiences that have
shaped my stepping beyond the safety of a narrow discipline.
Pillars of Learning
If only our technical training was like a hologram. For a hologram the
whole is always apparent within the minute image. Unfortunately, it is not
the case; in the technical degree the student receives a set of foundation
pillars on which to build a narrowly defined expertise. The pillars within my
own profession of agronomy equipped me well to tackle the varietal fine
tuning of the rainfed two rice system in North-East Bangladesh and to
integrate those findings within the national research system. However, I
was not equipped for the complexity of activity that comprised the survival
strategies of a marginal farm family. It is here, in the village, that experience
challenged my learning foundations in agricultural science. In fact, as will
shortly be apparent, I did not even know who the vulnerable were or know
the questions with which to identify them.
Shaped by Experience
In agricultural development I was to learn the limits of my technical
expertise and the complete inadequacy of my awareness of social
organisation and access. Perhaps, most importantly, the empowering and
disempowering impact of policy and 'ideological dogma'. It is worthwhile
highlighting my own vulnerabilities as social change in rural development is
a frontier zone. Regardless of one's discipline, it brings both strengths and
weaknesses to the realm of rural development.
A Flash-flood Response Programme
For six years I worked in Kamalganj upazila in the North-East of
Bangladesh. It was a high rainfall zone with a rice plain dissected by a river
and bordered on two sides by a low range of hills. Flash flooding, from
breaks in the river embankment or overflowing from the numerous hill
streams, is a seasonal possibility.
In iate June 1978
2
, there was serious flooding with damage to much
of the first rice crop, known as aus, and the seedbeds of the second rice
3
crop, known as aman.
3

There was a programme through the Department of
Agricultural Extension to supply 2-3 tonnes of BR3 rice seed to make up
any deficit that may have resulted from damage to the first rice crop. BR3
was higher yielding than the local varieties. The government seed, however,
was late, and so in its place HEED supplied 51 2.5 kg seed-kits (36 kits of
BR3 and 15 kits of Chand ina or BR1). Both were modern rice varieties that
at that time were recommended for all rice seasons. Chand ina had a short
field duration of about 90 days after transplanting and BR3 a long field
duration of about 110 days after transplanting. Both varieties, planted as a
second rice crop or the aman season, were new to farmers. It is fortunate
that the government seed did not arrive:
The yields of Chand ina were very poor with many farmers
complaining about poor tillering and early flowering. Some late
planted BR3 showed no hope of giving yield due to an early end of
the monsoon and late planting.
4
2
I arrived in Bangladesh in May 1977 and completed 16 weeks Bengali language
study in Dhaka before taking up an assignment in the agriculture programme in Kamalganj
of the NGO HEED in late August.
3
HEED. 1979. Kamalganj Rural Development Project: Agriculture Sector: Third
Annual Report, HEED Bangladesh, Kamalganj Rural Development Project, PO Keramatnagar,
Moulvibazar District, Bangladesh, 8.
4
HEED. 1979. Kamalganj Agriculture Sector: Third Annual Report, 8.
4
My lack of local knowledge of the finely-tuned rice system was not matched
with suitable recommendations from the research stations. A local technical
knowledge was essential.
State-led Services
In the seventies and eighties the Bangladesh development model was
built around the monopoly of state services. The HEED agriculture
programme in its day to day activities interacted with the respective state
agencies at their lowest level of administration. That was the thana or
upazla level.
5
For seed, fertiliser, irrigation equipment or pesticide it was the
thana officers of the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation
(BADC). For the KSS (Krishi Shamobai Samity or Farmers' Cooperatives)
groups it was the IRDP Project Officer (Integrated Rural Development
Programme). I relate three early experiences.
Rice hispa can cause extensive damage to rice. The rice crop of an
irrigation group, with whom HEED was working, was badly infested with
hispa. The policy with the HEED programme was to always encourage
farmers to use government services:
HEED does not want to duplicate any government activities or act
independently of the government service. Long-term agricultural
development rests with the government and so independent action on
the part of HEED would be a short-sighted approach to development.
6
However, the pesticide from the Plant Protection Office was 'brizal. It had
been adulterated and was ineffective. The farmers group was powerless.
Irrigation in Kamalganj was limited to low-lift pumps from the Doloi
river or hill-stream diversion for a winter crop of rice. Wheat, as a new crop
to the thana, had shown promise in village demonstrations. In cooperation
5
The thana, later to be called upazla, comprised nine unions or about 120 villages
or a population of 180 to 200 000.
6
HEED. 1978. Kamalganj Rural Development Project: Agriculture Sector: Second
5
with the Thana Irrigation Officer, HEED had secured a number of pumps for
block schemes of wheat. The wheat seed was to be supplied through
BADC. Even to the district level an allotment had been secured. It never
arrived. We learned later that there had been a shortage of wheat seed and
that the seed had moved through the black market to another district. Even
with the brokerage of HEED the farmers group had been powerless.
The third example concerns the KSS groups and IRDP. The initial
experience was one of close collaboration with the local IRDP Project
Officer. However, with his transfer, the situation changed. A KSS group

needed a loan for diverting a hillstream for winter rice cultivation. HEED
project staff worked closely with the group in preparing the block scheme
and estimating loan requirements. The loan that was eventually given was
not only above the initial estimate but involved a sizeable service fee to
complete the transaction. Furthermore we learned later, but could not
verify, that the loan had been used primarily by the management committee
for non-agricultural activities. Its members had been left with an excessive
debt.
These examples were not isolated and I do not highlight them to lay
charge but to illustrate some experiences for which my technical training
had not equipped me. Any search for more meaningful impact had to
recognise the obstacles marginal farm families face in their survival.
Who are the Vulnerable Farm Families?
The mid to late seventies in Bangladesh was the formation time for
the development efforts of most post-liberation NGOs. It was a period of
experimentation. Initially HEED worked closely with the IRDP in the joint
establishment of viable farmer cooperatives (KSS groups) . In the early
groups there were union members, school teachers, shop keepers, small
and large farmers. The groups simply reflected the local power structure
and not the particularly vulnerable.
The KSS [groups were] not representative of all sections of the
community.
7

In reality my numerous cups of tea in the home of a union member or local
6
contractor or shop keeper or large landlord were restricting access to
marginal farm families. A knowledge filter was in place; a filter of which, at
that time, I was simply unaware. I observed a similar lack of small and
marginal farm family participation in later programmes of the Bangladesh
. ~
Rice Research Institute; namely their multilocation testing programme with
the Department of Agriculture Extension and the farming systems
programme in the mid eighties.
Policy and Development Dogma
Agronomic research showed considerable opportunity in the
management of the two rice crop system in Kamalganj. The HEED research
complemented the findings of the BRRI cropping systems research. There
was a yield gap.
8
HEED responded in 1982 with a decision to launch a small
farmers' development programme with bank credit to enable small farmers
to take advantage of the identified yield gap. HEED groups stood alone due
to the difficulty of membership composition of KSS groups and the
inconsistency in loan management. The definition of eligibility was more
stringent. A general guideline restricted participation to those families who
7
HEED, 1978. Kamalganj Agriculture Sector: Second Annual Report, 4.
8
Zahidul M. Hoque and Peter R. Hobbs. 1981 . Rainfed Cropping Systems: Report
of Research Findings at Bhogra Village 1975-79, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh. Publication no.
46; Noel P. Magor. 1984. Potential in Rainfed Rice Production in North-East Bangladesh:
Report of Research Findings and Pilot Production Programme Kamalganj Thana 1979-1983,
BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh. Publication no. 69.
were active in agriculture and owned no more than 0.12 ha of land per t h ~ m
family member. The mean owned land was 0.40 ha.
9
7
It was a pilot scheme that in 1983 expanded to 88 groups, consisting
of 5-10 members per group and a total membership of 500 farmers in 6
unions.
10
The farm family groups became the focal point of integrated
homestead and field crop activities. Moreover, there was limited training on
social issues in development and the promotion of savings.
HEED had responded to a perceived problem facing small and
marginal farm families. The small farmer programme was developing in three
areas; there was a sound technical base, skills in social organisation and
group participation were being nurtured and the discipline of credit and
savings was being established. I recognised my professional limitations and
encouraged HEED to recruit a person with experience in rural savings and
group formation.
Unfortunately by 1987-88 the small farmer programme had been
disbanded in preference for a single programme that concentrated on
landless men and womens groups. The HEED small farmer programme was
a victim of an organisational policy shift. HEED was a small NGO and so I
could argue the programme closure was unimportant. However, the overall
stamp of that period was for NGOs to focus all efforts on the landless.
As an agricultural professional I was coming to recognise that
organisational policy and development dogma significantly affect programme
opportunity. I asked the question: if IRDP KSS groups were not
representative of marginal farm families and NGOs were focusing on the
landless, was there a programme gap for marginal farm families? And
9
HEED. 1982. Kamalganj Rural Development Project: Agriculture Sector: Sixth
10
HEED. 1983. 'Summary of Agriculture Activities,' 1983 Annual Report:
Kamalganj Project, HEED Bangladesh, Kamalganj Rural Development Project, PO
Keramatnagar, Moulvibazar District, Bangladesh, 1.
moreover, if the lack was real, did it accentuate their vulnerability? I also
asked myself another question: on what evidence or development dogma
were decisions being made to neglect marginal farm families? Perhaps it
was not a deliberate neglect, but a gap.
I chose the examples from early in my experience in Bangladesh as
8
representative of a set of common events that confront each professional in
rural development. Whether the person is an Upazila Agricultural Officer in a
new posting or an agronomist with the BRRI Rice Farming Systems Division,
at some point in time each person is confronted by the limiting boundaries
. ~
of ones profession, an inadequacy in interpreting social structure and its
impact on defining the target group and the disjunction between policy and
opportunity.
Change and Risk
I have found focussing on a central goal beyond my own profession,
as an agronomist, essential in determining the most important questions to
tackle. That central goal has been, reducing small farmer vulnerability. It
was only as my profession served that end goal that I could be confident
that any critical opportunities would not be missed.
However, it is here a dilemma arises. What happens when I see a
neglected critical issue regarding vulnerable farm families that lies outside
the accepted norms of my own profession and yet impacts on the
effectiveness of the very findings of my own discipline? What if there is no
one to take it up? Risk is high, as addressing the issue involves taking on
new skills at the same time as possibly weakening core professional skills.
The central goal necessitates owning that risk. The words of Dag
Hammarskjld are applicable to that present unknown in rural development:
Working at the edge of the development of human society is to work
at the brink of the unknown. Much of what is done will one day
prove to have been of no avail. That is no excuse for the failure to
act in accordance with our best undetstandi,ng in recognition of its
limits but with faith in the ultimate result of the creative evolution in
which it is our privilege to cooperate.
11
What was most frustrating in addressing the issues of reducing
vulnerability was not so much the specialisation within disciplines, but the
lack of integration across disciplines. The problems and opportunities
embraced parts of many disciplines. The skills of each was essential but in
9
isolation the impact was somehow muted. Hammarskjld again reflects that
need each profession has for the other in agriculture R&D:
... all the parts of political and social science [and natural science]
are linked together. The person mastering all the various aspects does
not exist. But each of us may be able to make a contribution and so
build up a picture which, although far from complete, gives us a
rough map of the waters that we have to sail.
12

Cooperation Across Disciplines
That stepping out for me began most strongly in the second phase of
my contract with IRRI as a Farming Systems Specialist with the Rice
Farming Systems Division at BRRI.
13
There were two directions being
pursued simultaneously: embracing the complexity of the survival
mechanisms of small and marginal farm families and more accurately
characterising vulnerable families themselves.
The first direction required understanding of complexity. I knew from
experience that the activities of a farm family vary throughout the year and
11
Wilder Foote. 1962. The Servant of Peace: A Selection of Speeches and
Statements of Dag Hammarskjold Secretary General of the United Nations 1953-61
(London: The Bodley Head), 14.
12

Foote. 1962. The Servant of Peace, 39.
13

My position with BRRI covered two phases. From 1985-87 there was emphasis
on a nation wide programme of multi location testing of cropping systems developed
technologies, or field verification trials, with the Department of Agriculture Extension. From
1988-91, the focus shifted to a holistic approach to technology development, to building a
greater understanding of the economic position of small, medium and large farmers and to
assessing the impact of cropping systems recommendations on farm family welfare. BRRI.
1988. Subject: Project Proposal in "Rice Research and Training III ,' Letter to Secretary of
Agriculture, Government of Bangladesh from Director General, BRRI. Memo no. PC/I -
3/280(6)' Jan. 18, 1988.
10
from plot to plot. There was also a non-farm component and the
contribution of different family members. Agronomic tools involve reducing
a system to its raw components rather than integrating. The complexity was
lost in site description reports; never to be read again. I initiated the
development of a software package, FARMACTION, that would enable
snapshots of the complexity of existing and potential farm systems.
Giving interpretation to vulnerability required close cooperation
between the predominantly natural scientists of the Farming Systems

Division
14
and the socio-economists of the Economics Division. That

linkage, while appearing obvious at the integrated level of the farm family,
was strongly demarcated within BRRI. At that time I was able to work more
closely with an ODA economist, Alastair Orr, who was assigned to the BRRI
Economics Division. We framed a study to more clearly clarify economic
mobility within the village.
15
I mention that, because despite an interest in
the plight of small and marginal farm families, concern with quantifying their
position was really marginal within the respective divisions. In many ways,
vulnerability was a knowledge gap that was located between the divisions,
and therefore not tackled.
Eight sites were chosen. Except for one, each site already had
ongoing research. The sites represented five major ecosystems and remote
and accessible locations across the country. The locations are shown in
figure 1. The characterisation of the sites are given in chapter 2.
Between 1989 and 1992 the BRRI Economics Division and the Rice
Farming Systems Division completed vulnerability studies at each site. Five
to six local enumerators were used at each site and covered 5 to 6 villages
14
The division comprised 19 natural scientists (agronomists) and 2 economists.
BRRI. 1991. 'Rice Farming Systems Task force; Internal Review,' BRRI, Gazipur,
Bangladesh.
15
BRRI. 1988. 'Vulnerable Small Farmer Study,' copy with IRRI, Los Banos,
Philippines. Photocopied.
11
for each site, The studies were completed sequentially. For each site there
was a complete census, with a total of 7664 households being surveyed.
From the initial census a stratified random sample was made based on
current land owned. The total sample for the detailed study of changes in
landholding since inheritance was 1162 families,
16
The emphasis was on
developing a strong empirical database that was complemented with case
studies. This particular study on vulnerability is the largest of its kind
completed in South Asia and the first to both use the advanced statistical
technique of cluster analysis and then to define the farm systems for those
families identified as vulnerable,
Structure of Argument
I began briefly with shifts in my position towards developing a more
integrated set of skills that would enable me to address the notion of
empowering marginal farm families. Each has been a transition towards
placing the farm family first.
17
The reader will notice that I tend to use exclusively the term farm
family as opposed to farmer.
18
In the early part of this chapter the two
terms have been used interchangeably. The original study within BRRI was
entitled Small Farmer Vulnerability Study. However, as will be apparent,
farm families manage multi-enterprised systems, often with a definite non-
farm component. The term farmer tends to exclude or neglect the
16
In addition Orr with members of the Economics Division completed a credit study
of a sub-sample of 100 families at each site and a specialised study of the impact of the
1987-88 floods in the two deepwater eco-systems.
17
Robert Chambers. 1989. 'Reversals, Institutions and Change,' in Farmer First:
Farmer Innovation and Agricultural Research, ed. Robert Chambers, Arnold Pacey and Lori
Anne Thrupp (London: IT Publications), 182.
18
The farm family is the basic economic unit, the members of which have a
common eating place or chula. That unit may be an individual alone, a couple with or
without children or an extended family.
Figure 1. Eight sites, representing five major ecosystems and both
remote and accessible locatio he vulnerability study,
Bangladesh, 1989-91.
o 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 Kms.
I I 1 I 1 1 1 ' 1 I
I I I I I I
o 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Mi les
12
13
consideration of non-farm income or the income of some family members.
For example within a poor family there may be income by a female member
through rice husking. Also within Bangladesh the term farmer is krishok
but it is a term that is dominated by crop production. Homestead, livestock
and aquaculture are not automatically brought to mind by the term farmer.
Initially the thesis positions farm families within their physical
environment for each site and ecosystem (chapter 2). The reader is provided
with a minimum set of physical parameters so as to understand the systems
of marginal farm families. The productivity of each site is compared and the

dynamism in both ecological risk and long-term change is shown.
The initial intention of chapter 3 was to identify vulnerable farm
families; those families for whom agricultural activities were an important
source of survival but who were losing their land. By quantifying that group
statistically, the information could then form the basis for shifts in policy for
the state, NGOs and donor bodies. However, the stratification of the sample
within sites, ecosystem peculiarities and the extent of accessibility and
development of sites enabled a far stronger statement. There was a clear
picture of social change within villages over time and across sites. As will
be apparent in chapter 3, there was an initial expectation of polarisation,
with a concentration of land amongst large landlords and a dispossession of
marginal landholders.
19
Such was not the case; in fact there was also a
resilience amongst active marginal and small farm families. That observation
became apparent in the preliminary analysis of the first two sites of
Kamalganj and Sitakundu
20
and prompted me to deconstruct 'the
19
For example see B.K. Jahangir. 1979. Differentiation, Polarisation and
Confrontation in Rural Bangladesh (Bangladesh: Centre for Social Studies); Atiur Rahman.
1986. Peasants and Classes: A Study in Differentiation in Bangladesh (Dhaka: University
Press Limited) .
20
Noel P. Magor and Alastair W. Orr. 1990. 'Reducing Vulnerability in Bangladesh,'
paper presented at the 1990 Asian Farming Systems Research and Extension Symposium,
Bangkok, Thailand, 19-22 Nov. 1990. Photocopied.
polarisation thesis. The consistency in the pattern of variation of results
across sites encouraged me to go further in the argument on two fronts.
14
Firstly, through the construction of a modified Lorenz curve I
developed a critical analysis of the usual statistical technique that supported
the thesis of polarisation. Secondly, I critiqued five major village studies,
from both Bangladesh and India, that identified shifts in landholding over
time. Why was it so important to go further than simply identifying
vulnerable farm families? There is a strong critical literature in rural
development on the social impact of technological change, particularly

Green Revolution technology. The consequence of that school of thought
has been an antagonism to the potential of technological change in reducing
vulnerability. In each of the studies I wanted to look at the experimental
data to see if it was consistent with each author's conclusions. The author
in one of the studies clearly disputes the polarisation thesis. However, each
of the other authors infer that polarisation is taking place. For each of these
studies I dispute the conclusions. Why is this important? It means this study
does not stand alone and that none of the major studies on shifts in
landholding over time support polarisation. Agricultural change does not
imply dispossession; it can, therefore, be viewed as a more positive vehicle
in rural development. A question arises, Is it possible to be more proactive
in tapping that resilience factor amongst marginal and small farm families?
That question is a foundation question of the whole thesis.
Chapter 4 provides a unique snapshot of the systems of those
vulnerable farm families, who were identified in chapter 3. The analysis had
been possible through the use of the unreleased software, FARMACTION.
With the plans, the homestead, local innovations and research-institution
developed technologies have all been included. Also the peculiarities of both
local loans for production or consumption and sharecropping arrangements
are clearly visible. To date no other software tool places such information-
15
resources in the hands of field-level personnel. In addition, based on best
understanding, potential systems that would enhance income are presented.
The question being addressed here is, is it possible to reduce the extent of
vulnerability of identified vulnerable farm families in their respective
ecosystems through technological intervention?' It is more than a theoretical
question. Due to the iterative nature of the software, it can provide a
framework for both ex-ante analysis in research and the opportunity for
dialogue with farm families concerning the range or basket of choices of
enterprise activities.
21

Chapters 2-4 clearly bring marginal farm families to the centre both
within their specific ecosystem and within the dynamism of the changing
social structure. The possibility is also raised of technological options
reducing that vulnerability. But that in itself would be an incomplete picture.
Chapters 5 and 6 look more closely at the nature and sources of
technology and the process of research and development (R&D) as it
impinges on marginal farm families. In chapter 5 I examine the Green
Revolution (GR) technology in Bangladesh and a number of case studies
which demonstrate that landless and marginal farm families have
significantly benefited. Experiences of the Grameen Bank and the NGOs
RDRS, BRAC and Proshika, with GR winter rice technology do raise
questions concerning the matrix of institution / organisation and technology.
I step beyond conventional technologies for agricultural modernisation like
rice to include a brief review of an innovative programme with poultry for
destitute women that was developed by BRAC. In addition, I describe a
farmer-developed innovation, the Jadabh Singh vegetable system. It is a
technology complex that to date has been totally overlooked by the state
21
Chambers. 1989. 'Reversals, Institutions and Change,' 182.
16
R&D institutions. The case studies form part of a more detailed examination
of the R&D process in chapter 6.
R&D has been extremely dynamic over the last 25 years as there has
been a concerted effort to become more relevant to resource-poor families. I
trace the progress of rice research at BRRI. For the period of the late sixties
and seventies I interpret BRRIs direction, taking issue with the extremely
critical position of Anderson in Rice Science and Politics.
22
I trace the
progression from a single crop focus to multiple cropping to a whole-farm
perspective. In the tools for village level research I highlight the unique

contribution of tools like FARMACTION as empowering at the point of
contact between vulnerable farm families and research, extension or NGO
personnel. In the evolution of R&D I continually ask the question, Do the
successive techniques more directly interact with a clearly identified
vulnerable client and do the techniques decentralise the control of
knowledge ?
It seems within the R&D process that the institutional or
organisational aspect to technology development is neglected. Where is
technology development heading? I raise the issue of balance and
integration, more attention to the opportunity-gap between research and
extension, regionalisation, areas of concern for national institutions and
international centres and linkages to local organisations and networks.
That leads to the last part of the argument on empowering marginal
farm families; the issue of organisations or institutions. The term technology
transfer is completely inadequate. For technology development that is in the
hands of the user, I propose a more encompassing approach. In the case
studies, I introduce the critical component of credit and capital
22
R.S. Anderson, E. Levy and B.M. Morrison. Rice Science and Development
Politics: Research Strategies and IRRI's Technologies Confront Asian Diversity (1950 -
1980) (Oxford: Clarendon Press) .
accumulation. The case studies cover the Bangladesh Rural Development
Board (BRDB) and related state credit programmes and the Grameen Bank
and the NGO BRAC.
The chapter goes further as livelihood enhancement for vulnerable
families must also address power and access. I question the monopoly
17
position of state-led services as a tool of strengthening the controlling hand
of the elite. How is the problem of patronage of state-led services by the
elite to be challenged? In addressing this question the gap for vulnerable
farm families is made apparent both in state and NGO programmes. A

proposal for a Small Farmer Development Bank is critiqued and concerns
over its potential lack of impact for marginal farm families raised. Based on
the successful examples of programmes for landless male and female
groups by NGOs I present an accumulated wisdom for successful
programmes with vulnerable families. Within that is a strong call for
pluralism in rural development. The principles are laid for new initiatives
with marginal farm families.
Conclusion
Chapter 3 is central; both the identification of those farm families
who are vulnerable to loss of land and the change in social structure over
time. That knowledge confronts the progress in development to date. The
R&D process and the tailoring of institutions must recognise and respond to
that vulnerability. It is for that reason that I locate both existing and
potential systems of vulnerable families and then critically appraise the R&D
process, the role of the state and those organisations or institutions with a
mandate for rural development. Within that critique I am continually looking
for positive directions for not only reducing vulnerability but tapping the
positives amongst those families.
CHAPTER 2
ECOSYSTEMS OF BANGLADESH
I ntroduction
Bangladesh, with an area of 144 863 square kilometres, is by no
means a large country. More than 68,000 villages dot the landscape in a
pattern that follows the more secure ridges of a gently undulating

floodplain. Its agriculture production systems are diverse. The apparently
level floodplains of the delta are highly complex. Minor shifts in the level of
farmers fields alter the possibility of crops and cropping system choice. In
addition, the spacial differentiation in weather patterns across the land,
coupled with temporal variation within years and across years in intensity of
rainfall, amplifies diversity. The very farming of every small niche by vast
numbers of small holders over many centuries has resulted in a highly
sophisticated finely-tuned agricultural production system. It is in attempting
to codify the choices that farm families make in regard to cropping systems
that one realises that the word backward should never be attributed to the
decision making of a marginal farm family. The family manages five to
fifteen tiny plots dotted across a varying risk-prone landscape, and yet with
such limited resources, ekes out an existence for five to seven family
members and manages in most instances to leave some land within the
family for the next generation.
The objectives of this chapter are threefold. Firstly, the reader is
provided with a minimum set of parameters to understand the ecological
complexity in which marginal farm families achieve a measure of their
livelihood. Secondly, each of the eight sites that were selected for
investigating vulnerability are characterised. The productivity of the sites is
18
19
compared. Finally, the dynamism of the agricultural systems is considered.
There is both ecological risk, resulting from the year-to-year and within-year
rainfall and flood variations, and long-term agricultural change due to shifts
in technology options, institutional structures and market prices. The more
significant risks and changes are discussed. The homestead production
system and non-farm income are not discussed in this chapter but are
considered in detail in chapter 4 as the livelihoods of individual marginal
farm families are analysed.
Order in Complexity
It is a major challenge to bring order to a complex system at the
macro and micro level. Only in doing so can farmers' decisions on crop,
variety choice and timing be understood. A first step is to think within the
framework of cropping patterns as opposed to individual crops. The
cropping pattern, with its choice of crops, varieties and management
practices, is determined by the length of the growing season.
1
The length of
the growing season is influenced by climatic features, physiographic
features, landtype and flooding pattern, and soil characteristics. an
Physical Determinants
Climatic Features: Rainfall and Temperature
Bangladesh lies astride the Tropic of Cancer between latitudes 2025'
and longitudes 8801'-9240'E.
2
Life in Bangladesh has traditionally
depended on rainfall and flooding pattern, but in recent years, irrigation has
exerted an ever-increasing influence on decision making.
1
Hugh Brammer. 1983. 'Physical Determinants of Cropping Patterns in
Bangladesh,' paper prepared for presentation at the BRRI-BARC Training on Cropping
Systems Research and Development in Bangladesh, Aug. 28-Sep. 15, 1983, 1.
Photocopied.
2
FAO/UNDP. 1988. Land Resources Appraisal Report of Bangladesh for Agricultural
Development: Report 1 Executive Summary (BGD/81 /035 Technical Report 1), 12.
20
The climatic mix is influenced by three airstreams of different
thermodynamic characteristics:- the south-west monsoon, which originates
over the Indian Ocean, carries air that is warm, moist and convectively
unstable. The easterly trades are also warm, but drier. The north-east
monsoon is dry and cold. Topographic conditions and onshore breezes
modify the distribution of rainfall across the country.
3
Mean annual rainfall
with coefficient of variation is shown in figure 2.
As rice is the dominant crop, rainfall has been described in terms
affecting the potential intensity of rice cultivation. Wet months are months
..
with more than 200mm of rainfall, transitional months 100 to 200mm and
dry months less than 100mm. Five wet months are considered adequate for
the cultivation of two sequential rainfed rice crops. Figure 3 shows an east
to west shift from seven to four wet months. The establishment of two
sequential rice crops is more prevalent in the east and central regions. The
transition from dry to wet is generally within one month but from wet to dry
over two months. Rainfall in the latter transition is quite erratic and varies
from year to year and in so doing greatly influences the production of the
main rice crop. Given the finely tuned nature of the farm system in each
ecosystem, management of shifts in onset and termination of rain from year
to year has been critical to the small farmer and has greatly influenced year
to year sufficiency in rice.
Climatically Bangladesh exhibits two distinct thermal regimes; a result
of straddling the Tropic of Cancer. Characteristics of the thermal regime are
given in figure 4. The cool period is known as the winter or rabi growing
season and the warm period as the kharif growing period. With two distinct
growing seasons the range of crop options available to farmers is
3
Eugenio Manalo. 1979. Agro-Climatic Survey of Bangladesh BRRI and IRRI, 1.
23
considerable as illustrated in table 1. Zonal maps have been prepared for
the length of the cool growing period, warm growing period, hot pre-
monsoon days above 40C and probability of a given number of dry days in
the pre-transition period.
4
There are three critical temperature parameters that influence farm
practice across the country:
i) onset of cool nights coupled with a reducing photoperiod affects
transplanting dates due to critical flowering dates for the late
monsoon or aman crop;
ii) length of cool season affects the suitability of wheat cultivation and
early growth in winter or boro rice; and
iii) high temperatures in the pre-monsoon March to May period may
cause sterility of rice.
Dominant Physiographic Features
The snow and rains falling over the eastern Himalayas in Bhutan,
Nepal and Assam to the north of Bangladesh provide the major water
supply of the Ganges - Brahmaputra - Megna river system with over
3,000 mm of rainfall annually.
5
Given the multiple origins of the delta' ... one should not say the delta,
but rather the deltas.
6
The meandering of these three major rivers, together
with their tributaries created a delta plain of very gently undulating relief
comprising broad and narrow ridges (existing or old river banks) and
depressions. Differences in elevation between adjoining ridges and
depressions range from around one metre on tidal flood plains to 2 to 4m
over much of the Ganges and Brahmaputra floodplains and as much as 5 to
4
FAO/UNDP. 1988. Land Resources Appraisal Report of Bangladesh for Agricultural
Development: Report 2 Agroecological Regions of Bangladesh (BGD/811035 Technical
Report 21. See 81-82 for a map and more complete description of thermal regimes.
5
Manalo. 1979. Agro-Climatic Survey of Bangladesh, 2.
6
O.H.K. Spate and A.T.A. Learmonth. 1967. India and Pakistan A General and
Regional Geography 3d ed., UK: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 573. quoted from A. Geddes. Au
Pays de Tagore: La Civilisation rurale de Bengali occidentale et ses facteurs geographiques
(Paris, Colin, n.d. (?1928)), 45.
24
~
6m in the Syhlet Basin in the North-East
7
Across the ridges and
depressions is a change in soil texture from coarse on the ridges near the
rivers to fine silt to clay in the depressions. The lower depressed areas that
may be permanently wet are called 'bils' or small lakes. Some are the
leftovers of old river systems. As the monsoon season progresses rainfall
and water from the rising rivers fill the depressed areas.
The other dominant landforms are, firstly, terraces comprising the
Madhupur and Barind Tracts. Both tracts lie mainly 1 to 5m above the
adjoining flood plain. Secondly, hills occur along the north-eastern and
..
eastern borders of the country.
8
The higher hill ranges reach 300 to 1000 m
and the lower adjoining hills mainly lie below 100m Mean Sea Level (MSL).
Based on the dominant physiographic features the country has been
divided into 30 generalised agroecological regions (figure 5).
9
The regions
are highly generalised:
Environmental conditions in most parts of Bangladesh are highly
complex. Almost every village has more than one agroecological
'zone'. Many villages have three or more.... Farmers are well aware
of this agroecological complexity. However, they see complexity as
diversity; for the occurrence of different agro-ecological conditions
provides them with opportunity to grow different crops or varieties on
their different kinds of land and to spread the use of their labour and
draught power over a longer period. It may also provide them with
greater economic security, for floods or drought are unlikely to
damage crops on all their different kinds of land at the same time.
10
Landtype and Flooding
Being located in ' ... an area of high monsoon rainfall and in the
lower part of the floodplains of such mighty rivers as the Ganges,
7
FAD. 1988. Land Resources.......ExecutiveSummary, 12.
8
FAD. 1988. Land Resources......ExecutiveSummary, 12.
9
FAD. 1988. Land Resources.....Agroecological Regions of Bangladesh,106-107.
Description of regions will be limited to selected sites only in a subsequent section.
10
FAD. 1988. Land Resources ... Agroecological Regions of Bangladesh, 105.
27
Brahmaputra and Meghna ...
12
results in flood being a natural yearly
. phenomenon.
The heavy rainfall in May-October comes at a time when the major
rivers are bringing in large volumes of water from their upper courses
outside Bangladesh. Due to this much of the monsoon flooding is by
rainwater falling locally and unable to drain off the land sufficiently
rapidly because the rivers are simultaneously running at a high level.
... on the other hand, there is little rainfall between November- April,
and the rivers are then also at a low level. The floodwater therefore
drains rapidly from most floodplain land in October-December.
13
The seasonal flooding regime is a principal parameter in a farmer's choice of
cropping sequence. The inundation landtypes, which are very critical to a
farmer's vulnerability across landtypes are shown in figure 6. Land use
associations, which are discussed later, are based on land type and flooding
pattern.
The importance of the flooding pattern can be illustrated from the
following questioning of farmers in the deepwater ecosystem.
When did the floodwaters begin on this field? (date of onset of
inundation) .
How did this compare with your other fields? (spacial variation)
How did this compare with last year? (temporal variation)
When did the flood waters recede from this field? (date of recessional
inundation).
What was the maximum depth and when did it occur?
When was the time of maximum increase in depth of floodwaters?
and within that time how much did it rise?
The ready availability of this knowledge through interviews indicates the
importance ang sikat noong 1970 pag tag araw..... magiipon ng gabok at tutumpukin.... hulma ng siko tapos iihan pag naiga ung ihi... palayok o kawali n at lalagyan ng dahon bulaklak bili n kayo bili mura lang pambayad bebenga... that it plays in farmer decision-making.
12
FAO/UNDP. 1971. Soil Survey Project: Bangladesh Soil Resources (AGL:SF/PAK
6 Technical Report No.3) Report prepared for the Government of Bangladesh by the Food
and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations acting as executing agency for the
United Nations Development Programme, 32.
13
FAO. 1971. Soil Survey Project: Bangladesh Soil Resources, 32.
Figure 5,
88'
26'
25'
24'
I..
. '"
23'
22'
28
Generalised agro-ecological regions of Bangladesh,
89' 90'
" .'1
11
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. ..,. ...... .
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11
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AGROECOLOGICAL REGIONS
(GENERALIZED)

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Figure 5,
88'
26'
25'
24'
I..
. '"
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28
Generalised agro-ecological regions of Bangladesh,
89' 90'
" .'1
11
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. ..,. ...... .
t'
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AGROECOLOGICAL REGIONS
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29
Soil Physical Properties
The soil type plays an important role in influencing a farmers decision
concerning cropping. The coarser textured soils on ridges across the
floodplain are moderate to rapidly permeable compared to the basin and
loamy soils. Ridge soils may be unsuited for puddling which is important for
transplanting rice. Moisture holding capacity is high in deep silt loams but
low in sandy ridge soils, basin clays and most soils that are puddled for
transplanted rice cultivation. Winter cropping on the residual moisture for
deep silt loams is an important sub-system as is winter fallowing on the
-
puddled rice soils.
14
Salinity is a determinant in coastal parts of tidal estuarine floodplains,
and acidity or alkalinity may be features for specific soil types and thereby
influence fertiliser management.
The All Pervasive Rice Crop
From table 2, which gives area, production and yield of major crops,
it is readily apparent that rice dominates. Rice covers 80 percent of the total
cropped area.
15

In some ways rice can be considered many crops because
there are distinctive types, with accompanying varieties, that are suited to
specific landtypes or seasons. Rice grows in rainfed and irrigated conditions
and may be broadcast or dibble sown or transplanted. It is the dominance of
rice and its variation which necessitates some understanding of local
terminology for rice. The traditional classification of ricelands in Bangladesh
and eastern India recognises three distinct seasons that are based on the
type of rice that can be grown. These are aus, aman and boro. The aman is

14

FAD. 1988. Land Resources ... Executive Summary, 14
15
BRRI. 1984. About BRRI: 1984, publication no. 6. 1; Bangladesh Bureau of
Statistics. 1991. Statistical Pocket Book of Bangladesh 91, 144-145.
30
subdivided further into the broadcast or deepwater aman and transplanted
aman.
16

Aus rice is grown from late February to mid-September. The varieties are
photoperiod insensitive and are either broadcast or transplanted. Irrigation
availability has increased the importance of this season and enabled early
establishment. For rainfed conditions its performance and date of
establishment are highly dependent on the pre-monsoon rainfall.
Table 2. Area under production of major crops in Bangladesh 1989-90.
rice
pulses
wheat
oilseeds
jute
sugarcane
spices
tea
tobacco
Aman
Area
(1'000 ha)
10,478
746
592
573
541
187
148
47
45
Broadcast or deepwater Aman
Production
(1'000 tonnes)
17,857
521
890
438
828
7423
324
39
37
Yield
(kg per ha)
1700
700
1500
765
1555
16000
2190
820
840
Broadcast aman or deepwater rice has the ability to elongate with
rising floodwaters and is photoperiod sensitive. It may be broadcast in
March or April alone or sometimes mixed with aus rice. While the aus (in
16
BRRI. 1984. About BRRI: 1984, publication no. 6. 1; Dennis P. Garrity. 1984.
'Rice Environmental Classifications: a Comparative Review,' in IRRI. Terminology for Rice
Growing Environments, IRRI, Philippines, 35.
~
the mixed aus+aman) is harvested in June and July, the broadcast aman
elongates with the rising flood with water depths increasing from 0.5 to
over 3.0 metres from June to September. It is harvested in November and
December.
Transplanted aman
Transplanted aman is transplanted from July to September in areas
where flood depths usually do not exceed 0.5 metres.
ro or winter rice
17
ro rice grows entirely irrigated in the dry winter. Seed beds are
31
made from October to December, seedlings are transplanted from December
to February and the crop is harvested from late April to June. o yields
are higher than for any other season.
Aman, as transplanted or deepwater, has been the most important
rice crop and in 1989-90 accounted for 54 percent of total rice area.
18
The
expansion of irrigation has, however, increased the importance of the boro
rice crop over time. Production and the relative importance of each rice
season or type are given in the table 3.
17
Boro rice or winter rice is sometimes called summer rice, with aman rice being
called winter rice. Throughout this document boro rice and winter rice are synonymous.
18
M. Abdul Hamid. 1991 . A Data Base on Agriculture and Foodgrains in
Bangladesh (1947-48 to 1989-90) (Dhaka: Maloney International) 98.
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33
The Major Ecosystems and Site Selection
Landuse Associations
Figure 7 delineates eight major ecosystems based on landuse
association and defined by the dominant landtype.
19
These are rainfed
upland favourable, rainfed lowland favourable, rainfed lowland unfavourable
(Barind Tract) rainfed saline affected deepwater area, bottom land (deeply
flooded), reserved forest and hill lands and new land (char land). Irrigated
area, which now covers 25 percent of net cultivated land for the floodplains
and terraced soils, is dispersed across the ecosystems and is increasing
each year.
It has been rightly pointed out by Brammer (1977) that the landuse
units are complex and in fact are land use associations. Within individual
boundaries on the map, there is a common pattern of landuse associated
with the physical conditions which occur in a more or less regular pattern
across the area. For example for the rainfed lowland ecosystem, the
dominant cropping pattern on the primary landtype was aus followed by
transplanted aman but in the associated secondary landtypes of medium
highland and medium lowland, mixed aus and aman followed by upland
winter crops predominated. The primary and secondary land use associations
for the major ecosystems are given in table 4.
20
Small farm family vulnerability may vary across ecosystems and may
depend on the level of development of the region. For this study eight sites
were selected to be representative of five of the major ecosystems and to
19
S.B. Naseem and others. 1987. 'Environmental Analysis as a Component of
Farming Systems Research/Extension for Defining Target Area,' in Report of the Asian-Rice
Farming System Working Group: 18th Asian Rice Farming Systems Working Group Meeting
Aug. 30-Sep. 4, 1987. Sponsored by Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and IRRI , 16-
27; Akhter Hossain Khan, Rais Uddin Akanda and Noel P. Magor. 1987. 'Major Agro-
ecological Environments in Bangladesh,' paper presented at the Regional Multilocational
Testing Review Meeting, Nov. 1987, Rice Farming Systems Division, BRRI, Gazipur,
Bangladesh. Photocopied.
20
Khan. 1987. 'Major Agro-ecological Environments in Bangladesh,' 14.
34
transect developed and undeveloped regions. As rice is the dominant crop,
sites have been characterised by rice type (figure 8). The ecosystems
covered in the study were: rainfed lowland favourable, irrigated lowland
favourable, deepwater, coastal saline and upland dissected with partial
irrigation. Within the rainfed lowland favourable, the deepwater and the
irrigated lowland favourable, comparative sites were chosen to contrast the
level of infrastructure development. For the irrigated system the contrast
included the type of irrigation and the type of institutional support.
The choice of sites, within the ecosystems, was limited to sites for

which some existing research and development database existed. The
exception was the remote deepwater site on the fringe of Madharipur and
Sariatpur districts in the lower Ganges floodplain. There had been no second
deepwater site within the country research and development network. The
lack of a second site was indicative of the neglect of this major ecosystem.
Rainfed Lowland Favourable: Sites Kamalganj and Sitakundu
The predominant features of Kamalganj were two hill tracts bordering
a rice-plain through which the Doloi river flowed from south to north. From
the hills there were several streams that either entered the Doloi or flowed
into a bil area (depressed water body) in the north. Excluding the bil the
land of the rice-plain was flooded no more that 15 cm. Slight depressions
were affected by flash floods from either breaks in the Doloi or the hill
streams. The survey villages fell within the piedmont plain
21
(agroecological
region 22 in figure 5).
21
Piedmont is the land at the foot of a hill or mountain. A piedmont (flood) plain
typically has a complex landscape with numerous low ridges and shallow intersecting
depressions. FAO. 1971 . Soil Survey Project: Bangladesh Soil Resources, 200-201.
35
Table 3. Area and production of major rice types in Bangladesh in 1990.
Area Production Percent of Yield
('000 ha) ('000 tonnes) productio (kg per ha)
aus 2263 2487 14.2 1100
broadcast aman 945 1 017 5.8 1080
or deepwater rice
transplanted aman 4760 7987 45.7 1675
boro 2 511 5969 34.2 2375
10480 17470
39
Sitakundu upazila is a long narrow strip bordered on the west by the
sea and on the east by foothills. An embankment protects the coastal flats
from encroachment of the sea but also causes delays in drainage of flash
flood waters from the hills. The piedmont plains slope outward from the
foothills and merge into the almost level, old tidal floodplains of mainly silty
clay loams (agroecological region 23 in figure 5).
Environmentally both the sites were characterised by:
200mm or more rainfall per month during May to September;
sandy loam to clay loam type soil; and
flood free zone (maximum 30cm water depth after heavy rainfall),
with lower fields subject to flash flooding from hill run off.
22
The two sites do contrast. The wet season in Kamalganj begins
several weeks earlier, which enables a more predictable early establishment
of the aus rice. The transition period (pre-kharif) for the start of the
monsoon growing period is up to 18 days longer for Sitakundu, which is
indicative of a more problematic start to aus establishment. The two rice
crop system of aus followed by aman dominated in Kamalganj, whereas in
Sitakundu, with a higher residual moisture on the soils nearer the coast, 34
per cent of the area had vegetables or pulses in the winter (table 5). The
per cent of modern rice varieties in both the aus and aman seasons was
considerably higher for Kamalganj (table 6). Intensity of cropping at
; ,
Sitakundu was 224 percent in contrast to the low level of 137 percent for
Kamalganj (table 7). Kamalganj was rice surplus.
The two sites, within this rice environment, also differed significantly
in infrastructure. Kamalganj upazila, in the North-East was in a relatively
underdeveloped part of the country with poor communications and limited
22
Mainur Rahman Siddiqui and others. 1990. 'Towards Equity: Impact of Modern
Rice Technology in a Rainfed Lowland Environment,' paper presented at the 1990 Asian
Farming Systems Research and Extension Symposium, Bangkok, Thailand, 19-22 Nov.
1990. In Best Paper Awards 1990, eds. R.E. Rhoades, V.N. Sandoval and C.P. Bagalanon
International Potato Center, User's Perspective with Agricultural Research and Development
(UPWARD), 55. ~
40
non-farm employment. In contrast, Sitakundu in the South-East, is dissected
by the main road to nearby Chittagong, a major port and industrial centre.
There is ready access to both factory employment and markets for sale of
high value vegetables.
In Kamalganj, the local Non-Government Organisation (NGO), HEED
had an active agriculture project from 1976-87.
23
There had been a pilot
production programme for potential for rice technology from 1982-86. In
Sitakundu, the Grameen Bank had limited activity with landless groups. The
Department of Agriculture Extension, in conjunction with BRRI, had
-,
conducted multi-location testing of the same rice technology, followed by a
pilot production scheme from 1982-87.
24
BRRI had completed a preliminary
impact study in 1987 and a more detailed study from 1989-91.
25
In the
latter period, at both sites, a one year intensive village study with planned
23
HEED Annual Reports 1978-82, HEED, PO Keramatnagar, Moulvibazar District,
Bangladesh; Noel P. Magor. 1984. Potential in Rainfed Rice Production in North-East
Bangladesh, BRRI , Gazipur, Bangladesh, bulletin no. 69.
24

Noel P. Magor. 1988. 'The Research-Extension Linkage in Farming Systems
Research in Bangladesh,' paper presented at the 19th Asian Rice Farming Systems Network
Meeting held in Philippines Nov. 11-14, 1988. Photocopied; Nizam Uddin Ahmed and
others. 1988. 'Performance of Rainfed Technologies in Multilocation Test Programme in
Bangladesh,' paper presented at the BRRI-DAE sponsored Workshop on the Experiences
with Modern Rice Cultivation in Bangladesh, Apr. 5-8, 1988, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
Photocopied; Akhter Hossain Khan and others. 1987. 'Pilot Production Program
Management in Bangladesh,' paper presented at Regional BRRI-DAE Multilocation Testing
Review Meeting, Dec. 1987. Photocopied; Abdul Quddus and others. 1986. 'The
Collaborative Experience in Technology Transfer of the Department of Agriculture Extension
and the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute - Progress Report,' in Report of the Farming
Systems Monitoring Tour in Nepal and Bangladesh Sept. 8-19, 1986, sponsored by BRRI,
Gazipur, Bangladesh, Department of Agriculture, Kathmandu, Nepal and IRRI, Philippines,
116-140; M. Nur-E-Elahi, Noel P. Magor and Akhter Hossain Khan. 1985 .. BRRl's
Methodology and Experiences in Multilocation Testing,' BRRI Rice Farming Systems
Division, Gazipur, Bangladesh. Technical Paper no. 9; M. Nur-E-Elahi and others. 1985 .
' The Preproduction Phase - The Collaborative Experience of the Directorate of Agriculture
Extension and the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute in Technology Verification,
Refinement and Transfer,' paper presented at the 16th Asian Rice Farming Systems
Working Group Meeting sponsored by BRRI and IRRI , Nov. 9-13, 1985, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
25
Siddiqui. 1990. 'Towards Equity: Impact of Modern Rice Technology'; Mainur
Rahman Siddiqui and others. 1988. 'The Impact of Farming Systems Research in Two
Rainfed Lowland Sites in Bangladesh,' paper presented at Workshop cum Monitoring Tour
on Impact Assessment, Apr. 25-29, 1988, Iloilo, Philippines.
41
component technology intervention was completed.
26
The Bangladesh Rural
Development Board (BRDB) had centres in each upazila.
Upland Dissected with Partial Irrigation: Site Sreepur
The site in Sreepur Upazila is 50 km north of Dhaka and traversed by
the Dhaka - Mymensingh highway. The site is representative of the
Madhupur Tract, which covers approximately 0.42 million ha
(agroecological region 28 in figure 5). The topography is gently undulating
and is dissected by terraces that are intermittently shallow flooded.
Historically the area was a sparsely populated forest land. The
inhabitants report that 30-40 years ago, when landholdings were large, land
was cultivated one year in three, with the fallow land being used for
livestock. With increasing population pressure, cropping had become more
intensive and livestock production declined. The Dhaka-Mymensingh road
was only completed in the 1980s and has given more ready access to major
produce markets.
The upland ridges or chala land were used mostly for cultivating
sugarcane, jackfruit and a direct seeded local aus rice. Approximately 21
per cent of the area was cultivated to sugarcane (table 5). The shallow
flooded terraces, or byde land, were used for single or double cropped rice
cultivation. Some of the byde land was irrigated by deep-tubewell with two
long duration rice crops (table 6). Local aus varieties dominated the rainfed
byde land but modern aman rice was cultivated on both the rainfed and
irrigated byde (table 6). The soil was strongly acidic, with pH ranging from
26
M. Nazrul lslam Miah and others. 1991. 'Report on Cropping Systems Research
at Sreepur, Mirzapur, Sitakundu, and Kamalganj FSR Sites of BRRI, Bangladesh,' paper
presented at the 22d Asian Rice Farming Systems Working Group Meeting, Beijing, China,
Sep. 30-0ct. 4, 1991. Photocopied; M. Nur-E-Elahi and others. 1991. 'Physical, Biological
and Socio-economic Characteristics and Research Activities of Two BRRI FSR Sites:
Muradpur and Nasratpur,' paper presented at the Rainfed Lowland Rice Farming Systems
Planning Meeting, Myanmar, Aug. 2-6, 1991. Photocopied.
42
Table 5. Dominant cropping patterns for five major ecosystems for eight
selected sites.
Environment Cropping patterns Percent area
Rainfed lowland favourable Kamalganj Sitakundu
aus aman fallow 56 18
fallow aman fallow 24 9
aus aman rabi 34
Coastal saline Char Matua
fallow aman fallow 71
aus aman rabi 9
aus aman fallow 9
fallow aman rabi 8
Deepwater Mirzapur Sariatpur
fallow bora 37 32
jute rabi 27 13
rabi bora 13
mixed aus + aman rabi 11 8
broadcast aman bora 14
broadcast aman rabi 12
mesta rabi 6
broadcast aus rabi 6
Upland with partial irrigation Sreepur
irrigated fallow aman bora 12
non-irrigated
byde land aus aman fallow 26
fallow aman fallow 15
chala land sugarcane 21
aus fallow rabi 5
Irrigated lowland favourable Thakurgaon Soda
(deeptubewell) (treadle pump)
irrigated aus aman fallow 70 81
fallow aman wheat 17 7
non irrigated
aus aman rabi
fallow aman fallow
kaon or sesame
aus aman fallow
kaon or sesame
fallow aman wheat
Winter upland crops (rabi season)
aman fallow
aman rabi
7
34
29
9
6
Sitakundu: khesari 27 percent; tomato 8 percent and blackgram 5 percent.
Char Matua: chilli 6 percent and cowpea 6 percent.
Mirzapur: mustard 32 percent; wheat 7 percent and khesari 5 percent.
Sariatpur: mustard 45 percent; lentil, wheat, and khesari each 3-4 percent.
Sreepur: blackgram 6 percent.
Thakurgaon: wheat irrigated 27 percent; non irrigated 7 percent.
Boda: wheat irrigated 8 percent; non irrigated 19 percent.
37
24
8
43
Table 6. Percent area of each rice type by ecosystem and site.
Environment Site
Rice type Percent area
Rainfed lowland Kamalganj Sitakundu
favourable
aus local 4.5 30.6
modern 52.0 28.6
amf]n local 30.4 69.5
modern 47.5 8.2
Coastal saline Char Matua
aus local 18.0
aman local 100.0
Deepwater Mirzapur Sariatpur
boro 57.0 48.5
broadcast aus 13.9
broadcast aman 14.1 25.2
mixed aus + aman 12.6
Upland with partial Sreepur
irrigation
irrigated boro 14.3
aman modern 14.3
rainfed chala direct seeded aus 11 .1
byde aus local 23.0
modern
- 1.0
aman local 1.3
modern 40.0
Irrigated lowland Thakurgaon Soda
favourable (deep (treadle pump)
tubewell)
irrigated aus local <1.0
modern 76.6 58.4
aman local 33.0 70.0
modern 67.0 30.0
non irrigated aus loca1 16.1 30.0
modern 4.0
aman local 47.0 30.0
modern 45.0 70.0
Table 7. Cropping intensity by rainfed and irrigated land for each
ecosystem and site (1989-91).
Environment Rainfed Irrigated
Rainfed lowland favourable
Kamalganj 137
Sitakundu 224
Coastal saline
Char Matua 138
1
Deepwater
Mirzapur 183 136
Sariatpur 187 138
Upland with partial irrigation
Sreepur chala 130 216
byde 156
Irrigated lowland favourable
Thakurgaon 181 210
Boda 134 192
1
There are two main soil series the Ramgoti and the Hatya
with cropping intensities of 121 and 174 respectively.
44
45

4.5 - 5.5, and with high phosphate fixation. There are 5 wet months
starting from May with rainfall more than 200 mm per month.
From 1986 to 1991, the BRRI Rice Farming Systems Research
conducted intensive whole-farm monitoring and from 1989 initiated
interventions amongst small and marginal farm families. The Sugar Cane
Research and Training Institute conducted limited varietal screening.
27
Being
near to Dhaka, Sreepur Upaz a had a number of active NGOs in agriculture;
CARE with a history of irrigation deep-tubewell development, Proshika with
irrigation agro-forestry and livestock groups. In addition, the Grameen Bank

had an active credit programme for the landless.
Rainfed lowland (Saline Affected): Site Char Matua
The coastal saline char land
28
are defined as newly formed land that
is saline affected. The level of agriculture development is low. The site falls
within the Noakhali Char that comprises the Young Megna Estuarine Flood
27
Nizam Uddin Ahmed and others. 1991 'Livestock Related FSR Activities of the
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute,' paper presented at the Annual Meeting cum Workshop
on Livestock Development held at the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute, Savar,
Dhaka, Jul. 16-18, 1991 . Photocopied; Noel P. Magor and others. 1990. 'Creating
Computerised Farm Plans,' paper presented at the 1990 Asian Farming Systems Research
and Extension Symposium, Bangkok, Thailand, 19-22 Nov. 1990. Photocopied; Nazrul lslam
Miah, M.M. Rahman and Noel P. Magor. 1990. 'Food Forage Production Systems in
Bangladesh, ' paper presented at the International Workshop on Crop-Animal Farming
Systems Research, Aug. 12-16, 1990, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photocopied; Rais Uddin Akanda
and others. 1987. 'Upland Farming Systems Research Site Options for a Livestock
Component,' paper presented at Crop-Livestock Monitoring Tour, China and Philippines,
Sep. 27-0ct. 9 1987. Photocopied; Noel P. Magor, Nizam Uddin Ahmed and Nazrul lslam
Miah. 1989. 'Farmer Participation in FSR: A Case Study from Sreepur,' paper presented at
the 20th Asian Rice Farming Systems Network Meeting held in Indonesia Oct. 2-7, 1989.
Photocopied; Nizam Uddin Ahmed, Noel P. Magor and Nazrul lslam Miah. 1989. 'Report on
BRRl's FSR Site at Sreepur,' paper presented at the National Workshop on Achievements of
Farming Systems Research in Bangladesh held at BARC Sep. 20-22, 1989. Photocopied.
28
Char (char land) is new alluvial land within or adjoining river channels, liable to be
washed away or buried by fresh deposits of alluvium each flood season. FAO. 1971. Soil
Survey Project: Bangladesh Soil Resources, 199.
46
Plain and the saline estuary char land of Noakhali; Hatya and Meghna, and
totals 171,000 ha of crop land (agroecological region 18 in figure 5).
29

Transplanted aman with a winter fallow was the major cropping
pattern (tables 5 and 6). During the winter season and early part of the
monsoon (aus season) salinity seriously constrains production and the land
remains fallow. The site has five wet months. Cropping intensity was low at
138 percent (table 7).
The site within Sudharam upazila, Noakhali District was remote with
communication being by unsealed roads. Because the mouth of the Meghna

river occasionally makes abrupt shifts, old settlements can be suddenly
destroyed in one place and new lands appear in another. Socially it is
frontier land. The NGO, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), commenced
agriculture work in the coastal area in 1972. Within the char, MCC's
cropping system research was carried out at Char Dharmapur (1982-85),
Char Bata (1985-87) and Char Matua (1988-91). Research centred on field
crops with only more recent activity in livestock, fisheries and homestead
development.
Deepwater Ecosystem: Sites Mirzapur and Sariatpur
The two deepwater sites contrast in accessibility and remoteness but
approximately match environmentally. The site at Mirzapur, in Tangail
District, was accessible by a sealed road and within two hours by vehicle
from Dhaka. The remote site was in two adjacent unions on the outskirts of
Madaripur and Sariatpur Districts. The journey from Dhaka to Sariatpur took
approximately six to seven hours by road. There was a major ferry crossing
of one to two hours across the Ganga between Dhaka and Faridpur. At a
29
Tom Bruulsema and Tom Ewert. 1990. Summary of Agronomic Research on Salt-
Affected Soils in Noakhali, Bangladesh, 1979 to 1990, Mennonite Central Committee 1/1
Block A, Mohammadpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
junction midway along the main Faridpur to Barisal road, one turned
towards the interior to Madharipur. The final stretch of road was on brick
47
soling and depending on the villages being visited required traversing one or
two ferries. Access to the most remote villages was up to one hour by foot
in the dry season and longer by country boat in the wet season. Sariatpur
District is bordered by the Ganga and is at the junction of the Ganga and
Meghna rivers.
For Sariatpur the surveyed villages fall within the Low Ganges River
Floodplain:
30

... a region (which has a typical meander floodplain landscape of
broad ridges and basins. Differences in elevation between ridge tops
and basin centres are generally in the range of 3-5m. The external
river levels determine the depth of flooding on the land.
31

However, at the survey site the ridge and basin relief was more gradual and
there was a high proportion of moderately deep and deeply flooded areas.
As the rivers rise, water in the canals and the water table rises and water
gradually covers the lowlands first and then progressively the medium
lowland and medium highland areas. The flooding pattern varies across the
landscape and between years. The inundation pattern or landtype is a
primary determinant of the cropping system. Flood initiation was from early
to late July and flood recession from late September to late October.
The site in Mirzapur falls within the Young Brahmaputra and Jamuna
Floodplains agroecological region.
The region has a complex relief of broad and narrow ridges. The
difference in elevation between the tops of the ridges and adjoining
basins varies from 2 to 5 metres.
32

30
FAD. 1988. Land Resources ... Agroecological Regions of Bangladesh, 259-
260. Within the Agroecological Region classification the site falls within Region 12b, the
Eastern Subregion of the Lower Ganges River Floodplain.
31
FAD. 1988. Land Resources ... Agroecological Regions of Bangladesh, 261

32

FAD. 1988. Land Resources ... Agroecological Regions of Bangladesh, 196.

Within the Agroecological Region classification the site falls within Region 8 c & d, the High
and Low Jamuna Floodplain.
48
The region is bordered by the active Jamuna floodplain to the west and the
Madhupur Tract to the east. The region is a narrow strip from 5 to 15
kilometres wide resulting in a somewhat changeable relief. The flooding
begins in late June - July and recedes from mid September to mid
November depending on landtype.
33
The sites do contrast. Sariatpur is part of a very large lower
floodplain whereas Mirzapur is part of a more active varying system. The
proportion of landtype is given in table 8 and indicates a greater proportion
of lowland in Sariatpur. A map of the flooding pattern by Talukder for
. ~
Tangail District indicates that most of the land of the survey villages falls
within medium lowland to lowland.
34
It appears that bora rice has been cultivated by irrigation on
significant areas of land for a longer period of time in Mirzapur than
Sariatpur. In 1984 the irrigated area was reported to be quite high
compared to most upazilas in the country.
35
From greater district
36
statistics, expansion of winter irrigation for bora rice occurred in the late
seventies to early eighties in Tangail (Mirzapur site) and mid to late eighties
for Faridpur (Sariatpur site).
37
The availability of winter irrigation is now an
equally critical determinant of cropping pattern as the flooding pattern.
38
In
1990-91 the level of irrigation (table 9) was 57.0 and 48.5 percent for
Mirzapur and Sariatpur respectively. This was higher than Thakurgaon,
33
M.R. Talukder. 1983. Survey of Deepwater Aman Crop: Areas of Tangail District
Final Report, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh, 18.
34

Talukder. 1983. Survey of Deepwater Aman ... Tangail District, 73.
35
Atiur Rahman. 1987. Local Level Planning and Development - Scope, Strategies,
Institutional Reforms and Policy Instruments: A Socio -Economic Profile of Mirzapur Upazila,
B
IDS, GPO Box 3854, E-17 Agargaon Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka 7 Bangladesh, 34.

36
Administratively Bangladesh was divided into districts, sub-divisions and thanas.
After 1982 the sub-division was upgraded to district and thanas became known as upazilas.
The original districts, which comprised several sub-divisions, are referred to as greater
districts.
37

Hamid. 1991. Data Base on Agriculture and Foodgrains in Bangladesh, 80-81.

38
The importance of irrigation in the deepwater ecosystem is now so significant
that I have adjusted the land use association table to reflect irrigation as a major landuse
(table 4).

49
despite its earlier development for irrigation. All irrigated land was used for
boro rice.
With the later more gradual flooding of Sariatpur, 14 percent of the
area was planted to broadoast aman followed by boro. In Mirzapur, 13
percent was planted to mustard followed by boro with the land remaining
fallow during the flood. For non irrigated land residual moisture, after the
recession of floodwaters, was sufficient for the cultivation of upland crops
like mustard. On this land, jute followed by rabi (mainly mustard) was the
dominant pattern in Mirzapur and broadcast aman followed by rabi

(mustard) in Sariatpur (table 5). At both sites cropping intensity decreased
with the occurrence of irrigation.
39

Within Mirzapur, BRRI and the Bangladesh Agriculture Research
Institute (BARI), both had ongoing village level research. Each of three major
development agencies, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC),
Grameen Bank and CARE had large programmes. By way of contrast, in
Sariatpur no research institution had any ongoing village level research. The
nearest active research work was about two hours by vehicle in Faridpur
Sadar Upazila. There, the Bangladesh Jute Research Institute (BJRI) had a
research network of three villages, from which jute and mesta
recommended technology may be considered transferable. Gonno Unnayan
Prochestra (GUP) was the only NGO that had recently established a limited
number of groups in the survey area.
39
A decrease in cropping intensity may be understood by the shift in cropping
patterns. With irrigation, the cropping pattern boro rice followed by fallow displaced a large
proportion of mustard followed by deepwater aman. This represents a shift from double to
single cropping, but total production actually increased and risk decreased.
Table 8. Proportion of land by flooding pattern for Sariatpur and
Mirzapur.
40
Landtype Flooding pattern per cent area
Sariatpur Mirzapur
Highland less than 30 cm 13
Medium highland 30 to 90cm 10.0 34
Medium lowland 90 to 180cm 45.2 22
Lowland 180 to 300cm 29.1 19
Very lowland greater than 300cm 15.7
Table 9. Irrigation by type and per cent area irrigated for each
ecosystem and site (1989-91).
Environment
Rainfed lowland favourable
Kamalganj
Sitakundu
Coastal saline
Char Matua
Deepwater
Mirzapur
Sariatpur
Irrigation type
2
manually from canal or ponds
for winter vegetables
DTW / STW diesel
LLP / STW diesel
Per cent area irrigated
only homestead
8 to 10 per cent
1
only homestead
57.0
48.5
50
Upland with partial irrigation
Sreepur DTW diesel 14.3 (30 per cent of
lowland)
Irrigated lowland favourable
Thakurgaon
Boda
DTW electric
Treadle manual
STW diesel
45.0
38.0
1.
Varies from village to village. For example for the FSR study village of Muradpur 20-
25 per cent of cropped area was irrigated manually in 1989 for tomato (6.4 per cent)
and water melon (16.9 per cent).
2.
DTW is a deep-tubewell; STW is a shallow-tubewell; and LLP is a low-lift pump.
40
For Sariatpur landtype proportions have been based on a field survey of plots of
55 farmers; for Mirzapur see FAO. 1988. Land Resources ... Agroecological Regions of
Bangladesh, 196. Within the villages surveyed, the proportion of highland was minimal with
a predominance of medium lowland to lowland (estimate only).
51
Irrigated Lowland Favourable: Sites Thakurgaon and Boda
Two sites were selected for comparison within a single ecosystem in
the North-West. With settlement patterns varying across the country,
keeping the comparative irrigated sites within a single zone was considered
essential. A comparison of established irrigated villages within the Comilla
irrigation area with the North-West may have resulted in conclusions that
were biased by an overriding settlement pattern. In the North-West the
landholding pattern was more highly skewed compared to Comilla in which
there was a dominance of small and medium farmers. Wood, in his analysis
~
of rural class formation, rightly points out the excessive number of village
studies within Comilla region compared to the rest of the country.
41

Groundwater development began in Thakargaon in the sixties. With
irrigation development being relatively early, compared to other parts of the
country, any social differentiation due to the impact of irrigation may be
expected to be further advanced. In addition, BRRI in collaboration with the
International Rice Research Institute ORRI) and the Bangladesh Water
Development Board (BWDB) had an ongoing research project to improve
irrigation efficiency.
42
From the 371 deep-tubewells (DTWs) commissioned,
BRRI had selected 12 for intensive research, with an additional 24 satellite
DTWs, for comparative study. From these DTWs the four selected (numbers
117,178, 89 and 93) fell along the main sealed road from Thakurgaon to
Boda. These DTWs were most near the second site of Boda.
Boda was a site in which the NGO, Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Services
(RDRS), had promoted treadle pumps for marginal and small farmers. The
treadle pump is a human powered, twin cylinder pumphead with a bamboo
41
Geof D. Wood. 1981. 'Rural Class Formation in Bangladesh, 1940-80,' Bulletin of
Concerned Asian Scholars 13 no. 4, 2-15.
42
BRRI-IRRI-BWDB. 1986. Third Progress Report: Applied Research for Increasing
Irrigation Effectiveness and Crop Production, a joint project of BRRI and BWDB in
collaboration with IRRI , Photocopied
.
52
or PVC tubewell.
43
Farmers had been operating treadle pumps for irrigated
winter rice for eight to ten years only. The site was to the interior, being 3
to 5 kilometres from DTW 93. Access was by unsealed road.
Developmentally it may, therefore, be considered disadvantaged compared
to the DTW location.
Both sites fall within the Old Himalayan Piedmont Plain, which
comprises part of an old Tista alluvial fan (agro-ecological region 1 in figure
5). The water table is high. The landscape is a complex of broad, low ridges
and a criss-crossing of broad and narrow abandoned river channels. The
~
mosaic is quite complex because of differences in soil texture and drainage
within short distances. Landtype is highland but lower points of ridges may
experience some submergence or flash flooding after exceptionally heavy
rainfall.
Irrigation covered 45 and 38 percent respectively (table 9) for
Thakurgaon and Boda. Intensity of cropping at both sites increased with the
shift to irrigation (table 7). On the rainfed fields the dominant systems at
both sites were kaon or sesame followed by aman rice or simply a single
aman rice. With irrigation the two rice system of aus followed by aman
dominated with a secondary pattern of aman rice followed by wheat (table
5). The level of modern varieties, particularly in the aus season, was very
high (table 6) for irrigated fields.
Comparison of Productivity Across Sites
Figures 9 and 10 compare per ha production and gross returns across
sites.
44
In chapter 4 I will compare the farm systems for specific vulnerable
43
Alastair W. Orr, A.S.M. Nazrul lslam and Gunnar Barnes. 1991. The Treadle
Pump: Manual Irrigation for Small Farmers in Bangladesh, RDRS House 62, Road 7 A,
Dhanmondhi, Dhaka, 1209, Bangladesh, 1.
44
Per ha productivity included the homestead area. Per cent area of homesteads
were Kamalganj 14.7; Sitakundu 14.7; Sreepur 15.1; Char Matua 7.9; Mirzapur 13.5;
Sariatpur 17.8; Thakurgaon 9.6; and Boda 10.4. Productivity and per ha gross returns were
53
groups. Per hectare contribution of paddy was highest for Kamalganj and
Soda with about 4.0 to 4.5 tonnes per ha. Thakurgaon, Sariatpur, Mirzapur
and Sreepur had an effective production of 3.0 to 3.5 tonnes per ha.
Effective production was only 1.5 tonnes per ha for Char Matua. Rice type
and proportion of irrigated land influenced effective production. Irrigated
boro rice accounted for 75 to 80 percent of paddy produced in the
deepwater ecosystem.
Per hectare gross returns for aggregated crop production varied
across sites. Sreepur had the highest gross return of Tk35 - 40,000,
~
followed by Sariatpur with Tk 32,000. Thakurgaon and Soda contrasted
with Boda having a gross return of Tk 28,000 compared to Thakurgaon of
Tk 22,000. For a farm family in Boda the returns would be reduced more
than Thakurgaon due to the greater extent of sharecropping. The coastal
saline area contrasts sharply to the other ecosystems with its low gross
returns of only Tk 12,000.
Figure 11 compares taka per ha for rainfed and irrigated systems
within sites and across sites.
45
With irrigation, gross returns increased for
each site. Paddy production contribution to gross returns increased with
irrigation. Boro rice production and gross returns per ha were higher in the
deepwater sites of Mirzapur and Sariatpur. The intensive production of boro
rice by treadle pump at Boda gave higher per ha returns than the SWDS
based on mean crop and cropping pattern proportions for each site. For Kamalganj,
Sitakundu and Sariatpur the mean representative systems differed from that given for
marginal and small farm families in chapter 4, as for these sites the statistical analysis had
enabled productivity or patterns of different land classes to be differentiated. For jackfruit at
Sreepur, kejur gur at Sariatpur and country bean at Sitakundu, the extent of production was
based on the number of plants per family. For per ha contribution of these, a multiplier was
included that was based on the mean number of families per ha. For Boda productivity per
ha was more representative of marginal and small farm families as the sample was based on
families with treadle pumps.
45
In the comparison of irrigated and non-irrigated land the homestead is not
included.
54

managed deep-tubewell irrigation of Thakurgaon. Sreepur showed the
highest gross returns per ha for aggregated irrigated crops.
The productivity base for each site and ecosystem do contrast. That
production-base is the building block for farm families in each site.
Ecological Risk and Change
Ecological Risk
It would be an unwise person who considered the production systems
as always having normal years or even above normal years. Floods, river
erosion, droughts, hailstorm and cyclone are part of the environmental
vagaries under which small and marginal farmers must survive. A single
disaster can cripple a family's resources and push it into a downward spiral
of impoverishment. I have selected three case studies from the favourable
rainfed lowland, coastal saline and deepwater ecosytems to illustrate
ecological risk.
Multiple Shocks in a Rainfed Lowland Favourable Ecosystem
Muradpur village lies within Sitakundu upazila, which is immediately
to the north of the industrial port city of the Chittagong. It is bound on the
west by the Bay of Bengal and the East by the first foothills of the
Chittagong Hill Tracts. As will be seen in the next chapter on small farm
production systems, the farm production-base was diverse and the cash
income from farm and non-farm income was higher than many other parts.
The 1990-91 seasons may be described as disasters. Pre-monsoon
rains were light and erratic and delayed the establishment of the aus rice
until June. The late establishment of aus delayed the aman rice well into
September. For some plots it resulted in only a single rice crop. September
o .
(
15
55
45
Figure 10. Comparison of per hectare taka value of output across
eight sites for five major ecosystems, Bangladesh, 1990-91
Cumulative taka value ('000)
Djack fruit
[J kejur gur
tJ chilii
iJ millet/sesame
E"] sugarcane (gur)
Dwater melon/tomato
IEJwheat
o mustard
D jute/mesta
o country bean
~ blackgram/cowpea
~ khesari
.paddy
56
Figure 10. Comparison of per hectare taka value of output across
eight sites for five major ecosystems, Bangladesh, 1990-91
Cumulative taka value ('000)
Djack fruit
[J kejur gur
tJ chilii
iJ millet/sesame
E"] sugarcane (gur)
Dwater melon/tomato
IEJwheat
o mustard
D jute/mesta
o country bean
~ blackgram/cowpea
~ khesari
.paddy
56
Figure 11. Comparison of irrigated and non-irrigated per hectare gross
returns for deepwater, lowland favourable and upland
dissected ecosystems
Taka per hectare ('000)
40 - - - -
30
20
10
Mirzapur Thakurgaon
Sariatpur Soda
Deepwater
Lowland
Favourable
Sreepur
Upland
Dissected
[]sugarcane
~ kharif upland
~ j u t e / mesta
D winter upland
Claus / aman
irrigated boro/aus
57
Figure 11. Comparison of irrigated and non-irrigated per hectare gross
returns for deepwater, lowland favourable and upland
dissected ecosystems
Taka per hectare ('000)
40 - - - -
30
20
10
Mirzapur Thakurgaon
Sariatpur Soda
Deepwater
Lowland
Favourable
Sreepur
Upland
Dissected
[]sugarcane
~ kharif upland
~ j u t e / mesta
D winter upland
Claus / aman
irrigated boro/aus
57
saw flash flooding and high infestations of rice caseworm. Further flash
flooding in September did irretrievable damage to many fields of young,
late-planted seedlings. An embankment that had been constructed to
prevent encroachment of the sea now further compounded the problem.
The flash floods were impounded and effectively destroyed much of the
trellised country bean that is regularly planted on the aisles dividing the
58
plots. A cutworm outbreak in October, an occurrence not uncommon in late
season wet years, further reduced the aman rice. Problems did not finish
there, as there was further late flash flooding in November that damaged

the newly established tomato and watermelon crops. The final straw was
the encroachment of the sea and severe wind damage from the April 1991
cyclonic storm that was accompanied with a tidal bore.
Any fragile reserves were severely stretched and several years of
settl ing debts may be anticipated to have accentuated the process of
impoverishment.
Cyclonic Catastrophe within the Coastal Region: April 1991
46
Diversification of cropping is not easy for families living in the remote
char land. The earlier comparison across sites and ecosystems showed a
very low production-base for Char Matua. It is a region dominated by a
single aman rice crop, that is harvested in November-December. To enhance
income, small plots of chillies have provided extra cash in April-May. With
the extension of new infrastructure into parts of the coastal area, some
families had begun to cultivate lady's finger,
47
both inside and outside the
46
Noel P. Magor. 1991. 'Trip Report No.5: Sitakundu, Sonagazi, Comilla, May 6-8,
1991 ,' in BRRI-IRRI. 1991. Quarterly Report (April - June): BRRI/IRRI Project (Including
Annual Narrative) Rice Research and Training Phase III US A.I.D. Project No. 388-005103,

CIDA Project No. 170/08004, Attachment I, Appendix 3. Photocopied
.
47
Noel P. Magor. 1991 . 'Trip Report No.3: Sonagazi, Maijdi, Kamalganj, Apr. 9-11,
1991,' in BRRI-IRRI. 1991. Quarterly Report (April - June): BRRI/IRRI Project (Including
Annual Narrative) Rice Research and Training Phase III US A.I.D. Project No. 388-005103,
CIDA Project No. 170/08004, Attachment I, Appendix 3. Photocopied.
59
flood embankment. However, the cyclonic winds of the April 1991 cyclone
destroyed both chillies and the lady's finger crops and added to problems
through the temporary salinisation of soil from the tidal bore.
Prolonged Flooding in a Deepwater Ecosystem: September 1988
Sariatpur falls within the deepwater area of the lower Ganges flood
plain. Flooding normally begins in the second week of June and rises slowly
to peak by the end of August. In 1988 water covered the homestead
mounds by the third week of August and stayed for a further two weeks
before receding. The water was too deep and rising too fast for farmers to
harvest their aus rice and jute. Farmers lost much of the aus rice and about
75% of the jute. The duration of the flood also wiped out many young date
palms. Tapping and processing kejur gur is an important source of income
for marginal families in the lean months from mid-December to mid-March.
48
The impoverishing effect of the 1988 prolonged flood is discussed further in
the next chapter on vulnerability.
In the development planning of any site or region a checklist of
potential environmental vulnerability is essential. The site productivity given
earlier contrasts sites in normal years but does not take into account the
impact of disasters. The identification of families vulnerable to loss of land
since inheritance, as will be done in chapter 3, in effect is a measure of
viability over good, normal and bad years. For example, at Sariatpur, within
the landholding measure of a vulnerable family is incorporated the disasters
of low jute prices, the famine year of 1974 and the disastrous floods of
both 1987 and 1988.
48
Alastair W. Orr and others. 1992. 'Vulnerable Farmers in the Deepwater Rice
Environment: The Impact of the 1988 Floods,' in Proceedings of Workshop on Reducing
Small Farmer Vulnerability in Bangladesh held at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute May
30-31, 1992, 37-38.
Not a Static System: Agricultural Change
Population Growth
A driving factor influencing the technological mix within an
ecosystem has been the ever increasing population pressure with smaller
holdings due to partible inheritance and the lack of alternate income
60
sources. Families have been forced to modify practices to achieve greater
output. The intensification of cropping with increasing population is known
as 'agricultural involution' a phrase coined by Geertz to describe:
the sociologically most critical feature of wet-rice agriculture: its
marked tendency to respond to a rising population through
intensification, that is, through absorbing increased numbers of
cultivators on a unit of cultivated land.
49
Historically this can be demonstrated through the gradual increase in
cropping intensity. In the period from 1947-48 to 1986-87 the intensity of
cropping increased from 130 percent to 159 percent for the whole country.
During that time the net cropped area increased by 12%, and cultivatable
waste and current fallow declined to 15 and 37 percent respectively of the
1947-48 level.
50
Intensification of cropping has been ongoing, with a 43
percent increase in area planted to aus rice in the period 1020-45 for the 1 9 ~ 0 - 4 5
whole of Bengal.
51
The growth of aus rice, and with it expansion in multiple
cropping of rice, accounted for the agricultural cereal growth in the sixties.
During that period, aus expanded from 2.55 to 3.43 million hectares for
Bangladesh.
52
The impact of population pressure on land can be seen from
landholding patterns from 1922 to 1983/84 in Khetal Upazila, Bogra
49
Clifford Geertz. 1963. Agricultural Involution : the Process of Ecological Change
in Indonesia (California: University of California Press), 33.
50 Hamid. 1991. Data Base on Agriculture and Foodgrains in Bangladesh, 5.
51
M.M. Islam. 1978. Bengal Agriculture (Cambridge: South Asian Studies), 206.
52

Mahabub Hossain. 1984. 'Agricultural Development in Bangladesh: a Historical

Perspective,' Bangladesh Development Studies Vol. 12, 36.

61
District. Prior to 1942, more than 20 percent of the rural population
cultivated more than 3 hectares but this had reduced to less than 4 percent
by 1983/84.
53
Families had to produce more with fewer land resources.
International Markets and Jute
Historically jute has been a major export earner for Bangladesh.
54
A
market analysis of the jute marketing system showed that farm families
received 66.5 percent of an average price spread of raw jute as delivered to
major ports of Chittagong and Chalna.
55
The cash income for small and
marginal farm families in the jute-suitable areas like Mirzapur and Faridpur,
although erratic, has been important. Despite its importance in export
earnings and to small farm family income, major development studies like
the 'Bangladesh Sector Review' have failed to draw attention to the
significance of jute to small farm families in specific ecosystems. The case
studies for Sariatpur and Mirzapur in chapter 4 clearly illustrate the cash
importance of jute.
The area under jute, however, has been declining over the long-term,
falling from 833,000 ha in 1947/48 to 651,000 ha in 1976-77 to 542,000
ha in 1989-90
56
. This may be compared to the peak in 1907-8 of
1,570,000 ha.
57
In recent years, it has slipped from second to fifth in area
53
Ramkrishna Mukherjee. 1971. Six Villages in Bengal (Bombay Popular Press), 193
table 3.28 for data for 1922 and 1942; and BBS. 1986. The Bengal Census of Agriculture
and Livestock: 1983-84, 126 table 4.2 for Khetal Upazila landholding data.
54
Sajjad Zohir. 1990. 'Impact of Low Export Prices of Jute at Farm Level in
Bangladesh,' BIDS, Dhaka, Bangladesh Research Report no. 119, 7.
55
A.M. Muazzam Husain and M. Abdul Momen. 1974. 'The Jute Marketing
Systems in Bangladesh: an Analysis of Selected Areas,' Bureau of Agricultural Economic,
Statistical and Sociological Research, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh,
Bangladesh, Research Report no. 7, 30.
56

J.K. Shaha and others. 1984. 'Socio-economic Assessment of Improved Jute
Production Technologies and Identification of Constraints to Their Adoption: Benchmark
Survey, Kanaipur, Faridpur, 1984,' Agricultural Economics and Social Science Programmes,
BARC, Agricultural Economics and Social Science Workshop Paper Series, no. 2, 5; and
BBS. 1991. Statistical Pocket Book ... 91, 144.
57
N. Ahmed. 1958. An Economic Geography of East Pakistan (India: Oxford Press),
170.
ranking with the winter pulses, wheat and oilseeds now outranking it.
58

Before discussing its importance to marginal and small farm families let us
briefly review it nationally.
62
Jute is a leading cash crop and main foreign exchange earner of the
country. Jute and jute goods account for about 57 percent of total
foreign exchange earnings .... Out of the country's total supply of
raw jute in 1987-88 69.58 percent is used for total domestic
requirement while 30.42 percent for export purpose.
More than 35 percent of the total population are involved in raising
the crop. Jute industry and allied trade and services including
processing, marketing and transportation etc. provide employment to
the -millions of people.
59

The most suitable land is medium highland to medium lowland (50 to 180
cm flooding). Net cropped area is 14 to 16 percent.
60

Jute has always been known for its fluctuation in area resulting from
world market price fluctuation and ' ... yet it is almost the only cash crop
of the Bengali peasant'.
61
Depending on the lagged market prices, farmers
adjust their jute area. Aus rice and now irrigated boro rice are the major
competing crops. The delayed response to jute prices can precipitate a
market collapse; there being a most severe one in 1984-86.
The prices of jute went up soaring in 1984-85 and boosted up the
expectation of farmers. The acreage under jute in 1985 increased 56
percent from the previous year. When the produce came to markets,
prices had declined by 63 percent.
62

As a percentage of cash earnings from crops, small farm families faced a
cash receipt reduction from jute from 51 to 62 percent in 1984 to 26 to 31
percent in 1985. It is here that vulnerable farm families are at risk.
58
BBS. 1991. Statistical Pocket Book ... 91, 144.
59
Firoze Shah Sikder and M. Nurun Nabi. 1988. 'Socioeconomic Assessment of
Improved Jute Production Technologies and Identification of Constraints to Their Adoption,'
Economics and Statistics Division, BJRI, Manik Mia Avenue, Dhaka, 1207, 8-9.
60
Zohir. 1990. 'Impact of Low Export Prices of Jute at Farm Level.' The districts of

Faridpur, Jamalpur, Tangail and Rangpur were most important for net area under jute. Study
sites of Mirzapur and Sariatpur fell within Tangail and Faridpur Districts respectively.
61
Spate. 1967. India and Pakistan ... Geography, 579_
62
Zohir. 1990. 'Impact of Low Export Prices of Jute at Farm Level,' 27.
Most often mentioned secondary effect of low jute prices is the
possible increase in indebtedness .
63
. . . volume of land sale was significantly high in 1987. Since jute
prices persistently decreased to a record low in 1986-87, it is quite
possible that debts could not be repaid in two consecutive years and
many farmers had to sell their land.
63
Fluctuation in jute prices has thereby accentuated the vulnerability of
marginal farm families in a situation that has lacked economic alternatives.
Given the long-term trend in declining jute area, it is quite possible that the
expansion into irrigated winter rice in deepwater areas has not just been in
response to the risk of flood, but in recognition of the shift in importance of

jute.
Irrigation
In 1989 irrigation accounted for 25.5 per cent of the total cultivatable
area, excluding the hills.
64
It is dispersed across the ecosystems. Each
Government of Bangladesh (GoB) five year plan has given priority to the
expansion of irrigation and flood control. Potential irrigated area has been
given at seven million hectares or almost 80 per cent of present net cropped
area.
65
The modern systems of powered low-lift pumps and tubewells and of
large-scale schemes have largely been a post Independence (after 1971)
innovation.
66
Early stages in the expansion of irrigation were ad hoc. There
were over 400 Flood Control and Drainage projects. In addition there were
extensive projects for sinking deep-tubewells, each of which covered an
area of 20 to 25 ha.
63 Zohir. 1990. 'Impact of Low Export Prices of Jute at Farm Level,' 38; for study
villages in the north in Rangpur District.
64 BBS. 1991. Statistical Pocket Book ... 91, 151.
65 Hamid. 1991. Data Base on Agriculture and Foodgrains in Bangladesh, 5. Based
on net cropped area in 1986-87; UNDP. 1989. Main Report: Bangladesh Agriculture Sector
Review: Bangladesh Agriculture Performance and Policies Sponsored by UNDP BGD/87/023,
42.
66 UNDP. 1989. Main Report: Bangladesh Agriculture Sector Review, 41.
64
The expansion of boro rice or winter rice cultivation since the early
1960s is a clear indication of expansion in irrigation, as boro rice is a dry
season crop that is totally dependent on irrigation.
Flood Action Plan
Flood is an annual event in Bangladesh. Nearly 80 percent of the land
area is in the flood plain.

The severity of each year varies and the sections of the country
affected depend on both the seasonal peculiarities within the catchment
areas of the three main river systems of the Ganges - Padma, the
Brahmaputra - Jamuna and the Meghna, and the rainfall within the flood
vulnerable area itself. Bangladesh is the down-stream drainage basin of
a total of nearly 16 million square kilometres from the three mighty rivers,
which join each other in one small country before pouring into the sea.
68
Statistics and estimates over the last 30 years show that there were
devastating floods in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1962, 1964, 1968, 1970,1971,
1974, 1978 and 1984, and these engulfed an area ranging from 3.5 to 5.2
million hectares.
69
To this must be added the floods of 1987 and 1988:
The floods of 1988 crossed all time records. Flood struck in 53
districts which covers almost 68% of the country's land area.
Approximately 50 million people were affected by this flood . . ..
The river Brahmaputra, the Meghna and the Ganges carried 50%
more water. One interesting feature of this flood is there was
unparallel[ed] synchronisation of the peak rise of the Brahmaputra (30
August), the Ganges (2 September) and the Meghna (10 September).
Again, full moon on September 11, resulting in high sea tide, created
upward pressure hindering discharge of the river water into the Bay
of Bengal.
67
Nazma Begum, Anwar Iqbal and Saleuddin Choudhury. 1991. 'Recurrent Floods
and Their Impact on Agricultural Production,' paper presented at the National Workshop on
Risk Management in Bangladesh Agriculture held at BARC, Dhaka, Aug. 24-27, 1991, 1.
68
Mosharaff Hossain, A.T.M. Aminul Islam and Sanat Kumar Saha. 1987. Floods in
Bangladesh Recurrent Disaster and Peoples Survival, University Research Centre, Dhaka, 6.
69

Hossain. 1987. Floods . . . Recurrent Disaster and Peoples Survival, 7.
65
Damage by the flood was 79% in case of deepwater aman and 58%
in case of transplanted aman,
70

Fifty per cent of the total land of Bangladesh is vulnerable to floods of one
kind or another.
71
It is the recurrent nature of the floods and the unpredicted severity of
the successive 1987 and 1988 floods that has led to the formulation of a
massive Flood Action Plan (FAP). The plan is controversial,
72
I raise the
importance of the potential impact of FAP as it entails altering the
ecosystem dramatically. The FAP will affect floodplain agriculture and will
impinge on small and marginal farm families.
Is it an effective means of reducing their vulnerability? Will the
embankments reduce vulnerability or will silt build up and exceptional years
as 1988 cause such shocks as to outweigh benefits? Is there a recovery
system that if strengthened can out perform a massive embankment
approach? What is the recovery system? Given the variation in topography,
however slight, and its significant impact on cropping systems, will some
areas actually be disadvantaged by embankments? Lack of drainage and
stagnant water within an embankment may reduce productivity of some
land.
The FAP focuses on controlling the environment through the
placement of flood protection barriers. However, to date polders as a form
of flood control have not been successful in reducing the hazard of flood.
The example of the Megna - Dhonagoda project, which is a well
supervised project, can be cited. Its embankment breached in two
consecutive years, one in 1987 and the other in 1988. The breaches
caused complete destruction of the crop and infrastructure and
70
Begum. 1991. 'Recurrent Floods . . . Agricultural Production,' 4.
71
Hossain. 1987. Floods ... Recurrent Disaster and Peoples Survival, 6.
72
Jahir Uddin Chowdhury. 1991 . 'Flood Action Plan: Some Issues Need Attention,'
An ADAB Quarterly 1 Issue 1 (July - September), 12-14; Shapan Adnan. 1991. Floods
People and the Environment Institutional Aspects of Flood Protection Programmes in
Bangladesh, 1990, Research and Advisory Services, Dhaka; BARC. 1989. Floodplain
Agriculture BARC, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
brought immense misery to the people. It has become difficult to
bring back the confidence of the people in the project.
73

Poor drainage due to embankments has affected the coastal farmers of
Sitakundu,
74
For the Mirzapur study site, during the 1988 flood, it was
breaches in the embankments that had resulted in a sudden rise of
1.5 to 2.0 m that created extensive damage to stored crops,
75

66
In reflecting on the role of embankments as the dominant means of
flood control, it is worthwhile reflecting on the cropping systems that were
dominant at the time of initial conceptualisation. In the seventies irrigated
boro rice in the deepwater ecosystem was minimal, and the agriculture
system centred around broadcast aman. Broadcast aman was low yielding
compared to modern varieties of rice. However, modern varieties required
controlled water. Embankments were seen as the means for growing high
yielding aman rice. Within a report for the economic development of
Bangladesh under the issue of 'flood control and drainage' embankments
were a non-debated assumption:
On a medium lowland (flooded from 3 to 6 feet) which occupies 15
percent of the cultivated area, drainage and flood control are very
desirable but would require sizeable drainage and embankment works.
On lowland (flooded more than 6 feet), which comprises 15 percent
of cultivated area, drainage and flood protection requires major and
highly expensive works and is not considered critical for the overall
natural agricultural growth during the next decade or so, although it
has important implications for the affected areas,
76

Recent shifts in agricultural production systems by farmers, with the
advent of dry season irrigation, seriously challenge the expensive methods
73
Chowdhury. 1991. 'Flood Action Plan: Some Issues Need Attention,' 13.
74
Noel P. Magor. 1989. 'Trip Report: Sitakundu, Nov. 6-9, 1989,' in BRRI-IRRI.
1989. Quarterly Report (October - December): BRRI/IRRI Project (Including Annual Narrative)
Rice Research and Training Phase III US A.I.D. Project No. 388-005103, CIDA Project No.
170/08004, Attachment II, Appendix 4-b, 2.
75
Orr. 1992. 'Deepwater Rice Environment ... Impact of the 1988 Floods,' 37.
76
Swadesh R. Bose. 1974. 'The Strategy of Agricultural Development in
Bangladesh,' in The Economic Development of Bangladesh within a Socialist Framework,
proceedings of a Conference held by the International Economic Association at Dhaka, eds.
E.A.G. Robinson and Keith Griffith, 144.
of flood control. Without government intervention farmers have shifted
from an agriculture dominated by broadcast aman, a crop dependent on
flood and subject to variable low yields, to a system dominated by dry
season irrigated and high production rice cultivation. The very areas that
were deemed low potential areas have now been noted to have high
production single cropped boro rice.
67
A comparison of the major ecosystems, with the cropping systems of
1990-91, shows more than 80 percent of cereal production coming from
the secure dry season in the flood prone vulnerable areas (figure 10). The
..
shift in cropping system away from broadcast aman to irrigated boro rice
can be seen from the greater district statistics for Faridpur and Tangail in
figure 12. The shift has been such that the deep water ecosystem has
demonstrated the highest gross returns (figure 10). This alone raises
questions on the validity of such a system of embankments. A broadening
of the definition of floodplain agriculture beyond cereal to include fish and
with cereal production shifting to the secure season may be a better
direction to pursue,
77
In fact preliminary experiments on raising fish in
deepwater areas have proved most encouraging,
78
Concluding Remarks
The emphasis in this chapter has been on the physical factors that
determine the agriculture systems of small and marginal farm families. The
reader has been introduced to a basic set of parameters that are used to
define the specific ecosystems and thereby the determinants of the
77
BARC 1989. Floodplain Agriculture, 2.
78
M. Hazrat Ali, Nazrullslam Miah and Nizam Uddin Ahmed. 1993. Experiences in
Deepwater Rice-Fish Culture, Rice Farming Systems Division, BRRI, Gazipur-1701 ,
Bangladesh, publication no. 107; Noel P. Magor. 1991. 'Deepwater Rice-Fish Project at
Mirzapur, Tangail ICY 1990),' in BRRI-IRRI. 1991. Quarterly Report (October - December,
1990 and January - March, 1991)' BRRI/IRRI Project (inciuding Annual Narrative) Rice
Research and Training Phase III US A.I.D. Project No. 388-005103, CIDA Project No.
170/08004, Attachment I, Appendix 4. Photocopied.
productivity of those systems. Given the importance of rice and its eco-
specificity the rice seasons and major types of rice were defined.
68
Within a specific ecosystem, there are land use associations that are
primarily determined by flooding pattern. Due to heterogeneity
within an ecosystem, a farm family may cultivate on both primary and
secondary landtypes. The heterogeneity provides a measure of diversity that
assists in risk management. However, the diversity means that most single
focus recommendations developed by research institutions and promoted
through extension agents affect only a small part of a farm family's total
. ,
output. In addition to spacial diversity, the temporal diversity within land
between years necessitates an additional level of farm management skills.
This brings into question the traditional approach to extension, which may
focus on a single component within the system.
Both risk from environmental shocks and change due to growth in
population, market shifts and new technological opportunities, all add to the
complexity of already complex systems.
Irrigation in its many forms can greatly influence farm family choices
and risk management strategies. For example, its impact in enabling farmers
to shift from a vulnerable deepwater rice dominant system to a low risk
winter boro rice has been considerable. The appeal can be seen in the large
shift in recent years to winter irrigated rice. The type of irrigation equipment
and the institutional management may affect the outcome of benefits.
Institutional impact on vulnerable farm families will form part of the
discussion in chapter 7.
I now move on to define vulnerability and to identify vulnerable farm
families.
Introduction
The essence of this thesis is to identify and weave together threads
of opportunity for vulnerable farm families. An understanding of the
dynamics of change over time in the economic position of village families is
paramoun-( to the design of opportunities for livelihood enhancement.
There is an extensive literature regarding the social structure of rural
society and the impact of technological change. Debate on the gainers and
losers over time with both shifts in technology and more active participation
in the market by rural households formed the basis of the' Agrarian
Question'. The interpretation of change in village social structure by many
social scientists, particularly in the seventies, was one of gloom. Their
principal conclusion was that no amount of aid or development activity can
have lasting impact unless there is radical reform of the system. The
common panacea was a socialist government with radical land
redistribution. Examples of their prescriptions are readily found in literature
of socio-political studies of Bangladesh. The land occupancy study by
Jannuzi and Peach, for example, concluded that:
the agrarian structure of Bangladesh is an obstacle to economic
progress, ... and that change in the agrarian structure is essential to
rural economic development.
1
The in-depth antropological research by Jansen on competition for scarce
resources noted with despair that:
1
F. Tomasson Jannuzi and James T. Peach. 1980. The Agrarian Structure of

Bangladesh: an Impediment to Development (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press), 83-8470

70
7
CHAPTER 3
UNEXPECTED RESILIENCE: SHIFTS IN LANDHOLDING
not a 'viable system'.
2
and [that]
71
agricultural production on a collective basis is the recommendation of
both students and policy makers as the basis for both increased
production and a more equitable distribution of the product.
3
The comparative study by Boyce comparing the two Bengals reached the
conclusion that:
an alternative pathway was: a redistribution of property rights in land
so as to remove the barriers posed by the vested interests of the rural
elite.
4
The mobility study by Schendel stated explicitly:

It is ... very unlikely that the rural poor in Bangladesh will in the near
future be able to make their voices heard ... [and]
Government policies, ... in their attempts to resolve the 'agrarian
question' by following the capitalist road ... have opted for 'betting
on the strong' ... [which] implies 'letting down the weak', [and
leads to the conclusion that] ... under present conditions the future
of the rural poor is extremely gloomy [and] ... there is no hope of
reversing the relentless trend towards pauperisation. This trend is
bound to result increasingly in mass death in the villages.
5
Arens and Beurden's village power study stated:
A radical land reform movement has to be led by leftwing
underground groups. We have pleaded for a flexible land ceiling,
argued in principle no compensation should be paid to the
dispossessed landowners and that in each village Peasant Councils
dominated by the poor peasants should have the authority to carry
out land reform measures.
6
de Vylder in his book 'Agriculture in Chains' concluded:
The economic strategies adopted by successive governments, and
implemented by and for those privileged groups whose very existence
2
Eirik G. Jansen. 1987. Rural Bangladesh: Competition for Scarce Resources
( Dhaka: University Press Limited), 314.
3
Jansen. 1987. Rural Bangladesh: Competition for Scarce Resources, 315.
4
James K. Boyce. 1987. Agrarian Impasse in Bengal: Institutional Constraints to
Technological Change (London, Oxford University Press), 255.
5
Willem van Schendel. 1981. Peasant Mobility: The Odds of Life in Rural
Bangladesh (Assen, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum), 298.
6
Jenneke Arens and Jos van Beurden. 1977. Jhagrapur: Poor Peasants and Women
in a Village in Bangladesh (Birmingham, UK: Third World Publications), 166.
the present system of agricultural productiqn in rural Bangladesh is
72
constitutes the biggest single obstacle to development, have all failed
to solve any basic problems. . .. However, well conceived particular
themes in agriculture may be, they are doomed to failure unless and
until the exploited majority manages to change the social structure
within which they are Iiving.
7
The origin of this view is not solely from an interpretation of village
studies, but also has an ideological component that dates to pre- and post-
revolution debate in Russia. There was an expectation of depeasantisation
under a growing market economy. Under the Marxist view of rural
development, peasants impeded the emergence of a socialist revolution
within the countryside.
'
The small peasants form a vast mass ... Their mode of production
isolates them from one another instead of bringing them into mutual
intercourse ... They are consequently incapable of enforcing their
class interest in their own name ....
8
Most critically the peasant was seen as a potential obstacle:
... where the peasant exists on a mass scale as a private land
proprietor. .. where he has not disappeared and been replaced by
agricultural labourers ... the following will take place ... the peasant
will start to create obstacles and bring about the fall of any worker
revolution.
9
The small peasant was an anomaly.
Capitalism had not yet eliminated him, but Engels insisted: 'our small
peasant, like every other survival of a past mode of production, is
hopelessly doomed. He is a future proletarian.
10

Within the countryside the emergence of capitalism, in which
peasantry were differentiated into a dispossessed labour class and a class
7
Stefan de Vylder. 1982. Agriculture in Chains. Bangladesh: A Case Study in
Contradictions and Constraints (London, UK: Zed Press), 156.
8
Karl Marx. 1852. The Eighteen Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, in The Marx-Engels
Reader Second Edition, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New York: Publisher W.W. Norton &
Company),608.
9
Karl Marx. 1874. After the Revolution: Marx Debates Bakunin, in The Marx-Engels
Reader Second Edition, ed. Robert C. Tucker (New York: Publisher W.W. Norton &
Company), 543.
10
Frederick Engels. 1970. 'The Peasant Question in France and Germany,' in
Selected Works of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, Vol 3, (Moscow: Progress Publishers),
written in 1894 and first published 1894-95, quoted in Foreword by T.J. Byres in Atiur
Rahman. 1986. Peasants and Classes (Dhaka: University Press), xix.
73

of landed 'kulaks', was seen as inevitable. Modernisation with stronger links
to the market was equated with inevitable polarisation. I ask the question
here, 'Did this theoretical analysis of change in rural society tend to cloud
objective analysis?'
More recently the reality of the existence of peasants within a market
economy has been recognised by social scientists, who have more
traditionally equated modernisation with the dispossession discussed above:
Peasant production, although continuing to function on the basis of
the family farm, is incorporated within the structural framework of the
dominant capitalist mode of production and is transformed by it.
11
However, according to the position of these social scientists, marginal farm
families only persist as a dominated underclass.
In addition, within this argument, the persistence of peasant or small
holder producers was seen as an indication of backwardness. In chapter 2, I
referred to the growing complexity in agricultural systems as population
growth placed pressure on limited land resources. That phenomenon,
known as 'agricultural involution',
12
was, however, considered symptomatic
of backwardness and resistance to modernisation. Lack of modernisation
meant backwardness. However, modernisation also had its price: destitution
for many.
13
This view of the peasantry is one that produces paralysis; a
paralysis that is apparent in arguments presented by Khan. He is locked into
11
Hamza Alavi. 1987. 'Peasantry and Capitalism: A Marxist Discourse,' in Peasants
and Peasant Societies, 2d. ed., ed. T. Shanin, (Oxford: Basil Blackwell Press), 190.
12

Clifford Geertz. 1963. Agricultural Involution: The Processes of Ecological
Change in Indonesia (California: University of California Press); examples of reference to
agricultural involution as negative can be seen in Salauddin M Nurul Alam. 1983.
Marginalisation, Pauperisation and Agrarian Change in Two Villages in Bangladesh,
(unpublished PhD thesis, Purdue University, USA); and Schendel. 1981 . Peasant Mobility . .
13
Shakeeb Adnan Khan. 1989. The State and Village Society: The Political
Economy of Agricultural Development in Bangladesh (Dhaka: University Press Limited).
74
a tension of promoting agricultural development on the one hand but on the
other seeing it as leading to dispossession.
14
With these views, where does development go? Almost inescapably
such arguments lead to a call for a programme of radical social
restructuring. Such a call by academics can be the easy path of inaction.
There is safety and power within the citadel of the academic. The inaction
arises from the association of words; modernisation and dispossession and
complexity of production systems or peasant agriculture and backwardness.
My initial intention was to simply identify vulnerable farm families. It

became apparent that the present study of 1162 families, stratified by
landholding from 7662 families in 44 villages and representing 5 major
ecosystems both remote and accessible and undeveloped and developed,
was not only the most extensive study completed in the region but also
used tools of analysis that reached beyond the earlier smaller studies. The
empirical analysis was able to locate vulnerable farm families within the
changes in social structure. In chapter 1, I mentioned that the rural
development professional confronts the empowering and disempowering
impacts of policy and 'development dogma'. The thesis of polarisation and
backwardness was one dogma that permeated development thinking. What
if the empirical data set and the tools of analysis allow a re-interpretation of
social change at the village level?
It is here I must digress and refer briefly to two apparently unrelated
books: Pirsig's, 'Lila: an Inquiry into Morals' and 'The Structure of Scientific
Revolutions' by Kuhn. Both concern basic principles.
14
Khan. 1989. The State and Village Society, Chapter 6, 'The Role of the State,'
129-149. For example 'A "classical" process of capitalistic agrarian change in which land
and labour become free commodities and the "market" alone determines which peasants
survive as successful entrepreneurial farmers, would also invariably lead to a swelling of the
ranks of an already pauperised and immiserated peasantry.' 130.
In Lila, Phaedrus, a cultural anthropologist, 'is questioning the basic
principles in anthropology as they impacted on the interpretation of
American culture as influenced by the American Indians:
75
As long as the cultural configuration, basic value attitudes, prevailing
mores or whatnot are taken as the starting point and principal
determinant, they have the status of unanalysed assumptions. The
very questions that would enable us to understand the norms tend
not to be asked, and certain facts about society become difficult if
not impossible to comprehend .
15

In his argument, Phaedrus does not doubt the integrity of the people within
cultural anthropology, but suggests that ' ... the structure of scientific
-,
principles that it tries to rest upon is inadequate to support it
'16
.
Kuhn writes about paradigms, ' ... universally recognised scientific
achievements that for a time provide model problems and solutions to a
community of practitioners,
'17
and the environment and processes that pre-
empt practitioners to change theory. It is the conditions for change that
interest me here:
... paradigm-testing occurs only after persistent failure to solve a
noteworthy puzzle has given rise to crisis.
18
Rural development is in crisis. There is a crisis of expectation. State-led
development has not had its desired impact. Because of that lack of impact
I am stepping back to challenge that body of knowledge concerning social
change in the village. Like Pirsig I am questioning a basic set of 'beliefs'.
I will not only use the data from this study. I will also re-interpret five
major village studies from India and Bangladesh which rest on strong
empirical data. My intention is to deconstruct the argument of polarisation
resulting from modernisation. In addition, I will dispute the notion that the
15
Robert M. Pirsig. 1991. Lila: an Inquiry into Morals (London: Transworld
Publishers Ltd.), 62.
16
Pirsig. 1991. Lila, 64.
17
Thomas Kuhn. 1962. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago,:

University of Chicago), Preface x.

18
Kuhn. 1962. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 44.
. ~
76
complexity of the agriculture systems of vulnerable farm families is an

indication of backwardness. I will reason that modernisation does not mean
large farms. Small holdings will not only persist in the near future but
tapping their resilience is fundamental to building a thriving 'modern' rural
economy.
The first objective in this chapter is to answer the question 'What is
vulnerability?' This leads into the second objective which is the
identification of vulnerable farm families. There are a multitude of questions
that arise here. Who is losing land? Who is gaining land? Are there some
. ~
marginal landholders, who have managed to maintain their land, and yet
others, with a similar level of landholding initially, who have lost land? Is
there a minimum landholding for economic viability? Does the availability of
non-farm income or income diversity enable marginal farm families to hold
onto their land? It is not sufficient to simply identify vulnerable families.
Changes in economic structure, in relation to land, over time are equally
important. Are there large landowners who are gaining land at the expense
of marginal farm families? Is the pattern of landholding similar across
ecosystems? Is the pattern of marginalisation and accumulation similar
across ecosystems? Is the pattern of marginalisation and accumulation
similar for developed and undeveloped sites?
A second objective is to challenge the perceived wisdom that
polarisation is increasing. Firstly, I will examine evidence from this study
using cluster analysis. In cluster analysis the grouping of households is not
pre-determined. However, in the majority of village studies in South Asia, if
not all, specified groupings have been used. Since the body of knowledge
on polarisation has been based on land groupings I re-analyse using defined
groups to see if similar conclusions are reached. I build a relationship in bar
diagrams between the clusters and the land groupings. I also use the more
common tools of shifts in relative share of land owned and mobility
77
matrices. It is here that I question the appropriateness of use of the Lorenz
curve, a tool used by social scientists, for determining increases or
decreases in equity. I propose a modified Lorenz curve that shows more
clearly who is gaining land and is more consistent with the mobility matrix. I
suggest the method of analysis has been a weakness in village studies.
Secondly, I deconstruct the arguments presented in the five village
studies from both Bangladesh and India. I look for statements that
complement or add insights to the present study and where there is
contradiction in conclusions I seek to explain it or to seriously question the

methodology. I again reiterate the reason behind examining other village
studies within the region. If I can draw out a consistent pattern of social
change that disputes the polarisation thesis then the development
prescriptions that I gave earlier in this chapter by Jannuzi and Peach,
Jansen, Boyce, van Schendel, Arens and Beurden, and de Vylder must be
questioned. I am not advocating radical reform but suggesting that the way
forward actually lies with the vulnerable. There are untapped resources.
Finally, on the basis of the identification of vulnerable farm families
and the analysis of changes in social structure over time, questions of,
where to, arise. To answer the directional questions, more information is
required. Firstly, what do the existing and potential farm systems of
vulnerable farm families look like? The understanding here will certainly
challenge the view that the systems of marginal farm families are backward
and that there is a resistance to change. Secondly, what are the choices
and sources of technological options? Within this realm, I will briefly look at
the nature and choices concerning the Green Revolution technology.
Thirdly, how has research and development (R&D) sought to be relevant for
vulnerable farm families? And fourthly, are there institutional or
organisational forms that are appropriate for vulnerable farm families? These
additional areas of concern are discussed in chapters 4 to 7.
78
WWhat is Vulnerability?
Vulnerability is a state of weakness in being able to maintain the well
being of one's family. The family is defined here as those members who
have a common cooking place or chula. Vulnerability to what, is critical as it
enables focus and targeting.
19
Vulnerability reflects lack of buffers against contingencies such as
social conventions, ... disasters, physical incapacity . ..
unproductive expenditure and exploitation.
20
Vulnerability is interlinked with other restricting factors. Chambers identifies
five interlinked clusters of disadvantage: poverty, physical weakness,
isolation, vulnerability and powerlessness.
21
Vulnerability has ... two sides: an external side of risks, shocks, and
stress to which an individual or household is subject; and an internal
side which is defenceless, meaning a lack of means to cope without
damaging loss.
22
A marginal farm family may possess inadequate resources to meet chronic
illness or to cover the cost of time and money for accessing institutional
credit. The theft of a ploughing animal, a drought, a flood, a court case on a
land dispute, a wedding or a seasonal need may precipitate the sale of
capital assets like a ploughing animal, trees or a plot of land.
It is the permanent loss of capital assets which have the capacity to
generate wealth that results in long-term impoverishment.
these events ... can have ratchet effects, like movements down
past a cog, which are difficult or impossible to reverse.
23
19
John Borton and Jeremy Shoham. 1991. Mapping Vulnerability to Food
Insecurity: Tentative Guidelines for World Food Programme Country Offices A study
commissioned by the World Food Programme Relief and Development Institute, 1 Ferdinand
Place, London NW1 8EE. 3.
20
Robert Chambers. 1983. Rural Development: Putting the Last First (London:
Longman), 103-4.
21

Chambers. 1983. Putting the Last First, 110.
22
Robert Chambers. 1989. 'Editorial Introduction: Vulnerability, Coping and Policy,'
IDS Bulletin 20 (April), no. 2, 1.
23
Chambers. 1983. Putting the Last First, 115.
What is Vulnerability? .
Vulnerability is a state of weakness in being able to maintain the well
being of one's family. The family is defined here as those members who
have a common cooking place or chula. Vulnerability to what, is critical as it
enables focus and targeting.
19
Vulnerability reflects lack of buffers against contingencies such as
social conventions, ... disasters, physical incapacity . ..
unproductive expenditure and exploitation.
2o
Vulnerability is interlinked with other restricting factors. Chambers identifies
five interlinked clusters of disadvantage: poverty, physical weakness,
-,
isolation, vulnerability and powerlessness.
21
Vulnerability has ... two sides: an external side of risks, shocks, and
stress to which an individual or household is subject; and an internal
side which is defenceless, meaning a lack of means to cope without
damaging loss.22
A marginal farm family may possess inadequate resources to meet chronic
illness or to cover the cost of time and money for accessing institutional
credit. The theft of a ploughing animal, a drought, a flood, a court case on a
land dispute, a weddin
g or a seasonal need may precipitate the sale of
capital assets like a ploughing animal, trees or a plot of land.
It is the permanent loss of capital assets which have the capacity to
generate wealth that results in long-term impoverishment.
these events ... can have ratchet effects, like movements down
past a cog, which are difficult or impossible to reverse.
23
19 John Borton and Jeremy Shoham. 1991 . Mapping Vulnerability to Food
Insecurity: Tentative Guidelines for World Food Programme Country Offices A study
commissioned by the World Food Programme Relief and Development Institute, 1 Ferdinand
Place, London NW1 8EE. 3.
20 Robert Chambers. 1983. Rural Development: Putting the Last First (London:
Longman), 103-4.
21 Chambers. 1983. Putting the Last First, 110.
22 Robert Chambers. 1989. 'Editorial Introduction: Vulnerability, Coping and Policy,'
23 Chambers. 1983. Putting the Last First, 115.
79
Cain expresses the impoverishment resulting from vulnerability to loss of
land:
... a small farmer may, as a last resort, sell land in order to meet
consumption needs. This is obviously an unattractive and desperate
option, however, because the sale of land erodes productive capacity
and diminishes the farmer's ability to recover in the post-crisis period.
Therefore, the distress sale of land, that is, the sale of land for the
purpose of satisfying basic consumption needs, can be interpreted as
an indication of failure or absence of adequate insurance
mechanisms.
24
It is that group of families whom I want to identify.
Vulnerable Farm Households and Changes in Distribution
Rural Bangladesh is not a 'nation of small farmers' with a relatively
egalitarian agrarian society.
25
The landholding pattern varies across the
country. Even within 'the comparatively egalitarian land tenure'
26
of Comilla
thana, the 1983-84 census showed 6 per cent totally landless, 56 per cent
with up to 0.4 ha, 25 per cent 0.4 to 1.0 ha, 11.3 per cent 1.0 to 3.0 ha
and 1.0 per cent above 3.0 ha.
27
Nor is the existence of a differentiated
peasantry a recent phenomenon. Mukherjee in 'Six Villages of Bengal'
showed the existence of a marginal class in 1922 for whom the direction of
change over time was mainly one of deterioration.
28
The Land Occupancy
Survey of 1977-78 showed that approximately half of the households of
rural Bangladesh were functionally landless.
29
For the ranks of the landless

24
Mead Cain. 1981. 'Risk and Insurance: Perspectives on Fertility and Agrarian
Change in India and Bangladesh,' Population and Development Review 7, no. 3. 436.
25
Peter J. Bertocci. 1977. 'Social Organisation and Agricultural Development in
Bangladesh,' in Rural Development in Bangladesh and Pakistan, ed. R.D. Stevens, Hamza
Alavi and Peter J. Bertocci (Hawaii: University of Hawaii), 154-184; Geoff D. Wood. 1981.
'Rural Class Formation in Bangladesh, 1940-1980,' Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars
13, no.4, 2-15.

26
Bertocci. 'Social Organisation and Agricultural Development in Bangladesh,' 171.
27
BBS. 1986. The Bangladesh Census of Agriculture and Livestock: 1983-84
Volume I - Structure of Agricultural Holdings and Livestock Population, 115.
28
Ramkrishna Mukherjee. 1971. Six Villages of Bengal (Bombay: Popular
Prakashan), 192.
29
F. Tomasson Jannuzi and James T. Peach. 1979. Bangladesh: A Profile of the
Countryside (The Dhaka, Bangladesh Mission, The United States Agency for International
to be swelling overtime, in excess of population growth, there must be
families moving slowly or rapidly down, with the ratchets of poverty from
loss of land clicking irreversibly.
Wealth Ranking by Marginal Rural People
A starting point in identifying vulnerable families was to discern the
perceptions of rural people themselves through an informal exercise of
wealth ranking.
30
Key informants from amongst poorer families were
identified. Discussion was in a small group context .

Households vulnerable to impoverishment were simply described as
80
goribe jai (becoming poor), kharape dike jache (becoming in a bad
condition), or somputi nay (without available roperty). Interestingly
villagers expressed their concept of security and the absence of
vulnerability with concepts like shanti rakchhe (peaceful state),
bhoybhite nai (absence of fear), and Allah bhalo rackche (Allah has
given good things).
31
Here there is the perception of moving towards something: towards
increased poverty, no movement, or movement towards greater wealth.
The number of months a family bought rice, or khine khowa emerged
as a key parameter in wealth ranking.
Households with under six months self-sufficiency were classed as
poor, although a distinction was made between those with no
cultivated land and those who were self-sufficient for at least a few
months of the year. Middle ranking households had between 6-12
months self sufficiency but did not sell rice, while rich households
were self sufficient in rice and also a surplus for sale.
Self sufficiency in rice for half the year thus seems to form a rough
cut-off point in villagers' perception of rural poverty.
32
Development). Definitions vary but in Jannuzi and Peach a functionally landless household is
a household in which no more than 0.2 ha. of land (excluding homestead land) is cultivated.
15-16.
30
Alastair W. Orr, Noel P. Magor and A.S.M. Nazrullslam. 1995. 'Insights into
Rural Poverty: Wealth Ranking in a Bengali Village,' BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
Photocopied; and Noel P. Magor and Alastair W. Orr. 1996. Small Farmer Vulnerability in
Bangladesh (book in preparation) from chapter 2 'Targeting Vulnerable Households'.
31 Orr. 'Insights into Rural Poverty: Wealth Ranking in a Bengali Village' .

32
Orr 'Insights into Rural Poverty: Wealth Ranking in a Bengali Village' .

81
In a rural economy with historically limited. alternatives for income the
focus on Rice Provision Ability (RPA) as a poverty indicator is a simple tool
of identification that is clearly perceived within the village. The NGOs, MCC
and earlier CRWRC, have adapted RPA for targeting marginal families and its
importance in other village studies has been noted.
33
Cluster Analysis for Identifying Similar Households
It is insufficient to simply identify the vulnerable as there is more to
be learned by identifying the economic movement of all strata within the
village. Changes in the rural townships and city people linked to the rural
power structure is preferable but beyond the boundaries of this study.
The statistical procedure used here for identifying relatively
homogenous groups is that of cluster analysis.
34
Cases, in this instance
families, are grouped according to their similarity. Grouping was not based
on a single parameter, such as land cultivated; and the size and membership
of any group was not predetermined. The cluster analysis was made in
three stages.
The objective of the first cluster analysis was to identify households,
which wealth ranking had shown were generally considered as 'poor'.
. .. Not all of these 'poor' households were necessarily getting
poorer, however.
35
33
MCC. 1990. Agriculture Programme, Bangladesh: Report no. 17, 111 Block' A,'
Mohammadpur, Dhaka- 1207, Bangladesh, 1-3; Paul Brink. 1981. 'Reports from Cropping
Systems Research Site of CRWRC at Anantabala and Kathoum Site, under Sibganj and
Nandegram Thana, Bogra,' paper presented at the Workshop on Rice-based Cropping
Systems Research and Development, Sept. 14-17, 1981, BRRI, 6-7; Michael Howes. 1981.
'Confessions of a Fieldworker: How I Stratified a Rural Population,' IDS Bu"etin 12, no. 4,
40-46.
34
Norusis, M.J./ SPSS Inc. 1990. SPSSIPC + Statistics 4.0 , SPSS Inc. 444 North
Michigan Ave. Chicago, II606 11 USA.
35
Alastair W. Orr and Noel P. Magor. 1994. 'Targeting Vulnerable Farm Households
in Bangladesh: A Typology Using Cluster Analysis,' BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh, 5.
Photocopied.
82
....a second cluster analysis was made for those 'poor' households
in order to differentiate the 'vulnerable' poor from the 'non-
vulnerable' poor.
36

A third cluster analysis was completed on the 'non-poor' households of the
first analysis to determine if there existed any measure of differentiation
amongst the clearly 'non-poor' households.
Given the sample size, the procedure used was Quick Cluster with
the number of clusters set at five for each grouping. In most studies on
shifts in landholdings, land groupings have been used to determine
classes.
37

However, such groupings can at best be arbitrary, and can group

together dissimilar households or partition similar households. For example,
is a small farmer or small peasant categorised as one with owned land from
0.6 to 1.0 ha or otherwise? Perhaps some of the 0.6 ha farm families have
more in common with 0.4 ha, families, whereas others have more
similarities with 1.2 ha farm families. However, later in the chapter defined
land categories will be used to facilitate comparisons with other village
studies.
Key variables for population groupings were drawn from the village
wealth ranking exercise. For the first stage cluster analysis the parameters
were RPA (number of months rice self sufficiency)' OPERATE (land
cultivated by the household), INAG (share of household income from
agriculture), INLA (share of household income from labour) and INSE (share
of household income from 'service,' or salaried income).
38

36
Magor and Orr. Small Farmer Vulnerability in Bangladesh Ibook in preparation)
from chapter 2 'Targeting Vulnerable Households' .
37
The following are examples of studies using defined land groupings John Harriss.
1985. 'What Happened to the Green Revolution in South India? Economic Trends,
Household Mobility and the Politics of the" Awkward Class" ,' School of Development
Studies (University of East Anglia, UK) , Discussion Paper no. 175; Cain. 1981, 'Risk . . .
and Agrarian Change in India and Bangladesh,' 435-75.
38
Magor and Orr. Small Farmer Vulnerability in Bangladesh from chapter 2
'Targeting Vulnerable Households.' To control the differences in units of measurement all
variables were standardised to Z scores. The sample size, across the eight sites, after
deleting outliers and cases with missing variables was 1162 households.
83
The results of the first stage clustering, along with additional
information on differences for profiling each cluster are shown in table 10.
The predominant clusters (clusters 1, 3 and 5), together accounted for 92.7
per cent of the sample. Families in cluster 3 derived most of their income
from labour, had minimal RPA and a minimal operated farm land.
39
Agriculture income contributed only ten per cent of their total income. By
contrast families in cluster 1 derived most of their income from agriculture
and had an RPA of 7 months. Participation in the labour market or
diversification through service or business was insignificant for most of
..
cluster 1 households. Cluster 2 (five per cent of the unadjusted sample)
were families with minimal holdings and income mainly derived from
service. Cluster 2 were those families that had marginal landholdings but
which had stabilised their economic position with service employment.
Agriculture and labour income were minimal and the household head had
more education than families with similar holdings. Cluster 5 or medium rich
farmers
40
were near surplus families, with the majority of income from
agriculture but with a significant service income, and operated farms of over
one hectare. Their landholdings, over the present generation, had expanded
by 35 per cent. Cluster 4, with an RPA of over nine months, had a large
mean farm size of nearly five hectares. Forty-five per cent of this sample
was drawn from the low productive frontier, coastal saline environment.
The samples were then divided into two groupings for further
analysis. Cluster 1 and 3 were selected for a more detailed grouping
amongst the poor (the landless and small marginal farm families). Cluster 2
was dropped as families were on salaried income. Further analysis was also
conducted on Clusters 4 and 5, the medium-rich farm households.
39
In this definition land operated includes homestead.
40
BBS classifies families who own from 1.00 to less than 3.00 ha as medium
farmers.
84

In the first cluster analysis no vulnerability variables were
incorporated. It is possible the clusters masked upward and downward
mobility. To identify vulnerable farm households a limited number of
additional variables were selected. The additional variables were DISTSALE,
the proportion of land transferred through distress sales, SHCROP, the
proportion of operated land sharecropped-in and MIGRATE a dummy
variable for at least one working member of the household being a seasonal
migrant. For the further analysis of medium-rich farm households the
parameter CHANGE, change in land owned was added with the omission of

MIGRATE.
In increasing order of RPA (table 11), the data suggests the following
correspondence for each cluster; cluster 2
v
were functionally landless
41
households; cluster 4
v
were a minor group of marginal families with high
distress sales, high proportion of income from labour and high shared-in
land; cluster 3
v
were marginal families with low distress sales, labour as a
predominant source of income and low shared-in land; cluster 1
v
were
marginal households with high distress sales, about half their income from
agriculture and low level shared-in land; and cluster 5
v
were small farmers
with low level distress sales, income derived primarily from agriculture and a
low level of shared-in land.
The contrasts become sharper when additional profiling indicators,
which are also shown in table 11, are used. Clusters 1
v
and 5
v
stand in
sharp contrast when compared over the present generation. Both groups
initially owned a similar amount of land (0.56 and 0.59 ha respectively).
Since inheritance the vulnerable small farm group (cluster 1
v
) had lost 55
per cent of their land and the non-vulnerable small farmer group (cluster 5
v
)
had gained 27 per cent. Operated land areas contrasted with 0.34 and 0.86
41
BBS classifies families who own less than 0.20 ha as functionally landless.
~
85

ha respectively. Cluster 1
v
had entered the labour market but almost 50
per cent of income was still from agriculture. The RPA of cluster 5
v
stood at
7 to 8 months but only 4 to 5 months for cluster 1
v
' Distress sales and
debt were high for cluster 1
v
' Given the similar landholding at inheritance,
23 per cent had rapidly declined into poverty, whereas the other 77 per
cent had not only maintained themselves but increased their production
resources through the acquisition of land. Cluster 1
v
families now owned
0.25 ha in contrast to 0.75 ha for cluster 5
v
families.
Clusters 4v and 3
v
also contrast. Seasonal migration was important

for both cluster groups. At inheritance respective areas owned were 0.32
and 0.29 ha. At the time of inheritance both were more marginal than
cluster 1
v
and 5
v
. At the time of the survey cluster 4
v
households had lost
72 per cent of their land with 75 per cent of sales being due to distress. In
contrast, cluster 3
v
households increased landholding by 24 per cent with
only 7 per cent of sales of land being distress sales. Cluster 4
v
was strongly
represented in the labour market deriving 77.5 per cent of family income
from labour. Cluster 3
v
was also well placed in the labour market with
slightly more than fifty per cent of income from labour. More than half the
land cultivated by cluster 4v was shared-in, thereby minimising agriculture
income. Debt levels from impoverishing loans were more than three times
higher for cluster 4
v
' Cluster 4
v
households, although not representing a
large number of families, had lost nearly all their land and in fact at the time
of the survey owned less than the landless of cluster 2
v
. Cluster 4
v

households were now functionally landless and had taken out a very high
level of impoverishing loans.
Cluster 2
v
households were functionally landless at the time of
inheritance with 0.19 ha. Present debt levels were low and landholdings had
diminished by only 10 per cent. Agricultural income was low and labour/non
86
~
agricultural
42
income was more than 80 per cent. Cluster 2
v
families were
non-agriculture day wage earning families.
For families (cluster 1
v
), who had not made astrong transition to the
labour market, but were attempting to derive about half their income from
agriculture, vulnerability was considerably higher. The food deficit due to an
RPA of less than six months was proving very difficult to make up from the
limited labour income. Cluster 3
v
families, by contrast, had stabilised
holdings through seasonal migration and by reducing dependence on
agricultural income. Cluster 3
v
families are of particular interest as within
..
the fierce competition for scarce resources these families have kept debt
levels low and maintained their land holdings. Cluster 4
v
families may be
the end stage reached by cluster 1
v
families, with a rapid spiralling
downwards due to a high unmanageable debt. It is possible to surmise that
the shared-in land (56 per cent) may have been originally their own land,
which had been lost through debt, and may represent the final stages of
complete dispossession. Cluster 4
v
families have lost the battle to retain
their land.
The cluster analysis for medium farm households revealed two
predominant groups (cluster 1
m
and cluster 4
m
) that accounted for 91 per
cent of the sample of medium farmer households (table 12). Both groupings
were acquiring land, with cluster 1
m
increasing landholding by 50 per cent
and cluster 4
m
by 32 per cent. However, cluster 4
m
had only 53 per cent
of household income from agriculture in contrast to 84 per cent for cluster
1
m
. Almost 50 per cent of income for Cluster 4
m
was from service.
In summary cluster analysis has grouped village families
43
into six
predominant clusters (1
v
, 2
v
, 3
v
, 5
v
, 1
m
, and 4
m
) which accounted for 91
42
Labour / non-agriculture income is the percentage of non-agricultural income from
labour.
43
The survey households were from villages and not rural towns.
87

per cent of the weighted sample. Encapsulated within these clusters is the
dynamic of social change within the village. The clusters are characterised
in table 13. Cluster 1
v
was the most vulnerable farm household group; a
group moving towards total dispossession. Weighted it accounted for 10.5
per cent of rural village households. Cluster 3
v
(9.0 per cent of weighted
sample) were marginal households, who had stabilised themselves through
strong penetration into the labour market and significant labour migration.
Cluster 2
v
, households (the largest grouping with a weighted per cent of
30.3) were almost totally dependent on labour with a low level of income
..
from agriculture. Cluster 5
v
was a significant group (29.6 per cent
weighted) of active small and marginal farm families, who within the
generation have been able to expand their holdings by 27 per cent. Mean
owned land at the time of the survey stood at 0.75 ha with an RPA of 7.7
months. Cluster 4
m
(5.7 per cent weighted) had diversified income with a
rough 50:50 balance between agriculture and service. Landholdings, which
at the time of the survey were slightly less than 1.0 ha, had increased by
32 per cent. Cluster 1
m
(also with a weighted per cent of 5.7) were near-
surplus to surplus households with a predominance of income from
agriculture. Purchase of land from surplus capital had enabled the expansion
of their holdings by 50 per cent from 1.56 ha to 2.34 ha.
The land market is dynamic and the control of land is shifting
between the clusters. Cluster 5
v
, active marginal and small farm families, as
a group accumulated the largest area of land with 61.1 ha or a gain of 43
per cent, followed by clusters 1
m
with 56.9 ha or 40 per cent, 4
m
with 16.8 ha or 11.8 per cent and 3
v
with 7.2 ha or 5.1 per cent. Clusters
1
v
and 2
v
as groups lost 35.6 and 6.2 ha respectively. Gains and losses do
not match. There was a net gain of land of 100.2 ha. or 18 per cent since
inheritance. The net shift of land into control of families living within the
village will be discussed later.
Variation Across Sites and Ecosystems?
The chi-squared test for sites by clusters (an 8 by 6 contingency
table) was highly significant. This indicates the significance of the
differences arising from location and environment. Figure 13 shows the
percentage variation between observed and expected counts for each
cluster across the sites. A positive percentage indicates more observed
households than expected for the given cluster.
92
Observed numbers of the most vulnerable marginal farm families,
cluster 1
v
, were considerably lower than expected for the rainfed lowland
site of sitakundu, the upland partially irrigated site of Sreepur and the
irrigated remote sites of Thakurgaon and Boda, but much higher for the
deepwater ecosystems of Mirzapur and Sariatpur. Landless households,
cluster 2
v
, were 40 per cent higher in the remote rainfed lowland site of
Kamalganj, but 35 to 45 per cent less in the remote coastal saline site of
Char Matua and the remote irrigated site of Boda. The stable marginal
households, with strong labour market penetration and high levels of
migrant labour, cluster 3
v
, were more than 180 per cent higher in Char
Matua and 50 to 75 per cent higher in Mirzapur and Sariatpur, but 80 to
100 per cent less in Kamalganj and Sitakundu. Active small and marginal
farm households, cluster 5
v
, were less than expected at both deepwater
sites and more in Sreepur and Boda. Medium active farmers, cluster 1
m
,
were 50 per cent more in Thakurgaon, 60 per cent more in Sreepur and 20
per cent more in Char Matua, but 35 to 50 per cent less in the deepwater
sites. Finally, for cluster 4
m
, small farm families with 50:50 balance income
from agriculture and service and a present landholding of about 1.0 ha, both
Sitakundu and Mirzapur, had considerably higher counts than expected. All
other sites, except Thakurgaon, had fewer than expected. Cluster 2
m
(table
12) was minor and not included in the six predominant clusters. However, it
is worth noting that seven of the sample of eight were from the coastal
zone. These households shared-in 71.5 per cent of their cropped land and
had increased their holdings from 0.82 to 1.60 ha They were very active
farm households operating marginal land in a frontier environment.
93
Before interpreting this variation across sites and ecosystems, it is
necessary to look briefly at changes in the control of land within the village.
Directional Movement of Land: Town to Within Village and Absentee
Landlord to Active Farm Households
For the sample of 1160 families weighted land owned increased from
545.0 ha to 639.2 ha or 17.2 per cent (table 14). Weighted land operated
now was 796.2 ha or 24.6 per cent higher than present owned land. The
aggregate figures of land owned by site, both at inheritance and now,
suggest, though do not confirm, that the control of land is shifting from
'outside' to 'within' the village. There are three potential sources for the
extra land. Firstly, there is government owned land or public land (known as
khas land) that may have been released. Secondly, in the coastal saline area
there is new land that may have emerged from silt deposits or any shifts in
the river. Thirdly, there is land which is owned by families outside the
survey village, or absentee landlords. It is quite possible some of the
absentee landlords are disinvesting in agriculture. In addition, the surplus of
shared-in land can only be from absentee owners. Explanations for the
growth in land owned warrants exploring. Any explanation is speculative as
its occurrence was not anticipated at the commencement of the study.
The pattern was not consistent across sites. For the coastal site of
Char Matua, landholdings increased by 49.7 per cent and excess shared-in
was 51.8 per cent above present holdings. Absenteeism is a known
phenomenon in the frontier coastal region. For example, wealthy families
from the adjacent town of Maijdee Court may acquire large tracts of newly
formed char land, which is then shared-out to cultivators, who have
recently migrated to the area. Adnan reports that there are some families
who own 'hundreds of acres' of new char land.
44
I suggest the land was
held as a short term investment. As a consequence actual cultivators are
gaining land that was originally held by persons within the town. The
95
presence of cluster 2
m
, a minor cluster peculiar to the char supports this
conjecture. These households shared-in 71.5 per cent of their cropped land
and had increased their holdings from 0.82 to 1.60 ha (table 12). In addition
there have been shifts in the river with new land appearing that may have
."
been taken up directly by village persons without a linkage to the nearby
townships.
The Sreepur site is situated in sal forest, which was government or
khas land. The increases in owned land of 33.0 per cent may represent the
release of some of this land. Boda, in the North-West is remote and as
mentioned is an area traditionally known for the presence of large landlords.
Much of the land cultivated by the treadle-pump owners at this site was
shared-in land. Informal sources indicated the presence of a major absentee
landlord with 80-100 ha. The excess sharing-in of 69.5 per cent of land
highlights the absenteeism, but the 34.0 per cent increase in owned land is
a positive shift.
Mirzapur in contrast has had no increase in land owned.
Sharecropping of land from 'outside' was also high at 27.7 per cent. The
nearby townships of Mirzapur and Tangail may have provided favourable
nearby accommodation for wealthy families. In addition some of the foreign
remittances from the Middle-East, which were noted as important within
this site, were almost certainly invested in land. For Sariatpur land owned
44
Shapan Adnan. 1988. Socio-Economic Trends in Greater Noakhal i 1975-87,
Monitoring and Evaluation Unit NRDP/DANIDA, PO Box 29, Maijdee Court, Noakhali,
Bangladesh, 15.
96

remained more or less constant. For both Mirzapur and Sariatpur, the
catastrophic floods of 1987 and 1988 restricted cash available for land
purchases by families dependent on agriculture within the survey villages.
Except for Mirzapur and Sariatpur, sites both affected by recent
disasters, one observes a very positive shift in increase in land owned from
outside to within the village. Although the village land is finite it is not a
zero-sum game for families within the village. The sampling method did not
include families within nearby townships. Figure 14 illustrates how control
of land within a village can increase over time. The interpretation of this
..
observation needs confirmation by further research directed at the specific
issue of 'within' and 'outside' the village.
Differential Land Mobility
Land, one factor in vulnerability
The clustering of families was not simply a product of the amount of
land owned at inheritance. For example clusters 1
v
and 5
v
owned 0.56 and
0.59 ha respectively at inheritance and yet cluster 1
v
households
experienced rapid dispossession in contrast to cluster 5
v
which experienced
a 27.1 per cent growth in land owned. In addition to land owned, key
compounding factors contributing to vulnerability were high levels of debt,
limitations in securing non-farm income in the market and natural disasters.
There is a pattern of differentiation in landholding, but contrary to
what might be expected, polarisation is not taking place. Amongst small and
marginal farm families there was both an observed vulnerability to
impoverishment and an unexpected resilience. There is a group of marginal
farm families (cluster 1
v
), who comprise 10.5 per cent of the surveyed
population, that lost 55 per cent of their owned land since inheritance. At
the same time, clusters 3
v
, 5
v
, and 4
m
, with landholdings from 0.29 to
0.72 ha at inheritance and comprising 44.3 per cent of rural families,
displayed a resilience that saw gains in land of 24.1 to 31.9 per cent.
Aggregated land gained by these families was 50 per cent more than that
gained by medium landholders (cluster 1
m
) (table 13). The pattern of
99
resilience varied for the three clusters. Cluster 3
v
were marginal land
owners with only 0.29 ha at inheritance, but who had significant income
from regular labour and carried low debt levels. For cluster 5
v
resilience was
predominantly from agriculture, and for cluster 4
m
it was a balance of
agriculture and service income. The resilience of some small and marginal
."
farm families was indeed unexpected and contrary to the thesis of
polarisation and depeasantisation.
The differentiation of landholding is dynamic rather than fixed. The
proportions of clusters 1
v
, 3
v
, 5
v
and 4
m
may shift depending on market
shocks, environmental shocks, sickness and so on. While families within
cluster 1
v
, are obviously vulnerable, for some families, particularly within
cluster 3
v
and 5
v
, it may only take a little push to accentuate their
vulnerability. Cluster 4
m
with a balance of income sources appears most
stable.
Level of development and the differentiation of landholding
Based on an understanding of the sites, is it possible to predict the
direction of composition of clusters in terms of land control? I tentatively
suggest yes, but a stronger assertion would be possible with more
developmental parameters for each site.
Developmentally Char Matua, a coastal frontier zone, is the most
backward or remote and Sitakundu, with a nearby urban market for
vegetables and service/labour opportunities, the most advanced. Boda and
Thakurgaon in the North-West are remote and have a tradition of large
landlords. The Sreepur site is something of an anomaly. It is geographically
100
close to Dhaka, but until recently it was quite isolated due to poor road
access. Furthermore the villages at the Sreepur site were in a sal forest
area, in which there were large sections of government or khas land. Until
recently it was also sparsely populated. So despite its close proximity to
Dhaka city, it has been more like a remote site.
The strongest shift in control of land to within the village was in Char
Matua, Thakurgaon, Boda and Sreepur. Medium landholders with a
predominance of agricultural income, cluster 1
m
, were unexpectedly high in
each of these sites. In other words, cluster 1
m
, as a group was more
. ~
prevalent in relatively undeveloped sites. Their occurrence was less than
expected in a developed site like Sitakundu. If polarisation were occurring
with agricultural development and industrial development, one would expect
cluster 1
m
to be more prevalent in the more developed sites. However,
small farm families with service income were more numerous than expected
in the more developed sites of Mirzapur and Sitakundu.
Sites like Kamalganj and Sariatpur occupy an intermediate position.
Options for non-farm income appear limited. Therefore, it is anticipated that
high rates of agriculture growth will decrease the proportion of vulnerable
farm families; and conversely agricultural stagnation or natural disasters will
increase the proportion of vulnerable. Environmental shocks, like the 1987
and 1988 floods, and market factors like low jute prices in the mid-eighties
and the continual decline of the jute industry, act as brakes on the
directional movement in land control. For example, while the most
vulnerable marginal farm families, those in cluster 1
v
, were fewer in number
than expected in the developed site of Sitakundu, the numbers were more
than expected in the developed site of Mirzapur. The disastrous floods
accentuated vulnerability for Mirzapur. Similarly there were greater numbers
of vulnerable farm families in the deepwater site of Sariatpur .
101
Traditional Analysis by Land Class
Cluster analysis, as opposed to grouping by land class, does not
predetermine groupings. As mentioned earlier, the delimiters for different
landholding categories are rather arbitrary. However, it is necessary to
consider them here, since significant studies on the agrarian debate have
invariably used groupings based on size of landholding. For this reason a re-
analysis has been completed by land class. Are similar conclusions reached?
Does land grouping provide adequate resolution for studying vulnerability or
does it group families with distinctly different social trajectories? I then
move on t o critique another traditional social science tool that has figured
prominently in studies on differentiation, the Lorenz curve. In addition, I give
a snapshot of observed pauperisation in land resources across generations.
Clusters and Land Groupings
Five groupings have been selected and these are functionally landless
(0.2 ha), marginal (0.2< = and <0.6 ha), small (0.6< = and <1.0 ha),
medium (1.0< = and < 3.0 ha) and large (3.0 ha < = ).
45
The numbers
within the large landholding category were small. However, they were kept
as a distinct group. Within the medium landholding category there are often
active farmers, whereas within the large landholder group there is a greater
tendency to find landlords. The polarisation thesis suggest large landowners
are actively accumulating land. If that is the case it is certainly worth
keeping the group separate in any analysis.
Figure 15 shows the composition by land grouping for each
predominant cluster at inheritance and at the time of the survey. For
clusters 2
v
(landless families dependent on labour) and 1
v
(most vulnerable
farm families) there was a move towards landlessness. Cluster 3
v
(marginal
45
The land grouping matches that used by BBS; BBS. 1991. Report on Household
Expenditure Survey 1988-89, BBS, Statistics Division, Ministry of Planning, 43.
102
~
farm families with significant labour income) showed a slight reduction in
landlessness and an increase in marginal to large households. At inheritance
cluster 5
v
(active small farm families) had a considerable mix of landless,
marginal, small and medium landholdings. The per cent composition at the
time of the survey showed a marked increase for the small and medium land
groups. A comparison of clusters 4
m
(small farm families with a balance of
agriculture and service income) and 1
m
(medium land holders with a
predominance of agriculture income) showed a greater number of marginal
and small farm households at inheritance for 4
m
. The shift for respective
groups was towards small to medium landholdings and medium to large
landholdings.
The landholding groups do pick up the directional shift of each
cluster. However, each cluster, particularly clusters 1
v
, 5
v
and 4
m
, includes
a mix of landholding groups. Analysis by land groupings was not able to
pick up the different social trajectories of families with similar land
resources. In other words the changes in social structure over time are more
complex than simply movements of land ownership.
Land Groupings and Economic Mobility
The comparison between the clusters and land classes revealed a
dynamic movement of families between classes over time. In this section I
wish to quantify that movement. First, I will present a snapshot of the
abrupt shift in landholdings at the time of partitioning of land or the transfer
of land between generations. Secondly, I compare mobility across sites
irrespective of land class. Thirdly, I observe which groups are particularly
mobile. From this, issues regarding changes in distribution of land emerge.
104
Pauperisation across generations
The single largest movement across landholding groups occurs at the
time of partitioning of land (prithok somoi). The sons, as daughters generally
forfeit their right to land to a brother as insurance against future need,
invariably commence their independence in a far less favourable economic
position than their parents. Figure 16, aggregated for all sites, demonstrates
the strong downward shift. Only 2.2 per cent of the sample showed an
upward movement. For fathers with marginal landholding, 45 per cent
remained within the land class but 55 per cent moved down to
landlessnesss. Forty-seven per cent and 24 per cent of fathers with small
landholding moved down to marginal and landless classes respectively, with
only 24 per cent remaining within the same class. Similarly for fathers with
medium landholding (1.0 ha < = and < 3.0 ha), 23 per cent remained
within the medium class, 22 per cent shifted to the small farmer group, 49
per cent to the marginal group and 5 per cent became landless. Finally for
fathers with large landholdings only 6 per cent remained within the same
class. The downward shift conclusively shows that the increase in
population in rural areas is the single greatest pressure leading to
pauperisation. It acts across classes.
Economic mobility within the generation
Figure 17 shows upward, downward and unchanged mobility across
sites. Sitakundu, an area close to a large urban market, showed the greatest
stability with nearly 80 per cent of households registering no shift across
land groupings. Fifty-five to 65 per cent of households from all other sites
were stable. It is worth noting that the choice of group and number of
106

groups masks movement within and between groups.
46
Upward mobility
was higher than downward mobility at all sites, except for the deepwater
sites of Mirzapur and Sariatpur. As already mentioned, the crisis in
marketing of jute and the severe environmental factor of floods had been
most acute in the deepwater areas. In the frontier areas of the coast (Char
Matua) and the North-West (Thakurgaon and Boda) upward mobility was up
to twice downward mobility. Similarly, for Sreepur, despite its proximity to
Dhaka city, had a similar pattern to the frontier areas. Here Sreepur
contrasts to Sitakundu .
..
A mobility matrix can provide insight into which groups are
particularly mobile (either upward or downward).
The matrices are simple cross tabulations of households according to
landholdings at inheritance and at present.
47
The matrices, aggregated across sites and for each site are given in
appendix 1, tables 36-44.
Figure 18, which is aggregated across sites, displays per cent
upward, downward and no change for each land category. The most mobile
group were small farm households (0.6 < = and < 1.0 ha) with only 37.3
per cent remaining in the same group, while 38.2 per cent moved
downwards and 24.4 per cent upwards. The least mobile were the landless
with 72.6 per cent remaining landless. However, 27.8 per cent or slightly
more than one quarter moved upwards. Almost half of the large category
46
Cain. 1981. 'Risk ... and Agrarian Change in India and Bangladesh,' 446. Cain,
also, makes this comment. Cain presents a table that shows upward, downward and no
movement, irrespective of movement across groups. However, such a table on gainers and
losers gives no weight to the extent of the movement. For example a downward movement
of 0.001 ha is the same as a downward movement of 0.1 ha. Also a movement of 0.1 ha.
for a marginal household is more dramatic than 0.1 ha. for a large landholding household.
Orr in Magor, N.P. and Orr, A.W. Small Farmer Vulnerability in Bangladesh (book in
preparation) from chapter 2 'Targeting Vulnerable Households,' presents a table giving
mobility based on a shift of a standard deviation for the group. The arbitrary groupings do
give an indication of direction. It has, however, been important to experiment with different
groupings to ensure the groups do not hide or mask significant directional shifts.
47
Cain. 1981. 'Risk. .. and Agrarian Change in India and Bangladesh,' 444.
108
(3.0 ha < =) moved downwards, and of the present large landholders (2.2
per cent of unweighted sample) only 19.2 per cent were large landholders
at inheritance (appendix 1, table 36).
Figure 19 a-d reveals the shift by land class and site. For landless
households Sitakundu and Mirzapur displayed the least mobility upwards.
Char Matua had the largest upward mobility with 16.7 per cent becoming
medium or large landholders. Amongst marginal households Sitakundu was
the most stable with 80.8 per cent. Char Matua, Sariatpur, Thakurgaon and
Kamalganj were most mobile with roughly equal per cent upward and
downward. For Sreepur the predominant movement was upward and for
Mirzapur it was downward. Sitakundu was the most stable for small
landholders. However, half the households moved downwards. This was
similar for the deepwater sites of Mirzapur and Sariatpur. Sreepur and Char
Matua contrasted with 52.6 and 36.4 per cent upward mobility. For medium
landholding households, Sariatpur and Boda were most mobile with decided
downward mobility. For the large category the sample was too small for
across site comparison. In general, it appears as the most consistent finding
that the larger landholding groups have lost land.
Distributional changes and the Lorenz curve
Under land-class analysis, who were the gainers and losers of land
over time? Are the medium and large landowners enlarging their holdings at
the expense of the marginal and small landholders? Table 15 indicates the
change in total landowned and relative share according to landholding group
at inheritance. In all sites, except Mirzapur, there has been a shift in relative
share of land owned towards the more marginal. Mirzapur showed little shift
in relative share.
The Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient are tools that are commonly
used to measure inequality and changes in equality of landholding over
time.
48

A Lorenz curve shows the cumulative area of land owned against
the cumulative population percentage. It is often used in debates concerning
polarisation and dispossession of marginal farmers. For example from Cain:
All three Indian villages register a contraction of the Lorenz curve
between inheritance and the present, indicating a substantial
decrease in the inequality of landed wealth .
. . . By contrast, the Lorenz curve for the Bangladesh village balloons
to the right, signalling increasing inequality in the distribution of
ownership holdings between inheritance and the present.
49
Despite its widespread use as a measure of change in concentration
in landholding, I will seek to demonstrate why I believe the conventional
Lorenz curve is an inadequate statistical instrument. The first inadequacy is
purely arithmetical: with a large landless population the Lorenz curve must
be expected to shift to the right over time, simply due to the compound
growth of the larger number of landless and marginal households. This will
happen even without exploitation from large landholders. Secondly, the
Lorenz curve actually masks upward and downward mobility or reshuffling
over time of farm household groups.
50
Thirdly the curve gives no indication
of the mean landholding for each decile. Shifts in mean land owned for a
specific decile in the population can reveal particularly resilient or conversely
vulnerable families. I will illustrate the importance of this point with
examples from the sites. But before doing so I suggest a modification to the
48
Harriss. 1985. 'What Happened to the Green Revolution in South India? . . . "
98-100; Atiur Rahman. 1986. Peasants and Classes: A Study in Differentiation in
Bangladesh (University Press Limited, Dhaka), 108; Cain. 1981. 'Risk . .. and Agrarian
Change in India and Bangladesh,' ; Keith Griffin. 1981. Land Concentration and Rural
Poverty, 2d ed., (London: Macmillan Press Ltd.), 285-289; Alam. 1983. Marginalisation,
Pauperisation and Agrarian Change, 70-71; Thomas S. Walker and James G. Ryan, J.G.
1990. Village and Household Economies in India's Semi-arid Tropics (Baltimore: The John
Hopkins University Press), 155-56.

Cain. 1981. 'Risk . .. and Agrarian Change in India and Bangladesh,' 442.
50

Walker . 1990. Village and Household Economies in India's Semi-arid Tropics, 156.
49
112
113
Table 15. Change in land owned and relative share, within the generation,
by each landholding group within the village, across eight sites
and five ecosystems in Bangladesh, 1990-91.
Site Land Weighted Land owned (ha) Relative share
holding sample
group at
inheritance inheritance now inheritance now change
Kamalganj landless 94 5.9 11.4 7.7 14.2 + 6.5
marginal 49 17.8 30.3 23.3 37.8 + 14.5
small 21 15.2 14.9 19.9 18.6 1.3
medium 16 23.9 18.3 31.2 22.8 8.4
large 2 13.7 5.3 17.9 6.6 11.3
Sitakund landless 110 7.5 16.7 11.6 22.6 + 11 .0
marginal 42 14.9 16.3 23.2 22.1 1.1
small 17 12.9 12.0 20.0 16.3 3.7
medium 18 29.2 28.8 45.3 39.0 6.3
large 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Sreepur landless 74 3.2 12.8 4.2 12.5 + 8 .3
marginal 48 18.2 22.9 23.8 22.5 1.3
small 14 11.0 14.5 14.3 14.3 <- 1.0
medium 18 30.1 39.0 39.3 38.3 1.0
large 3 14.0 12.6 18.3 12.4 5.9
Char Matua landless 92 6.6 39.8 8.4 33.7 + 25.3
marginal 48 17.4 26.6 22.0 22.6 + 5.0
small 11 8.4 9.3 10.6 7.9 + 2.7
medium 24 40.5 40.2 51.3 34.2 17.1
large 2 6.0 2.0 7.6 1.7 5.9
Mirzapur landless 36 3.3 3.5 5.7 7.0 + 1.2
marginal 41 15.6 13.2 27.0 26.6 <- 1.0
small 11 8.3 6.5 14.4 13.0 1.4
medium 19 30.6 26.6 52.9 53.5 <+ 1.0
large 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0 .0 0 .0
Sariatpur landless 63 4.0 11 .1 3.9 10.5 + 6.5
marginal 52 19.9 24.1 19.4 22.8 + 3.3
small 25 19.4 18.0 19.0 17.0 2.0
medium 32 51.0 44.8 50.0 42.4 7.6
large 4 17.9 12.2 17.5 11.5 6.0
Thakurgaon landless 92 2.8 17.7 3.6 16. 9 + 13.3
and Boda' marginal 44 16.4 23.7 20.9 22.6 + 1.7
small 12 8.8 11.2 11.2 10.7 0.5
medium 26 50.4 52.2 64.3 49.8 14.5
large 0 0.0 0 .0 0.0 0.0 0 .0
1 Boda sample too small for developing relative shares.
114
Lorenz curve that expresses more clearly which sections of the population
are experiencing most change in landholding (figure 20).
The traditional Lorenz representation of distribution of land at
inheritance and at the time of the survey is shown. However, families within
specific deciles at the time of inheritance are not necessarily placed in the
same decile at the time of the survey. For example a family within the
second decile at inheritance may have experienced a rapid accumulation in
land which places it within the top decile at the time of the survey. Similarly
a family within the top decile may have experienced loss of land such that it
is within the second decile at the time of the survey.
I introduce a modification, which I call a modified Lorenz curve. In
this modified Lorenz curve, families remain within the same decile that they
belonged to at inheritance (x axis), but the y axis depicts the cumulation of
land owned at present. The advantage of the third curve is evident from the
curves for Kamalganj. The two curves for the traditional Lorenz curve are
more or less superimposed. The interpretation is that no shift in equity has
taken place. However, the curve for distribution of land owned now
according to the population distribution at inheritance gives a very different
picture. It shows a marked shift to the left or a shift towards increased
equity. From the figure, at inheritance the bottom 70 per cent of families
owned roughly 25-30 per cent of land. However, that same group of
families now own roughly 50 per cent of the land. The traditional Lorenz
curve does not capture that redistribution and as a consequence has been
extremely misleading on the issue of polarisation.
In addition there are a set of parallel figures, which show the mean owned
land for each decile (figure 21). There are three measures of mean land
owned. Firstly, there is the mean land owned for each decile at inheritance.
The decile distribution is based on the traditional Lorenz curve for
inheritance. Secondly, there is the mean owned land according to present
115
distribution. The deciles are based on the traditional Lorenz curve for the
present distribution. Finally, there is the present mean owned land for
families according to their decile distribution at inheritance. I again use
Kamalganj to illustrate the insights provided. The mean owned land for the
top decile, according to overall population distribution at inheritance and
now, was roughly 1.9 ha for each respective distribution. However, the
mean owned land for the families, who were in the top decile at inheritance,
is now approximately 1.1 ha. It has reduced. The mean owned land now,
according to the decile distribution at inheritance, throws some light on
which families have been gaining land. The sixth decile has been very active
in accumulating land. At inheritance the mean owned land for the sixth
decile was about 0.25 ha but for the same families it had risen to about
0.75 ha.
The set of charts for all sites show variation. For Kamalganj, Sreepur
and Char Matua the traditional Lorenz curve has contracted indicating an
increase in equity. For Sitakundu, Sariatpur, Thakurgaon and Boda, the
Lorenz curves for inheritance and now are almost superimposed, but for
Mirzapur there has been a decided shift to the right or decreased equity.
However, the modified Lorenz curves give a decidedly different picture.
There has been a decided contraction in the curves, which is most
pronounced for the lower to mid deciles. For Mirzapur the new curve
overlays the Lorenz curve at inheritance.
If one compares mean holding now, as per the distribution at
inheritance, with the mean holding now, as per the present distribution, it
was considerably reduced for the top decile. The exception was Sariatpur.
For lower deciles the reverse holds. I conclude there has been a decided
upward movement amongst the more marginal households with a
downward movement amongst the large landowners.
119
focussing on research based on strong empirical data. Case study research
is critical for characterising village family archetypes, like a landless family
or a marginal farm family or the pervasive influence of an elite family.
However, the weakness in case studies is the failure to establish the
frequency of a particular occurrence. It is, therefore, possible to give undue
weight to an isolated event. I have chosen five empirical studies.
Cain and the Village of Char Gopalpur
In 1975-76 Cain completed a comparative study of one Bangladesh
village and three Indian villages
51
, with a focus on risk and insurance within
villages dominated by agriculture as the main livelihood. The Indian villages
fell within a drought-prone ecosystem. The Bangladesh village, Char
Gopalpur was on the east bank of the Old Brahmaputra River and was
highly susceptible to flood.
52
With agriculture being the predominant source
of income, any erosion of the production base through distress sale of land
was interpreted as a sign of economic desperation. Cain, therefore, saw
distress sales of land as evidence of an inadequate insurance system. The
study compared distributional change in land assets, intra-generational
economic mobility, and land sales according to purpose of sale.
Char Gopalpur contrasted sharply with the Indian villages. There
appeared to be far more downward mobility in the Bangladesh village.
According to Cain, there was economic polarisation in Char Gopalpur, with
the rich gaining more control of the land and the poor being dispossessed.
51
Cain. 1981. 'Risk ... and Agrarian Change in India and Bangladesh'. The three
Indian villages were part of the village household study of ICRISAT. See Walker.1990.
Village and Household Economies in India's Semi-arid Tropics.
52

The word char indicates relatively recent river deposits of silt and sand. Char-land

is generally not good rice land due to its poor retention of moisture. An annual productivity
of 2.28 t . ha
- 1
of rough paddy over possibly two seasons is low and is indicative of
unfavourable growing conditions. Productivity estimate from Cain. 1981. 'Risk ... and
Agrarian Change in India and Bangladesh,' footnote no. 6.
120
In explaining the differences between the Bangladesh village and the
three Indian villages, Cain suggested the role of land reform, availability of
institutional credit and a government relief and public employment scheme
were all positive forms of insurance in India during the exceptional need
t ime of drought. At the time of the study in Bangladesh, 1976, such
insurance measures did not exist. Bangladesh had come into existence in
1971, and in 1974 it suffered a massive flood with a resulting famine.
53
It
was a period of high lawlessness
54
and minimal state services at the village
level. As a result land, as an asset for consumption, was expected to be
even more mobile.
The results of the present study, conducted in 1989-91, across eight
sites and five ecosystems, parallel more the Indian villages than Char
Gopalpur. The polarisation in Char Gopalpur has clearly not been observed
in the recent study. I would suggest that two factors serve to explain these
differences. The first is an historical factor and the second is
methodological.
The devastation in 1974, in the absence of state insurance, had been
at a particular time that accentuated inequality. The 1976 survey captured a
high level of very recent sales.
55

All land classes had been affected by the
necessity to make sales in order to purchase food, and constituted 47, 67
and 60 per cent of all transactions for small, medium and large land owners
respectively. A figure
56
presenting the frequency of land transactions over
time showed that sales had also been very high in the 1943 famine for
medium and large owners, but that this had been followed by a lag period
53
Amartya Sen. 1981. Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and
Deprivation (London: Oxford University Press), 131-153.
54
Cain. 1981. 'Risk. . . and Agrarian Change in India and Bangladesh,' 459; B.K.

Jahangir. 1979. Differentiation, Polarisation and Confrontation in Rural Bangladesh (Dhaka:
Dhaka University, Centre for Social Studies), 240-258. Jahangir presents three case studies
of political opportunists who acted in a manner that clearly displayed acute lawlessness.
55
Cain. 1981. 'Risk ... and Agrarian Change in India and Bangladesh,' 456.

56
Cain. 1981 . 'Risk ... and Agrarian Change in India and Bangladesh, ' 456.
121
of subsequent high purchases in 1945-49. Is it possible that Char Gopalpur
may experience a similar time-lag?
Taking this argument, a parallel may be observed for Sariatpur with
the 1987 and 1988 floods.
57
Land transfers through sale and mortgaging-
out were much higher immediately after the flood. Figure 22 shows 80 per
cent of land transfers for Sariatpur were due to need in comparison to the
other sites where the figure was 35-45 per cent. Despite the comparable
floods in Mirzapur, its better developed infrastructure and the presence of
NGOs may have offset the need for land sales. Risk insurance may have
been stronger in Mirzapur than Sariatpur.
The above explanation for polarisation in Char Gopalpur is plausible.
However, if the contrasting outcomes are due solely to a unique historical
period then Cain's findings may not provide a clear indication of a general
tendency towards polarisation in Bangladesh. It may more accurately reflect
a single village study undertaken in an exceptionally vulnerable ecosystem
that was comparatively low in productivity.
The second explanatory factor I wish to consider is methodological
and on this issue I will raise several questions. Firstly, any single village
tends to have its own idiosyncrasies. For example the disintegration of a
single large Hindu family, the presence of a widowed medium landholder or
of an unscrupulous union member may significantly affect land transactions
within that specific village. Our study contrasts here as the sample at each
site had been taken over 4-8 villages. The distorting impact of a single
dominant household has thereby been reduced.
A second question concerns Cain's partitioning of landholdings into
four equal groups. Within the large category (0.88 ha, and above) one may
57
Environment: The Impact of the 1988 Floods,' in Reducing Small Farmer Vulnerability in
Bangladesh Proceedings of Workshop held at the BRRI, May 30-31, 1992, 45-46.
123
expect to find both active but deficit farmers, with a Rice Provision Ability
of 7 to 10 months
58
, and surplus landlords. These are two quite distinct
groups with different behaviour patterns. It was for this reason that the
large landholder group in the present study was kept at 3.0 ha and above.
Despite being less than 0.8 per cent of the sample it clearly places surplus
farmers in a separate category. In Cain's study half the large category lost
land with 27.5 per cent moving down a category, and half gaining land. It
mayor may not be reasonable to assume that the landlord group were the
ones who had gained land. We simply do not know.
What I find more difficult in interpreting Cain's data and the assertion
of polarisation and dispossession in Char Gopalpur is an apparent
inconsistency in two of the tables. The tables have been reproduced here as
tables 16 and 17.59 Table 16 shows the changes in relative shares of
owned land between inheritance and the time of the survey (1976), by
decile group. The possible discrepancy is in the column heading, 'inherited
ownership holding decile'. It has two possible interpretations.
In the first interpretation, which is the one used by Cain, the families
in the top decile now, for example, are not necessarily the same families in
the top decile at inheritance. In other words, it is not inconceivable that a
family in the bottom decile at inheritance may have in fact moved to the top
decile at the time of the survey. Because the relative share of the top decile
had increased, it is interpreted as polarisation and yet it may be due to rapid
upward mobility of small, marginal or landless families. As I indicated earlier,
in the discussion on the Lorenz curve, this masks between-group mobility.
58
For mean land holdings of 0.6 to 1.0 ha. for Char Matua, Sreepur and Sariatpur
the RPA was 7, 8 and 6 months respectively. Families of similar holdings for Char Gopalpur
could not be expected to have a higher RPA.
59
Cain. 1981. 'Risk ... and Agrarian Change in India and Bangladesh,' 442 and
445; Table 2 in Cain for shift in relative shares and table 4 for the mobility matrix.
126
The second interpretation refers to the shift in relative share of land
owned by the families in their respective decile at inheritance. I illustrate
with reference to the bottom three decile. Families in these decile were
landless or near to landless at inheritance. The mobility matrix of table 17
shows that from the landless group ten families had moved upwards (seven
to the small group, two to medium and one to large). Therefore, within the
bottom 2 to 3 deciles at inheritance there are now ten families who had
experienced sizeable increases in relative share of land owned. The group
must thereby have some share of the total land that is more than zero. The
corresponding table (table 15) for the present study shows a positive shift
for all sites, except Mirzapur, towards the poor and marginal.
The second interpretation does not support the assertion of 'the rich
getting richer'. The mobility matrix, however, shows that some of the larger
land owners in fact were landless or in the small or medium category at
inheritance. As shown earlier the Lorenz curve does not capture the shifts
observed within the mobility matrix.
I conclude that the general implications of polarisation for
Bangladesh, which Cain draws from Char Gopalpur have been overstated.
Char Gopalpur was not only atypical due to its location on a highly
vulnerable river embankment but historically the 1971 War of Liberation and
the 1974 famine due to political instability more so than flood were unique
events. Even so the mobility matrix suggest some marginal families actually
gained land. That, however, was given less weight than the Lorenz curve.
Compared to the villages in India there has been a definite loss of land by
more marginal families. There has been up and down movement. Cain does
highlight the importance of safety nets in times of disaster such as the
1974 famine. It is in this regards that there are parallels between Char
Gopalpur and the flood losses in Sariatpur.
127
Persistence and Polarisation: Bhaduri et al.
Four villages were studied in 1979-80 in Lakshimpur Upazila of
greater Noakhali District in South-East Bangladesh.
60
I wish to comment on
the conclusions of polarisation and the issue of persistence of marginal
families.
Firstly concerning the conjecture of polarisation. By using land
groupings according to current landholding the authors show a net
movement of land towards the large landholders:
[The table] ... unambiguously shows that net transfer of land has
taken place from the smaller to the larger land-owning size groups,
which confirms the usual view of a polarisation process in the rural
economy of Bangladesh.
61
Such a result would appear to contradict our finding of a net movement
towards the more marginal families. However, by using current landholdings
the authors have failed to account for upward and downward mobility. It
cannot be concluded to show polarisation, and in fact is quite misleading.
The authors have developed a useful tool for measuring persistence
but have not explored its full use leading once again to misleading
conclusions. A relative stability index of the ratio of current land owned to
inherited land owned was developed by Bhaduri et al. for each household.
In their study, a stable household had a ratio between 0.9 and 1.1. The
concept is useful as it measures relative movement for each household. In
his study:
Out of a total of 772 small owner households [up to 0.6 hal nearly
47 per cent or, 362 households had a current landholding of roughly
the same size as they inherited.
62

60
Amit Bhaduri, Hussain Zillur Rahman and Ann-Lisbet Arn. 1985. 'Persistence and
Polarisation: A Study in the Dynamics of Agrarian Contradiction,' The Journal of Peasant
Studies 13, 82-89.
61
Bhaduri. 1985. 'Persistence and Polarisation ...,' 84.
62
128
For large landholders (greater than 1.6 ha) the stability index was 52.2 per
cent. Bhaduri et al. proposed a 'phenomenon of persistence' to account for
the continuing presence of the smaller land owners. I ask the question: can
a stability index of approximately 50 per cent be indicative of stability? It is
saying 50 per cent of households experienced a movement upward or
downward of more than 10 per cent of inherited land.
A shortcoming in the concept of the stability index is that there is no
indication within the ratio of upward or downward movement. This may be
illustrated from our data for aggregated sites (table 18). The ratio for stable
households was set at between 0.8 and 1.2; in other words movement of
less than 20 per cent. The stability index was 36.2 for landless households
but 48.8 for medium households. There was less stability amongst landless
households. However, for landless households 48.9 per cent experienced an
upward movement of more than 20 per cent, compared to only 20.6 for
medium households. Of course, a 20 per cent rise in landholding for a very
marginal family is a far smaller piece of land than a 20 per cent rise for a
medium family, but the resources of a very marginal family are scarcely
adequate for survival, yet alone accumulation.
In the discussion on persistence of marginal households Bhaduri et al.
make a useful insight that complements this study. The authors propose
that persistence' ... becomes possible when income can be earned from
'outside' sources'.
63
Reliance on outside income was greater for more
marginal households. The link or association was a perceptive observation.
The cluster analysis for our sites, similarly, highlighted the importance of
income diversification for stability of land owning amongst marginal
households. I would argue that income diversification for some has become
63
130
more than persistence; rather it has created resilience and the means for
upward movement.
The study by Bhaduri et al. is unequivocal in its charge of polarisation
of landholdings within the village and yet I have shown that it falls short in
methodology. There was a failure to even identify upward and downward
movement of land and the agenda of persistence of marginal landholdings
was only partly presented as it avoided any consideration of upward
movement of marginal farm families. By applying the stability index to the
aggregated data for our study a significant number of families fell outside
the stable ratio of 0.8 to 1.2 because their economic position had improved.
The finding that multiple income sources are important for persistence
complements our study. I would suggest, however, that the multiplying of
income sources is a positive. In our study for sites near urban areas like
Sitakundu and Mirzapur non-farm income has not only stabilised landholding
of marginal farm families but enabled a measure of land accumulation. It has
strengthened resilience.
Household Mobility and the Politics of an 'Awkward Class'
The work of Harriss was an Indian study that traced the individual
histories of households from inheritance to the present (1984), and featured
a revisit ten years on.
64
The setting was in the eastern half of North Arcot
District in northern Tamil Nadu. Paddy cultivation was the predominant crop
on irrigated land, whereas groundnut was the main crop on rainfed fields.
About 50 per cent of gross cultivated area was paddy and 40 per cent
groundnut.
65
Another important component of the site noted in the follow
64
Harriss. 1985. ' ... Household Mobility and ... an "Awkward Class" .-
65
John Harriss. 1977. 'The Limitations of HYV Technology in North Arcot District:
The View from a Village,' in Green Revolution, ed. S.H. Farmer (London: Macmillan Press),
124-142.
131
up study was 'the considerable expansion of the handloom silk weaving
industry'.
66

I would like to draw out four points from his study. Firstly concerning
mobility:
In all five villages the number of 'gainers' of land since inheritance
outweigh (though not always by much) the numbers of 'losers' of
land.
67
And more particularly he found:
a tendency for smaller landholders at inheritance to gain more land
over time, and for larger holders often to lose it.
68
His findings, like those reported in this study, do not support the hypothesis
of polarisation of landholdings.
A second point concerns the village of Duli. Only in Duli did it appear
that the large landowners had more gainers than losers of land. Otherwise
the bulk of the gainers was amongst the smallest landholders. In regard to
Duli, there was a perceptive interpretation by Harriss that gives a time
dimension to sales and purchases of land. During the Depression in the
1930s money lenders and master weavers from a nearby town had acquired
control of large amounts of land.
The buying back of land in Duli has led to increased concentration of
landholding because the larger village landholders had been doing
most of the purchasing.
69

The increased concentration did not appear to be at the expense of the
poorest.
70
It was almost certainly not the same families repurchasing their
land but possibly those village families that had contact with the moneyed
persons in the town. In the wider picture, that includes controlling families
66
Harriss. 1985. ' ... Household Mobility and ... an "Awkward Class",' 19.
67
Harriss. 1985. ' ... Household Mobility and .. . an "Awkward Class",' 52.
68
69
70
Harriss. 1985. ' ... Household Mobility and ... an "Awkward Class",' 57. Shifts
in share of land owned in hectares for respective quartiles from the poorest was + 0 .4, -
0.3, -1.9, + 12.1 and + 2.4.
132
from the towns (in this example moneylenders and master weavers), there
has been a decrease in land concentration. I would suggest possible
parallels between Duli and both this study and Cain's.
In this study, it was mentioned that the strongest growth in land
owned within the village was the coastal frontier site of Char Matua, the
remote North-West sites of Thakurgaon and Boda and the recently remote
sal forest area of Sreepur. For each of these sites, medium landholders with
a predominance of agricultural income were higher than expected. Perhaps
the medium landowners, as in Duli, had better access to the moneylenders
and possibly the government personnel responsible for dispersing
government (khas) land. That line of argument is consistent with the
observation of Harriss.
For the research by Cain, purchases outweighed sales by 54 per
cent,
71
It is possible, given the famine crisis of 1974, that several large
landlords within Char Gopalpur, had acted like the money lenders and
master weavers of Duli during the depression. Indeed their influence may
have extended beyond the village and the extra purchases may have been
from other famine destitute farm families.
The third point concerns the categorisation of families. The research
focus of Harriss was the emergence of a capitalist class of farmers and
possible polarisation due to the 'Green Revolution'. In his analysis there
were three categories of farmers who were surplus: these were the
capitalist farmer, the rich peasant and the middle peasant. At the poorer end
were poor peasants
72
, agricultural labour and others. Harriss categorised
71
For the study by Bhaduri et al. purchases exceeded sales by 9 per cent. Bhaduri
et al. suggest three factors; the emergence of new char land, purchase from other villages
and out-migration. He does not consider purchase of land from families within nearby
townships.
72
'Poor peasants' according to Harriss were families who owned insufficient
resources to produce their household livelihood requirements for 12 months and who
worked for other people more than they employed others to work on their own land;
Harriss. 1985. ' ... Household mobility and the Politics of an 'Awkward Class,' 73-74.
133
households by a predominant occupation. However, at the marginal level, a
predominant occupation category can mask the survival mechanism of
diversifying income sources,
73
Within the poorer households, which
constituted 75 per cent of the sample, there was a crisis of livelihood. Of
the 50 poor families in 1973, 29 or 58 per cent had shifted predominant
occupation, which may imply dispossession or diversification. Inference is
not possible. The emphasis in our study has been what Harriss would term
'poor peasants'. It is this group that has displayed rapid change in economic
status: some are thrust into downward mobility, others achieve stability and
still others through resilience experience upward mobility. Diversification of
income has been an essential strategy for all in this category. By using
cluster analysis it has been possible to group together both survival tactics
leading to stability and upward improvement and on the downside
associations leading to dispossession.
Linked to this is a fourth point that is made by Harriss in subsequent
work for the same region. He emphasised the link to non-farm income as a
source of stability:
and
. . . it is no longer enough, if ever it was, to attempt to study rural
differentiation by examining agricultural production and landholding in
isolation from other activities,
74

... it is possible small property is reproduced significantly through
participation of landholders in agricultural and non-agricultural
employment,
75

73
John Harriss. 1992. 'Does the 'Depressor' Still Work? Agrarian Structure and
Development in India: A Review of Evidence and Argument, ' Journal of Peasant Studies 19,
no. 2, 192. Harriss refers to the occupational status problem, which results in ' ... the
hiding of increasingly complex patterns of occupational multiplicity in the category of
"agricultural labourer" ' .
74
Harriss. 1992. ' . . . Agrarian Structure and Development in India . . . ,' 197.
75
Harriss. 1992. ' . . . Agrarian Structure and Development in India . . . ,' 205.
134
Even though dependence on wage work had increased there had been no
evidence of dispossession. Small landholders had gained rather than lost.
76

Wages, remitted back to the villages, had helped stabilise small property.
77

The cluster analysis undertaken in this study identified a similar effect for
cluster 3
v
(table 11) and the minor group cluster 2 (table 10) and is
evidenced in the greater stability at the Sitakundu site, where there is close
proximity to industrial employment. This is further testimony that small and
marginal households exhibit a tenacity and resilience to persist.
The study by Harriss over time and his conclusions closely parallel the
findings of this study. There was no observed polarisation rather the
accumulation of land by more marginal families. Harriss's study was more
limited in its analysis of more marginal families, which tended to be
grouped. The use of the term 'farmer' tended to restrict his groupings. In
his more recent writings he gives strong emphasis to diversity of income
sources in family well -being. Another finding complementing this study.
Rahman and 'A Study in Differentiation in Bangladesh'
Rahman's work is one of the most clearly presented arguments on
the differentiation debate in Bangladesh.
78
His argument concerning
polarisation was woven through a detailed analysis of two villages, one
backward and the other relatively advanced. The developed village (village
1).
79
was in Jamalpur District and had extensive irrigation coupled with a
nearby developed marketplace. Village 2, Hatshahar, in a remote part of
76
John Harriss. 1991. 'Agriculture/Non-agriculture Linkages and the Diversification
of Rural Economic Activity: A South Indian Case Study,' in Rural Transformation in Asia, ed.
Jan Breman and Sudipto Mundie (Delhi: Oxford University Press), 442.
77
John Harriss. 1987. 'Capitalism and Peasant Production: The Green Revolution in
India,' in Peasants and Peasant Societies, 2d ed. ed. Theodor Shanin (UK: Basil Blackwell
Ltd.), 244.
78
Rahman. 1986. Peasants and Classes.
79
Village name not given.
135
Bogra District was one of the six villages studied by Mukherjee
80
in the
1940s. Rahman initiated his fieldwork in 1980 with a brief follow up survey
in 1985.
My interest here concerns his arguments on concentration and
dispossession, namely the' Agrarian Question'. His argument on the state
and its support of the elite is very pertinent to chapter 7 on institutions.
Landownership was perceived as of central importance in Rahman's thesis
on polarisation:
We attached much importance to the land ownership pattern because
of the fact that given the present state of agricultural development
and agrarian relations, the size of landholding was still considered
rough proxy of class status in the context of rural Bangladesh.
81
Rahman used two tools for discussing differentiation, the mobility
matrix and the Gini coefficient (a summary measure analogous to the Lorenz
curve). The mobility matrices for the two villages are shown in table 19 and
20 and the percentage ownership of land for each land ownership group in
figures 23 a and b.
82
Firstly, the mobility matrices indicate general downward movement
over the 30 years.
83
Stability of landholding category was more than three
times (percentage-wise) for the landless compared to the rich, with 75.8
and 66.7 per cent of landless in 1951 still landless in 1981 for the
developed and undeveloped villages respectively. In contrast only 22.6 and
18.0 per cent of households which were classified as rich in 1951 were still
within the rich class in 1981 for each respective village. Conversely, 77.4
80
Mukherjee, 1971. Six Villages of Bengal.
81
Rahman, 1986. Peasants and Classes, 271.
82
Rahman, 1986. Peasants and Classes, 87 and 88 for mobility matrices and 102-
105 for data for determining the per cent ownership of land for each land ownership
category.
83
Rahman's differentiation is inclusive of families which have divided after 1951 . In
other words, there are demographic and economic factors in the movement. In contrast, our
study employed a dynamic commencement date, date of inheritance, with mobility thereby
being limited to economic factors.
136
and 82.0 per cent of the rich class, for the respective villages in 1951, had
experienced downward mobility. More than 60 per cent of the rich in 1951
were poor or landless in 1981. Over the survey time the numbers of rich
had decreased. However, of the reduced number of rich in 1981, 60 to 90
per cent had been rich in 1951. The per cent is a per cent of a smaller
number.
The rich obviously held significant economic advantage; an advantage
which extended beyond land to include institutional access and political
patronage. And yet, the per cent of land owned by this class was
decreasing and shifting towards marginal, small and medium owners (figure
23 a and b). It is worth noting that the skew in landholding towards the rich
was far more pronounced for the backward village. Surely, if modernisation
was a catalyst in polarisation the reverse would be expected.
Rahman, in his analysis, falls victim to error in both method of
presentation and statistical technique. As I mentioned earlier in the critique
of Bhaduri et al., the use of the distribution at the time of the survey as
opposed to the base date, is problematic since it may mask mobility. The
Gini coefficient, or as demonstrated in our study the Lorenz curve, hides
upward and downward mobility and is also distorted by a high landless
population. In Rahman's study neither the mobility matrix nor per cent
landowned by group illustrates polarisation and yet the Gini coefficients do.
Within the Gini coefficient is hidden the 77 to 82 per cent of rich that
moved downward and the 24 to 33 per cent of landless that moved
upwards. Despite the severe competition for scarce resources amongst all
households, some of the resource-poor had been able to capture part of the
land market. It is definitely not enough and too many poor households have
been losing land (36 and 46 per cent for the developed and undeveloped
villages respectively), but that is a product of poverty and not due to
polarisation supposedly induced by modernisation.
Schendel and the Odds of Life in Rural Bangladesh
Schendel completed a most detailed study on rural mobility across
three sites from June 1977 to August 1978.
84
The three sites were
139
Gobagari in Rangpur District in the North-West, Ghorshal in a remote part of
Bogra District and Doneshor near the town of Comilla in Comilla District. His
work in contrast to our study extended beyond the present generation and
thereby incorporated household splitting. Of particular interest for
comparison with our study was the cumulation of economic advantages and
disadvantages. Schendel lists this as the most important factor contributing
to polarisation.
85
By inference, within a single generation one would
anticipate polarisation rather than levelling. Do the findings complement or
contradict our research?
It has been important to review Schendel's study in order to clarify
his economic categories and their limitations. His economic categories do
not simply refer to land owned or cultivated but rather incorporate each
source of income and an estimate of the extent it can sustain a family .
. . . I have opted for expressing household economic position by
calculating the number of months' maintenance provided by each source of
income.
86
He differentiated four categories.
Category A: households unable to provide for themselves for twelve
months at a very low standard of living during 1976-77.
They regularly starved.
Category B: households just managing to provide at a very low
standard of living.
84
Schendel. 1981 . Peasant Mobility . . .. Mobility was studied through historical
records and oral tradition and covered 1933 to 1977, 1922 to 1978 and 1894 to 1978
with samples of 75, 56 and 97 for the respective villages of Gobagari, Ghorshal and
Doneshor. The number of families for the periods for each site varied due to extinction, in-
migration, out-migration and splitting.
85
Schendel. 1981. Peasant Mobility . . . , 281.
86
Schendel. 1981. Peasant Mobility . . . , 90
140
Category C: households able to provide for themselves for 12
months at a moderate standard of living, and even from
one to three months in excess.
Category D: households able to provide for themselves at a
comfortable standard of living, and for more than three
months in excess.
87
The definitions, on the one hand, more clearly identify the destitute than a
land-based unit, but on the other do not distinguish land mobility. Category
A were the absolute poor. However, it is highly subjective and will almost
certainly vary from year to year. Comparison with other studies also
becomes problematic. The reference point of the land is lost. For example a
family with one member in service employment, another in petty trading and
three months of rice from sharecropped land, is placed within the same
category (category B if sustained for 12 months) as a family with 12
months provision from the land. How is a family categorised that sells land
in a good year to payoff a debt incurred in a bad year, but due to the
favourability of the year is still able to sustain itself for 12 months? It is in
category B and yet its economic capability within the year was weakened.
In addition, economic development options for a family reliant on the land in
comparison to non-farm options are different. Category B may encompass
landless, marginal and small farm households. Since land movement is not
clear, mobility as impacting on families in agriculture or in transition cannot
be detected.
Schendel's categories also lend themselves to strong statements
concerning the polarising effect of technology. Among the factors
increasing vulnerability of the poor, the introduction of new technology was
Iisted.
88
For example in Ghorshal:
After 1975 the introduction of the new technology caused a
resumption of the old pattern: the rich once again grew richer, while
87
Schendel. 1981. Peasant Mobility . . . , 90-91.
88
Schendel. 1981. Peasant Mobility . . . , 183.
the poor continued to grow poorer, both in absolute and relative
terms.
89

141
Within his definitions, a shift in agricultural technology that lifts production
by 30-50 per cent, as does irrigated modern rice, will shift many families
dependent on agriculture from category B to C and possibly C to D. Since
the change in technology is agricultural in nature, it impacts on families with
land. Therefore in relation to families with no land their relative economic
advantage has been raised. It can equally be argued that the presence of a
new jute mill and with it regular service income may lift the economic
advantage of landless families and give the impression of polarisation. In the
study period of 1971- 78
90
, for which the polarising effect of technology
was stated there had been major shifts in category B. Of the sample, 20.7
per cent had moved downward into destitution and 3.5 per cent upward to
category C. No category C families had moved up or down. The severe
downward shift was almost certainly due to the 1974 famine. The
subsequent upward shift may have occurred at the end of the period due to
the irrigation technology. It is worth a brief comparison with the findings of
Rahman that were discussed earlier. One of the five villages, within
Schendel's work, was also studied by Rahman. I have argued that despite
the presence of a substantial number of landlords
91
there had been an
increase in the number of middle level farm households (see figure 23 b and
table 20). Schendel's method, however, does not detect the shift. Mobility
shifts in landholding cannot be detected.
Within Schendel's classification the obvious desirability in
development is for families to move up from categories A and B to C and
onto D. It is desirable for all families to be placed within category D. The
89
Schendel. 1981. Peasant Mobility ... , 182.
90
Schendel. 1981. Peasant Mobility ... , table 3.31, 185.
91
Rahman, 1986. Peasants and Classes, 105; Six landlords controlled 40 per cent
of all land.
level of destitution of 20.0, 58.6 and 22.5 per cent of families for the
respective sites of Gobarbari, Ghorshal and Doneshor respectively is
indicative of failure in development initiatives.
92
His research, however,
142
does not distinguish families with and without land or the direction of land
movement and it is in this that comparison with our study is most difficult.
Conclusion
In the initial analysis of the first two sites, Kamalganj and Sitakundu,
the lack of polarisation in the scatter diagrams of land owned now by land
owned at inheritance was indeed a surprise.
93
It is worth noting here that
the research proposal had been conceived in the field as part of an intense
desire to more clearly understand what was happening in the village. We
had expected far more dispossession amongst small farmers and a decided
polarisation. The literature
94
utilised for the proposal appeared balanced and
92
Schendel. 1981. Peasant Mobility . . . , 100, 185 and 253.
93
Noel P. Magor and Alastair W. Orr. 1990. 'Reducing Vulnerability in
Bangladesh,' paper presented at the 1990 Asian Farming Systems Research and Extension
Symposium, Bangkok, Thailand, 19-22 Nov 1990. Photocopied.
94
H. Ahmad and N. Hassan. 1982. 'On Nutritional Surveillance in Bangladesh,'
BIDS 10, no. 3, 81-93; Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad and Mahabub Hossain. 1985. 'An
Evaluation of Selected Policies and Programmes for the Alleviation of Rural Poverty in
Bangladesh,' in Strategies for Alleviating Poverty in Rural Asia, ed. Rizwanul Islam,
International Labour Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland, 67-98; R. Ahmed. 1987. 'A
Structural Perspective of Farm and Non-farm Households in Bangladesh,' BIDS 15, no. 2,
87-112; Boyce. 1987. Agrarian Impasse in Bengal: Institutional Constraints to Technological
Change; Mahabub Hossain. 1987. Green Revolution in Bangladesh: Its Nature and Impact
on Income Distribution, Working Paper no.4 BIDS; A.T.M. Shamsul Huda. 1983. The Small
Farmer and the Problem of Access, BARC, Dhaka, Bangladesh; Azfar Hussain. 1987.
'Successes and Drawbacks of Small Farmers in Bangladesh: a Report on the Discussion
Forum Organised by ADAB,' ADAB 14, no. 6 (Nov.-Dec.), 1-10; M. Aminul Islam and
others. 1985. A Benchmark Study of Rice Marketing in Bangladesh, BRRI, Gazipur,
Bangladesh; Jansen. 1987. Rural Bangladesh: Competition for Scarce Resources; W. M.H.
Jaim. 1985. 'Change in the Land Ownership Pattern and the Process of Landlessness in
Rural Bangladesh,' ADAB 12, no. 1 (Jan.-Feb.), 22-26; Jannuzi. 1979. Bangladesh, a Profile
of the Countryside; Noel P. Magor. 1986. 'Livestock and Poultry Components in Small
Farmer Development in Bangladesh: a Case Study,' in Proceedings of the Crop-Livestock
Systems Research Workshop held at Khon Khaen, Thailand, Jul. 7-11, 1986. Sponsored by
Farming Systems Research Institute Department of Agriculture, Thailand and Asian Rice
Farming Systems Network, IRRI, Philippines, 624-637; Noel P. Magor. 1984. Potential in
Rainfed Transplanted Rice Production in North-East Bangladesh,' BRRI, Gazipur, Bulletin no.
69; M. Muqtada. 1981. 'Poverty and Famines in Bangladesh,' BIDS 9, no. 1, 1-34; Atiur
Rahman. 1982. 'Land Concentration and Dispossession in Two Villages of Bangladesh,'
143
reflected the general 'beliefs' amongst practising social scientists within the
country. According to their argument, there existed an overriding
intractability in the social structure that obstructed all attempts at
meaningful rural economic development.
The study by Hossain (1987)
95
on modern rice technology stood out
at that time as evidence that the elite were not the only beneficiaries of the
Green Revolution technology or the processes of modernisation. Only at a
later date were the articles by Cain (1981) and Attwood (1979), and even
later still Harriss (1985), discovered.
96
Within the article by Cain was a
similar surprise concerning the Indian villages:
One is so used to hearing about increasing inequality and poverty that
it is somewhat surprising to discover such unambiguous
improvements in the distribution of ownership holdings . . .
97

Each study questioned the premise of polarisation. Cain, however, accepted
the thesis for Bangladesh: an interpretation I have challenged here.
Cluster analysis has provided an effective means of disaggregating
rural families economically and determining their direction in gains and
losses of land. The land grouping analysis, within this study, supported the
directional movement of land transfers but was restricted in interpretation
by being limited to the single factor of arbitrary land classes. I questioned
the use of the Lorenz curve as a meaningful measure of polarisation due to
its inability to incorporate gains and losses of families over time. The
modified Lorenz curve that I developed, clearly revealed which segments of
Dispossession in Two Villages of Bangladesh,' BIDS 10, no. 2, 51-83; Sen. 1981. Poverty
and Famines - an Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation; US A.I.D. 1982. Rural Finance
Experimental Project - Sociological Report, US AID, Dhaka, Bangladesh; de Vylder. 1982.
Agriculture in Chains.
95
Hossain. 1987. Green Revolution in Bangladesh: Its Nature and Impact.
96
Cain. 1981. 'Risk ... and Agrarian Change in India and Bangladesh,' ; Harriss.
1985. ' ... Household Mobility and ... an 'Awkward Class.' ; D.W. Attwood. 1979. 'Why
Some of the Poor Get Richer: Economic Change and Mobility in Rural Western India,'
Current Anthropology 20, no. 3, 495-516.
97
Cain. 1981. 'Risk . . . and Agrarian Change in India and Bangladesh,' 443.
144
the population were gaining or losing land. The outcome of that
modification alone throws into question the dogma of the polarisation
thesis. In re-analysing data from the five comparable village studies I was
able to show consistency with the findings of this research or else was able
to challenge their line of argument. The conclusion from this research and
the criticism of the comparable studies is unequivocal in its rejection of the
polarisation thesis.
If the polarisation thesis is rejected, is there any pattern in the
movement of land? I propose an alternative view based on three
suppositions that emerge from the findings. Firstly, there is a sizeable
growing population of landless families for whom the creation of non-farm
sources of income is most crucial. Secondly, the composition of small and
marginal farm families (clusters 1
v
, 3
v
, 5
v
and 4
m
) is dynamic. The
composition of the vulnerable proportion of roughly 20 per cent of these
families tumbling rapidly into landlessness is itself highly variable. Natural
disasters or market shocks or slow downs in the economy could cause that
percentage to greatly increase. Conversely, economic growth and rapid
increase in non-farm options could reduce the percentage. Thirdly, within
the Bangladesh socio-cultural context, there is an overall shift in control of
land towards small and marginal farm families. The stability of this group is
enhanced by growth in opportunities for non-farm income, not only for
themselves but across the spectrum of 'land classes'.
Central to the alternative view is the composition of the small and
marginal farm families (cluster 1
v
, 3
v
, 5
v
and 4
m
). Its fluidity is the product
of a landbase which, overall, is inadequate. The options in expanding
income have been purchase of more land, intensification of cultivation,
impoverishing loans, non-farm labour and service employment. The
elements of agricultural involution are present in the survival strategies of
this group of families. The options vary across undeveloped remote regions
145
to developed urban linked locations. Some agricultural income is part of the
portfolio of each cluster.
For cluster 1
v
, most vulnerable marginal farm families, the cash flow
within the year and between years and through exceptionally catastrophic
years has been insufficient and necessitated impoverishing loans for survival
which almost inevitably cause eventual dispossession. The source of loans
may be other small and marginal farm families or family members, who may
be anticipating acquiring the land. For cluster 3
v
, stable marginal farm
families with significant labour income and low debt levels, there has been
sufficient penetration into non-farm income, either through migration or
locally, to keep debt levels to a minimum and to enable agriculture to be a
significant but not dominating income source. Cluster 5
v
, active small and
marginal farm families, have been able to maintain themselves through
strong incremental expansion of their agriculture land-base. For cluster 4
m
,
small farm families with a balance of agriculture and service income, a
partially adequate landbase has been consolidated and marginally
expanded through service income. That service income has been possible
due to the proximity to urban markets.
Fluidity is readily apparent. Within the composition of small and
marginal farm families, it is possible to account for various scenarios
depending on the nature of the location, remote or developed, agricultural
stagnation environmental shocks and industrial growth or downturn.
For example, within remote frontier locations like Char Matua, land is
more readily available, even if its productivity is low. For an absentee
landlord, who may have secured land by scrupulous or unscrupulous means,
disinvestment is the preferred option in the long-term. That preference is
evidenced in the movement of land from outside to inside village control and
the unexpectedly high frequency of acquisition of land by both medium
farmers, cluster 1
m
, and active small farm families, cluster 5
v
. As
146
mentioned earlier, the nature of the extra land within the survey villages
may be khas land, new river land or land sold from persons outside the
village. Its source needs further investigation. The importance of considering
the composition of small and marginal farm families as a whole is reflected
in the deepwater site of Sariatpur. Both the shock floods of 1987 and 1988
and the pressure on income of falling jute prices resulted in a substantial
increase in most vulnerable marginal farm families, cluster 1
v
. In a
developed site, with both day labour and service income options, families
are able to meet their economic needs through a composite of activities.
Within developed sites there are also alternative income sources for medium
and large landowners. That in itself acts to release the pressure in
competition for land.
I would suggest, on the findings here, that over time medium and
large landowners do not become commercial cultivators. That occurrence is
the exception rather than the rule. The shift in land to small and marginal
cultivators testifies to this conjecture. However, the resilience of some small
and marginal farm families, cluster 1
v
, is checked by debt or the lack of
alternatives with a resulting downward spiral to dispossession. I use the
word resilient purposefully. Despite a general lack of access to institutional
credit and the necessity of patronage from the political elite, 80 per cent of
these families across varying ecosystems and levels of development, have
managed to maintain or increase their landholding.
By grouping the vulnerable marginal farm families with the resilient,
the objective then becomes to reduce their overall percentage, which in this
study was 20 per cent. There is a dynamic group on which to focus; a
group which is diverse but interlinked.
I have mentioned that commercial cultivators are not emerging from
medium and large landowners. The resilience factor and the lack of
expansion of commercial cultivators leads me to posit that the engine for
147
agricultural development lies with small and marginal farm families. Within
that premise is the path for reducing the proportion of vulnerable farm
families. A requisite, therefore, is to understand their production systems, to
examine their sources of technological options along with the relevance of
the R&D process and to review the structure of organisations and
institutions that can effectively centre on small and marginal farm families.
CHAPTER 4
THE SYSTEMS OF VULNERABLE FARM FAMILIES
I ntrod uction
The integration of activities, both farm and non-farm among
vulnerable households in Bangladesh is extraordinarily complex. Field crops,
homestead gardens, trees, fish, cattle, goats and poultry have been skilfully
combined to optimise returns from scarce land-resources. Non-farm income
through day-labour, migration, petty trading and processing has balanced
shortfalls in cash and even emerged as a dominant source of income. All
family members, old and young, male and female, contribute at least to
some extent to sustaining the family.
The mosaic of vulnerable farm family activity is dynamic. Its
composition is spatially and temporally dependent. Small shifts in the level
of a plot, within a deceptively level floodplain, significantly alter opportunity
within seasons and across years. The presence of a brick field in the dry
season, the migration of labour gangs or a factory can provide that
opportunity for significant extra cash income for either maintaining the
family or for sustaining a higher input-output from field crops. Contact with
an NGO irrigation programme, as with the treadle pump in Boda in the
North-West, or access to knowledge from an innovative farmer, certainly
influences activity mix. Family composition can influence the choice of
activities; for example, children between six to twelve years of age, can
provide the labour to raise a few goats as an additional source of income. A
family is influenced by the market; the rise and fall of jute prices has
affected the crop mix in deepwater areas like Mirzapur and Sariatpur.
Through changing circumstances a family seeks to satisfy both cash and
148
149
non-cash needs. The activities are not isolated entities. There is a synergy
that allows the recirculation of income and by-products to meet the needs
of sustaining the family.

1

A measure of success of these systems is that through farming many
plots over a risk-prone floodplain in combination with homestead and non-
farm activities, households have somehow eked out an existence for a
family of five or six members; and in most instances managed to leave
some land within the family for the next generation. The tragedy, however,
as shown in the last chapter, is a pressure so great and resources so limited
that a significant number of families, about 17.5 per cent of farm families,
have in the present generation become net losers of that great insurance,
their land.
2
Interpreting the complexity poses a major challenge for research and
development, yet remains essential if we are to understand the economic
constraints and opportunities facing vulnerable households. Given that'. . .
direct agricultural activities . . . will have to sustain vastly more people over
the next 35 years'
3
and that many families are losing the battle of even

maintaining yet alone enhancing their livelihoods for the next generation,
the central importance to coming to grips with this micro-level complexity
and diversity becomes inescapable.
Unfortunately, all too often agricultural development has concentrated
on analysis of a single component usually a major, commercially traded
commodity. The component may be irrigation in general or by type, rice
production by modern and local varieties, jute, fertiliser by crop by season
1
Robert Chambers and Gordon R. Conway. 1992. 'Sustainable Rural Livelihoods:
Practical Concepts for the 21st Century,' IDS Discussion Paper no. 296, 24.
2
Chapter 3 showed that marginal farm families lost 55 per cent of their land and
constituted about 15 per cent of all farm families.
3
Robert Chambers. 1990. 'Complexity, Diversity and Competence: Towards
Sustainable Livelihoods from Farming Systems in the 21 st Century,' paper submitted to the
1990 Asian Farming Systems Research and Extension Symposium held in Bangkok, 3.
150
and so forth. These studies have ignored a farm family's integration of the
whole year for a given plot and across plots. Almost invariably the
homestead or bari contribution has been ignored. The homestead includes
livestock in cattle, goats and poultry, ponds for multiple uses, with fish as
one use, agroforestry and home gardening. In addition, non-farm income
receives scant attention, and yet, as chapter 3 showed, its importance was
critical for the stability in landholding of many families. Therefore, rather
than approach development from an analysis of a single factor such as
irrigation or modern rice varieties, or post-harvest technology
4
I have
decided to view the whole. The unit in this analysis must be the entire
economy of the farm family.
In chapter 3 marginal farm families were located within five very
distinctive ecosystems. This chapter quantifies the production systems of
those families. What does the production system of a family that is losing
the battle to hold onto its land actually look like? Furthermore, what does it
look like across ecosystems and within ecosystems that have different
levels of infrastructure. It is essential to know. Too many important
resources and synergistic interactions for marginal farm families have been
missed in conventional research and development. The foundation laid in
this chapter goes much further. With a marginal farm family's existing
system of bare survival as the starting point, what adjustments are possible
to lift the income-level beyond that point of long-term decline?
4
Michael Howes. 1982. 'The Creation and Appropriation of Value in Irrigated
Agriculture: A Comparison of the Deep-tubewell and the Handpump in Rural Bangladesh,' in
Rural Technology, Rural Institutions and the Rural Poor, ed. Martin Greeley and Michael
Howes, CIRDAP, Kotbari, Comilla, Bangladesh and IDS, Brighton, Sussex, UK, 51-69;
Martin Greeley. 1982. 'Rural Technology, Rural Institutions and the Rural Poorest: The Case
of Rice Processing in Bangladesh,' in Rural Technology, Rural Institutions and the Rural
Poor, ed. Martin Greeley and Michael Howes, CIRDAP, Kotbari, Comilla, Bangladesh and
IDS, Brighton, Sussex, UK, 128-151; Stefan de Vylder . 1982. Agriculture in Chains,
Bangladesh: A Case Study in Contradictions and Constraints, (London: Zed Press); James K.
Boyce. 1987. Agrarian Impasse in Bengal: Institutional Constraints to Technological Change,
(London: Oxford University Press).
151
The chapter has four objectives. Firstly to model farm income for
representative households within the vulnerable target group, that is families
with a Rice Provision Ability (RPA) of 3-5 months. The complexity across
ecosystems and sites is clearly shown. Secondly, to compare existing levels
of farm income with a potential level of farm income following the
introduction of new technologies. This phase is obviously iterative, dynamic
and participatory. Thirdly, are the limited interventions enough? An arbitrary
poverty-line is not used. Rather the enhanced income is compared with a
known group of farm families, who have not only maintained themselves
but added to their landholding over the present generation. The comparison
is with the production-base of families with a RPA of 6-8 months. We are
not dealing with 'how much?' but 'more' or 'less'.
5
Fourthly, what are the
contributions of the different components? Objective comparisons are made
across ecosystems and sites. To achieve these four objectives I have used
an unreleased software tool, called FARMACTION, that was developed by
the author.
6

What I have done is far from exhaustive, but out of it questions
concerning priorities in rural development and assistance for the rural poor
arise. Do research and development gaps exist? Is the conventional
approach of R&D relevant to the opportunities for marginal farm families?
What organisational mechanisms are suitable to capture that opportunity?
Do the interventions require additional knowledge and capital? If so, from
where?
5
Chambers. 1992. 'Sustainable Rural Livelihoods: 25.
6
Noel P. Magor. 1992. FARMACTION a Program to Assist You in Understanding
the Complexity of Small Farm Systems and to Devise Potentially New Plans that Utilise
Innovative Farm Practices, Existing Practices and Researcher-developed Technologies, BRRI,
Gazipur Dhaka and IRRI, Los Baos, Philippines.
152
Understanding the Farm Systems of Marginal Families
Here we are immediately confronted with a number of challenges in
developing an understanding of the production system of small and marginal
farm families. Firstly, no two farms are the same size. A per hectare
productivity analysis may reveal low or high yields but it does not give
insight into the contribution which the land makes to the total income of the
family concerned. Not only are no two farms the same within a given
location but the mix of activities and the dominant and minor cropping
patterns vary across ecosystems and within ecosystems depending on the
level of development of a site and the extent of non-farm opportunity.
Secondly, as mentioned, the family has developed a multi-enterprise system
of crop sequences, trees for fruit and fuel and so forth. For example in the
Sariatpur homesite or bari there were at least 20 enterprises comprising
eight to ten fruit / timber tree species, six or more vegetables over summer
and winter, a multiple-use pond, cattle, chickens and ducks. For field crops
there were a total of forty-five cropping patterns from a sample of 356 plots
covering 40.5 hectares. Information on variation due to varietal choice adds
even further to complexity.
FARMACTION for Handling Complexity
The software, FARMACTION, was created for the specific purpose of
integrating the whole-farm system.
7

7
Preliminary examples of the use of FARMACTION have been developed for a range
of environments. See Noel P. Magor. 1992. 'Example: A Local Innovation - the Jadabh
Singh System,' in Noel P. Magor. 1992. FARMACTION a Program to Assist You in
Understanding the Complexity of Small Farm Systems and to Devise Potentially New Plans
that Utilise Innovative Farm Practices, Existing Practices and Researcher-developed
Technologies, BRRI, Gazipur Dhaka and IRRI, Los Baos, Philippines (not released),
Appendix A 1-24; Noel P. Magor and others. 1990. 'Creating Computerised Farm Plans,'
paper presented at the 1990 Asian Farming Systems Research and Extension Symposium,
Bangkok, Thailand, 19-22 Nov. 1990; Noel P. Magor and Alastair W. Orr. 1990. 'Reducing
Vulnerability in Bangladesh,' paper presented at the 1990 Asian Farming Systems Research
and Extension Symposium, Bangkok, Thailand, 19-22 Nov. 1990; Tom Bruulsema and
others.1991 . 'An Example of the Application of FARMACTION to Research/Extension of the
NGO, Mennonite Central Committee in a Marginal Coastal Saline Environment in
153
In order to develop interventions that lift the production, income, and
labour productivity of the target group it was necessary to build a
comprehensive understanding of each farm enterprise and the actual
output of the whole-farm. At the same time, it was necessary to
develop a means of evaluating researcher-developed technologies
and innovative farmer-practices alongside the existing system.
Partial budgets were developed for each existing farm enterprise; for
outstanding local practices developed by innovative farmers; and for
technologies developed by researchers.
8
With FARMACTION all activities by all family members assume importance.
In conventional terms the activity can be economic or non-economic. For
example collecting fuel is a time consuming non-cash activity and yet it is
essential on a daily basis for the family. The activity consumes time and
produces an output. The activity may be performed by a child or an adult
male or female. Adult female and child contribution is so often neglected in
analysing the production-base and survival techniques of marginal families .
FARMACTION notes gender and child labour. A cow requires maintenance
care daily in the collecting of grass, supervised grazing and cleaning the pen
and has an output in dung, milk, as a member of a ploughing pair and in off-
spring. The cow unit requires management that varies throughout the year;
with that input varying at ploughing time, in the monsoon and in the dry
season. Activities around the homestead present difficulty in analysis partly
because of the problem in defining area. A per ha value for jackfruit carries
little meaning for the family with only 2-3 trees. Country bean cultivation in
Sitakundu is on the aisle that separate the rice paddies. It has an area, but
village people talk in terms of number of pits. A family may have 50, 100,
200 pits of country bean. FARMACTION handles the anomaly by the user
Bangladesh,' paper presented at the 22cd Asian Rice Farming Systems Working Group
Meeting, Beijing, China, Sep. 30- Oct. 4, 1991. The examples for Kamalganj, Sitakundu,
Sreepur, Mirzapur and Char Matua are earlier runs of the more up to date plans given in this
chapter.
8
Magor. 1990. 'Reducing Vulnerability in Bangladesh,' 8.
154
designating the unit. The unit of measurement can be an area or number. It
can be 0.5 of a cow, 2 hens, 2 jackfruit or 20 country bean pits.
The per ha analysis given in chapter 2 falls short in clearly showing
the actual production output of a marginal farm family. A family may only
cultivate 600 sq. m of a specific pattern. In addition the family may share-in
or share-out several plots with a different share arrangement for each
season. A family may take a loan from informal sources for crop production
that is repaid in kind with so much paddy for each Tk 100 credit advanced.
Such a loan is called a dadan loan with repayment rates varying for different
regions. FARMACTION handles share arrangements and informal credit.
What happens, if a family establishes good crops but two to three
plots are badly damaged by flood or pest? Perhaps output is reduced by 75
per cent for one plot, 40 per cent for another and for the third plot, which
may be share cropped, there is no yield. FARMACTION handles reduced
output on a plot by plot basis.
Kind outputs in cowdung, homestead bamboo for fencing and outputs
in straw and home consumed minor vegetables all contribute to survival.
FARMACTION captures that detail to the extent desired.
As was evident in chapter 3, non-farm income forms a significant part
of total family income. Its payment may be cash or kind. In the coastal area
of Char Matua, some family members migrate in the dry season and often
take consumption loans prior to migration. The women supplement income
with mat making from a local grass known as hoogla. FARMACTION can
capture the seasonal nature of migration, consumption loans and mat
making.
FARMACTION effectively integrates what is dispersed and often
hidden. Any professional from a respective discipline, such as an
agronomist, is at best seeing only a part of a family's production and
155
survival system. However, FARMACTION goes so much further as its use is
not static. It is not limited to simply describing an existing system. As will
be seen in chapter 6, so many tools in Farming Systems Research are for
site description and problem identification. Within the name FARMACTION
is encapsulated change and experimentation that is built on the existing
system. It can be used as an ex-ante analysis tool for potential systems.
The potential system may incorporate a change in production credit or
consumption credit arrangements through an institutional intervention.
There can be a basket of choices for families and field level workers to
investigate. FARMACTION can view the seasonal impact on labour usage
and cash or kind input and output. The numerous permutations of 'what if,
questions' can be analysed and discussed. For example in Sreepur, if a
family grows 200 sq. m of bananas, variety sagor, it can expect to need
extra labour of so many person-days in January and February; that labour
demand competes with the gur production from sugarcane. Can the family
manage that extra labour at that critical time of high demand? The family
will also need extra cash for banana suckers and fertiliser. The family may
respond, 'The cash is not a problem as we sell gur at that time; however,
labour is such a problem then, we are simply too busy.'
The intricacies of the existing systems and potential systems are
innumerable. How does one use FARMACTION to draw together such a
plethora of alternatives?
Coming to grips with diversity suggests for many a tedium of data
collation. The thought of continuous monitoring, has its place but should be
avoided as much as possible. In chapter 6, I go as far as to suggest Farming
Systems Research has become lost in excessive data monitoring that has
simply been archived in seldom read reports. FARMACTION approaches
data in a rather unique way. It can be as simple or as detailed as resources
156
allow. It also economises on data collection by being able to use relevant
surveys from other projects or points in time.
The Building Blocks or Enterprise Units
The starting point is the building blocks that comprise identifiable and
measurable economic activity. This unit of activity I call an enterprise. It is
using the term in its simplest Oxford Dictionary definition that is 'an
undertaking'. The strategy of survival of a marginal farm family comprises
many diverse undertakings and hence at the micro-level it is a multi-
enterprise system. For example in Sitakundu the set of enterprises of a
marginal farm family included; the rice system at three levels of
management; country bean, khesari, tomato, water-melon and chilli in the
winter season; cattle rearing, a chicken unit and coconuts around the
homestead; and a non-farm income undertaking. Each unit was a specific
entity that formed part of the whole. For each enterprise, in addition to the
partial budget requirements of input and output and labour, the timing on a
half-monthly basis is important for cash/kind and labour flow over the year.
Apart from banana cultivation for Sreepur no secondary data source had
timing information. Timing for each enterprise activity was determined by a
sample of 5-10 for each enterprise. For Kamalganj and Sitakundu the
primary database from an extensive impact study was used.
An example from Sreepur illustrates the collation of an enterprise at
its simplest level. In Sreepur there was no information on local chicken
rearing. We simply chatted about the chicken rearing enterprise. Feeding,
mortality, eggs produced, pullets eaten and sold, the person who cared on a
daily basis and so on were noted. Poultry care required half an hour labour
each day, or for an eight hour working day 22 days per year or 1.9 days
per month. The chickens received about one handful (or 1 chatak equivalent
to 60 gm) of left-over rice each day and scavenged. Local measurements in
157
weight, area and time are used within the interview. That simple interview,
repeated several times, forms the basis of the first approximation for an
enterprise.
For the rice production system in Kamalganj and Sitakundu an
existing information-base was used. In both 1989 and 1990 the BRRI Rice
Farming Systems Division and the Economics Division completed a study on
the impact of new rice technology on 90 families at each site. The
input/output and labour practices were monitored on a weekly basis for
each plot. There was no need for an informal interview technique; a most
extensive database was already available that also included the timing of
operations. From that database it was possible to determine the production
system statistically at low, improved and recommended levels of
management for each site. That information, rather than being locked away
in a social science report was instead available in an ongoing manner as a
distinct set of enterprises for any future farm planning exercise for marginal
and small farm families at each site.
We may observe here the neglect by earlier researchers of minor
enterprises that assume local importance. For example, information on the
date-palm juice and gur system of Sariatpur was determined by group
interview with a number of families. Literature information was limited to a
1926 field survey and a case study by BARI in 1989.
9
And yet it is a very
important part of the cash flow of small and marginal farm families. To my
knowledge, there has been no research on improving the system or
acknowledging its importance in ensuring the family's well-being.
9
M.S. Aktar, M.F. Haque and M.A. Hussain. 1991. 'Monitoring of Juice Production
in Date Palm, Phoenix sylvestris,' in Research Report , 1990-91, On Farm Research Division,
Regional Agricultural Research Station, Jessore, 183-194; M.A. Momen. 1925. Final Report
on the Survey Settlement Operations in the District of Jessore, 1920-24, Bengal Secretariat
Book Depot, 40-44.
158
Across the eight sites a total of 185 enterprises or farm family
activities, 18 to 29 per site, were analysed (table 21 ).
10
More than two-
thirds were existing practices. The list is far from complete and reliability of
data varied. However, it was a situation of best estimates from field survey,
ongoing farming systems research and secondary literature sources.
Determining the System Mix
For Kamalganj, Sitakundu and Char Matua the detailed mix of
enterprises was known through two concurrent BRRI research projects, an
impact study of rice technology and a single village farming systems study
for both Kamalganj and Sitakundu and the extensive cropping systems
research of the NGO, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), for Char
Matua. However, for Mirzapur, Sreepur, Sariatpur, Thakurgaon and Boda no
such information existed. An inventory survey of 30 to 50 farm families was
completed for each site. The proportion of owned and shared-in land came
from the more detailed vulnerability study and the practices of informal
credit from a credit survey.
I move now to illustrate the development of both existing and
potential farm plans for a case study from the deepwater site at Sariatpur. It
was possible to develop a detailed case study from any of the eight sites.
However, Sariatpur had been purposefully chosen due to a lack of
information for the site prior to this study. It was a remote neglected
deepwater area. No site research had been completed and the research of
the deepwater regional station for BRRI at Banga was very recent and on a

10

The list of collated enterprises comprising the farm system, the source or method
of determination of input-output, labour and timing, along with the primary and secondary
information sources is given in appendix 2.
159
land-type that was more deeply flooded. The farming systems research of
the Faridpur Regional Station of the Bangladesh Jute Research Institute was
on medium highland, but recommendations for jute and mesta varieties
were relevant. GUP, an indigenous NGO with headquarters at Rajor (within
20 km of the study site) had development activities within one of the study
villages. GUP had an irrigation programme with low-lift pumps for boro rice
cultivation.
A Case Study from Sariatpur
Abu Kalam Hawlader, a marginal farmer, had received his inheritance
15 years ago. He was 44 years old and had been farming the land, initially
with his father, for about thirty years. There were six family members. His
eldest son worked with him. He cultivated 5290 sq. m, which only provided
rice for his family for three to five months each year . Cultivation was made
difficult due to a lack of ploughing animals. For winter rice, his land was
cultivated by power tiller with a contract cost of Tk 400. This was less than
the Tk 650 required for the use of traditional bullocks. Over recent years he
had been able to greatly expand his area under winter rice and to reduce
the amount of land devoted to broadcast aman.
11
With the expansion,
however, there were considerable increases in the cost of cultivation. To
begin, 25 per cent of the harvest was the share given to the owner of the
low-lift pump for irrigation. He had to take a dadan loan in October -
November for fertiliser inputs and this was repaid in paddy the following
May. With the sale of jute, mesta, mustard and kejur gur from agriculture
and from about 100 to 110 days of non-farm labour he had been able to
11
In a 1983 survey boro rice covered less than 2 per cent of the net cultivated area
for Madaripur/Sariatpur District. See M.R. Talukder. 1985. Survey of Deepwater Aman and
Mixed Aus-Aman Crop Areas of Greater Faridpur District Final Report, April, 1985. A BARC
financed project, BRRI, Gazipur, 16.
161
balance the family food requirements for the year. However, it was not
enough. Unexpected expenses from sickness, losses from the severe floods
of 1987 and 1988 and the sudden drop in jute prices had necessitated both
selling and mortgaging-out part of his land.
Of course, Abu Kalam Hawlader is typical of many marginal farm
families. How does one approach improving his system? His farm will be
used to illustrate the use of FARMACTION, in firstly developing an
understanding of his economic position and then suggesting possible action
to improve his position.
The Resource-base
The starting point is to determine the existing resource-base of typical
marginal farm families like Kalam.
12
Whatever is developed is incomplete
and part of a process.
13
The farm production system has been partitioned
into two interlinked units: the homestead or bari, a mixed system, and the
field crop plots, devoted to annual crops.
14

12
The farm systems of Abu Kalam and Abdul Mannan Sarder are based on a survey
of 55 farmers from Sariatpur site.
13
The iterative nature in the process of understanding and developing the systems
of marginal farm families must be emphasised. Initial farm plans for Kamalganj, Sitakundu,
Char Matua, Sreepur and Mirzapur were developed in 1990-91, with Sariatpur, Thakurgaon
and Boda in 1992-93. The next refining was in 1993. Vulnerable families were considered
those with an RPA of 6-8 months. However, cluster analysis identified farm families with an
RPA of 3-5 months as vulnerable. A rerun of all plans was completed in early 1995. Final
cross-checking was not completed until October 1995.
14
Even in the comprehensive farming systems research approach established in
Indonesia in the early to mid-eighties the homestead was largely neglected. 'We usually
consider that the farmers will, on their own, develop a home-garden.' from Jerry McIntosh.
1985. 'Directions and Strategy for Future Farming Systems Research in Indonesia,' in
Proceedings International Farming Systems Workshop Sukarami (West Sumatra), Indonesia
10-13 December, 1985, Agency for Agricultural Research and Development Sukarami
Research Institute for Food Crops, 275. However, see the development of this debate by
1989. Otto Soemarwato. 1989. 'Improving the Contribution of Homegarden to Farm Income
and Ecological Stability,' in Development in Procedures for Farming Systems Research
Proceedings of an International Workshop 13-17 March 1989, Puncak, Bogor, Indonesia,
Agency for International Research and Development, co-sponsors Winrock International
Institute for Agricultural Development, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre
and International Development Research Centre, 167-171.
162
Homestead or bari
The homestead represented about fourteen per cent of the total
owned land. The homesteads were on the ridges, with additional raising of
land to ensure the dwellings were above the seasonal flooding. The
homestead resources comprised agroforestry, summer and winter
vegetables, water in ponds and livestock (table 22).
Agroforestry. Sariatpur was found to be rich in agroforestry diversity. There
were 40 species of fruit and forestry reported, with each farmer growing 8 -
10 different species. The most frequent species found were mango, date
palm (for kejur gur), coconut, bamboo, banana and papaya. The date palm
(kejur gach) was a tree of considerable economic importance as an
important source of cash in the winter season. For marginal and small farm
households the mean number of date palm trees (male and female trees)
were 18 and 22 respectively. With increasing farm size the number of trees
increased.
Vegetable Production.
Vegetables were grown throughout the year with two distinct
seasons, namely summer and winter. The summer season was the more
important with all farmers cultivating some vegetables in comparison to only
66 per cent in the winter season. The enterprise was minor and only more
traditional vegetables were being cultivated. Most vegetables were grown
on trellises. According to RPA there was no difference between farmers in
the number of vegetables grown or the area planted. For most vegetables
the amount grown was measured in number of pits or tawa planted. Each
pit held 2-5 seedlings that were grown on a trellis. The only significant non-
trellised vegetable was datta sag. It was grown by 60 per cent of the
164
families with 70 per cent of these growing up to 40-50 sq. m. If it is
assumed that a tawa supports a trellis of approximately 10 sq. m, the
summer vegetable area was 100 to 200 sq. m and the winter vegetable
area was 15-20 sq. m. Thirty four per cent of farmers reported selling some
vegetables.
The lack of development of winter vegetable cultivation may be taken
as an indication of the relative isolation of the Sariatpur deepwater site. The
presence of NGO's had been minimal and the distance factor had resulted in
little penetration of government extension services.
Pond resources
Ponds have traditionally been the major source of drinking water and
particularly for women for bathing. Ninety-two per cent of households
reported having some ownership of a pond; and 34 per cent with ownership
in more than one pond. Eighty two per cent of ponds were under multiple
ownership. The mean total pond area for marginal families was 1470 sq. m
but the effectively owned area was 410 sq. m.
15
Livestock Resources
Less than 50 per cent of marginal farmers owned a single ploughing
animal in comparison to 50 to 80 per cent of small farmers possessing a
pair of ploughing animals. The difference in ploughing capability may be
taken as a demarcation between small and marginal cultivators, with the
marginal cultivators experiencing greater costs of production and greater
constraints on timeliness. There was a significant positive correlation
between RPA and the number of cattle. The overall number of families with
goats was less than 20 per cent. The largest number of families with goats
15
Effective pond area is the area adjusted for multiple ownership.
165
was amongst small farmers. Most families had mature chickens with 3 to 6
hens.
The above illustrates the diversity of the homestead for a family like
Kalam's, with a similar level of diversity being found across sites.
Field crops
In discussion with Kalam and other families within the area a
characteristic of complexity emerged. Within a sample of 55 farmers,
ranging from marginal to large holdings of up to three hectares, 45 cropping
patterns were observed. The patterns may be further subdivided into
deepwater aus and aman varieties. This is an indication of the sheer
complexity within the ecosystem. The aus varieties were Lakhilata,
Phulbadam, Battisshar, Baromaichaka and Matichak. The aman varieties
were Lakhidigha, Hizalidigha, Manikdigha, Madhusail, Kartiksail and
Puitasail.
16
The patterns were grouped into ten generic systems
17
, which are
shown in figure 24. For example some of the patterns represented within
the system broadcast aman - rabi (winter crop) were broadcast aman -
mustard, broadcast aman - wheat and broadcast aman - fallow. Fallow in
the winter season was included as part of the generic broadcast aman
system for Sariatpur as it was a minor pattern. The minor pattern mixed jute
with broadcast aman - rabi was considered a sub-system of both the
broadcast aman - rabi and jute - rabi systems. Fallow - rabi - boro was
deliberately identified as it has been observed as a major system in the
16
In Farming Systems Research, as practised by BRRI, BARI and BJRI, the
individual cropping patterns (specified by variety) were the experimental unit in standardised
experimental designs.
17
The phrase 'generic systems' is not a term used in cropping systems research.
However, it was necessary to give a higher level of association than the 45 cropping
patterns observed amongst 55 farmers, and yet at the same time maintain awareness of
complexity.
166
Ashurganj region for medium lowland.
18
The most dominant pattern was
fallow - boro rice which covered 32 per cent of the area. The percentage of
individual crops within each season is given in table 23.
Within the rabi season the choice of crop, namely mustard (sada),
mustard (maghi), mushari, keshari and wheat was independent of the
generic cropping pattern. Mustard covered over eighty per cent of the
winter upland cropping with the variety sada alone accounting for sixty to
seventy per cent.
19

Landtype influenced the choice of cropping pattern. Firstly, broadcast
aman - boro was mostly associated with medium lowland or flooding up to
1.8 m. Secondly there was the choice of jute variety. There were two
principle jute types. Capsularis or white jute, which can tolerate some
degree of water-logging, was normally sown from February to March and
harvested in July and August. Olitorius or tossa jute, which is less resistant
to water logging or drought was sown in March and April on highland and
harvested in September.
20
The survey showed that olitarius (locally boghi
pat) covered 75 per cent of the area and capsularis (locally sut pat) 25
percent.
21
Olitarius jute was sown mainly on medium highland and
capsularis on lowland with average maximum flooding of 1.4 and 3.1
18
Ashurganj is within Brahmanbaria District. With the manipulation of the rice
variety it may be possible to expand the area of this pattern within Sariatpur . In addition it
was observed to be more frequently grown by marginal farmers.
19
Not all farmers grow all patterns. RPA and thereby farmsize was found to
significantly influence both the number of patterns grown and the actual patterns grown.
Marginal farmers grew an average of three patterns, small four and medium five. A cluster
analysis for determining the combination of cropping patterns separated the farmers into
two distinct groupings. There was a significant difference in the clustering of farmers
according to flooding pattern and RPA. Farmers, who were near to self-sufficiency owned
more land and a larger proportion of their land was lowland. Lowland would have been the
first land to be used for winter rice production and it may be speculated that the larger
farmers historically were able to exploit the irrigation gains earlier than smaller farmers
through securing the lowland.
20
Ministry of Agriculture. 1985. Costs and Returns Survey for Bangladesh 1982-83
Crops Volume II Jute, Agro-economic Research, Agriculture and Forest Division, Ministry of
Agriculture, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 15.
21
This compares with the 1982-83 acreage survey for greater Faridpur District with
respective areas of 71 and 29 percent . Ministry of Agriculture. 1985. Costs and Returns
169
metres respectively. Maximum flooding generally occurred in September
after the capsularis jute had been harvested.
A similar complexity is observed for all eight sites.
22
For the other
sites only summary data will be used: the farm plans are shown in appendix
3 and a detailed analysis in appendix 4.
Existing and Potential System for Abu Kalam Hawlader
A knowledge of the resource-base of Kalam is where much Farming
Systems Research halts. It remains a description, that may not even be
referred to in subsequent research, and development focuses on one or two
key issues. Constant interaction with the diversity and the complexity
ceases.
23
Kalam's position is dynamic and indeed precarious.
What does his farm-budget approximate? Nineteen enterprises were
assessed: all were existing practices except for bank credit, which was an
alternative to the dadan loan for the irrigated winter rice. In addition
irrigated boro, jute, mesta and mustard cultivation costs were determined
for marginal farmers, who did not possess a plough.
24

Figure 25 shows an existing and potential farm plan for Kalam. The
family's input and labour requirements and the output value and quantity
are given in table 24. After selling a small amount of paddy and repaying
the dadan loan his family was left with 711 kg of paddy. A limited number
of interventions have been suggested that may lift Kalam above that critical
level of being on a downward spiral towards landlessness.
22
Non-farm and homestead data was only complete for Kamalganj, Sitakundu and
Sariatpur. Because of the nature of FARMACTION additional complex can be added in
through a revision of farm plans.
23
The problem of complexity and diversity, keys to sustainability, are debated
further in the chapter on Research and Development for Vulnerable Farm Families.
24
Table 50 in appendix 2 lists the farm enterprises for Sariatpur for which partial
budgets have been prepared.
170
Proposed changes were the expansion of broadcast deepwater rice
after bora through the introduction of BR14, a shorter duration bora variety,
and the introduction of the MCC vegetable kit. The vegetable kit was a low-
level technology that may be seen as a forerunner to limited commercial
vegetable production and non crop enterprises. A third intervention was
institutional, with the introduction of bank credit as an alternative to the
reduction of paddy available to the family caused by the dadan loan.
The predicted impact of the interventions is shown in table 25. Net
family income increased from Tk 11 645 to Tk 18 162, a rise of 56 per
cent. Cash inputs actually decreased as the cost of credit had been
drastically reduced by 82 per cent.
Questions arising: the fit of the interventions?
A number of questions arise. Firstly, does the seasonal extra income
cover the scarcity months? Within the deepwater ecosystem the expansion
of bora rice, with its harvest in May and June has significantly shifted the
hunger months for marginal families. Prior to its introduction, aman rice with
its harvest in late October to December was the major source of cereal.
Deepwater aman is an erratic crop, with early drought affecting
establishment and the pattern of flooding overall performance. The months
from April to October were particularly difficult. An aus rice was also mixed
with the aman and harvested by boat in July and August to provide extra in
this lean period. The importance of the mixed aus+ aman system has
declined with the more certain bora rice. The month of May, instead of
being a hunger period, has become a period of greater abundance. That is a
change that has taken place within the last 20 years. The existing system in
the farm plans has already incorporated part of that ongoing change. Figure
26 shows that the interventions have given a more positive cash balance for
December to February and also in September. The extra paddy available in
174
May will have extended food availability into the difficult months of June to
September.
Questions arising: are the interventions enough to arrest vulnerability?
A second question that arises; is the increase enough? It is here we
shift to a more-or-Iess scenario. I do not use a poverty line, which may
relate to an arbitrary national measure of poverty but mean little for the
specific conditions of Sariatpur. Within the remote deepwater site of
Sariatpur what level of income or resource flow is necessary for a family to
both maintain itself and increase incrementally its land resource? A net
income of Tk 15 000 may, for example, be more than adequate in Char
Matua but inadequate in Sariatpur. The required income level must be built
around the peculiarities of the region, including perceived losses from flood,
drought and so forth. Even costs of patronage form part of that required
level of income. Our best test of adequacy is to compare the income shift,
resulting from the suggested interventions, with a neighbour like Abdul
Mannan Sarder, who is in a far better position economically. Mannan
cultivated 7100 sq. m and owned a pair of ploughing animals. He was able
to support his family in rice for 6 to 8 months. What was critical, however,
was that since inheritance he had managed to purchase additional land. The
amount was small, but indicative of a well-managed family budget that gave
a small surplus. Mannan's farm system is shown in figure 25 and table 26
details his input and output. At existing levels of production Kalam's net
income was only 57 per cent of Mannan's. However, with the interventions
that level rose to 89 per cent. I would suggest that the new level of income
would be barely adequate. It is, nevertheless, a starting point. I had not
included the recommendations for jute and mesta from BJRI. What is
apparent is that a multi-pronged approach is necessary as no single
intervention appears to be sufficient to overcome the observed vulnerability.
177
Existing and Potential Systems for Each Ecosystem
For each of the other sites, I generalise the method, with a brief
discussion on any site specific peculiarities. A list of enterprises that were
analysed for each site is given in appendix 2. The individual plans, costs
and returns and extra requirements for existing and potential systems are
detailed in appendix 3 and 4.
Rainfed Lowland Favourable: Kamalganj and Sitakundu
In Kamalganj the economy centred around rainfed rice production.
There was a distinct lack of diversity. By contrast in Sitakundu the winter
vegetables of country bean, tomato and in pockets water-melon were
important sources of income. For Kamalganj fifteen farm enterprises were
assessed: nine were existing practices, five were farmer-innovations and
one was researcher-developed. In addition, estimates were made for the
level of local credit, or a dadan loan, taken for the rice production, and its
alternative, a loan utilising bank credit. For Sitakundu nineteen enterprises
were analysed: fifteen were existing practises, two were innovative farm
practices and one was researcher-developed.
The planning process has been iterative. Compared to the initial run in
1990
25
, there have been four types of refinement. The landholding of the
target group has been more precisely defined, along with the level of
shared-in land. For technology, both existing and researcher-developed,
there has been the incorporation of more recent research findings. Finally
the level of local credit, in the form of dadan loans, for production and the
corresponding requirement of bank credit have been included.
For Kamalganj the farming system comprised 2140 sq. m of owned
and 1450 sq. m of shared-in land. A two rice crop system of aus followed
by aman was practised but the cropping intensity was comparatively low.
25
Magor. 1990. 'Reducing Vulnerability in Bangladesh.'
178
Thirty per cent of the land in the aus season was fallow and less than 10
per cent of the area was cropped in the winter season. The two rice crop
system was considered at three levels of management; low, medium or
improved and recommended. An impact study had shown that within a
given area there were farmers, who operated at a low level of productivity
and others who used some improved management. Productivity gains in
shifting from low to medium to recommended levels of management were
achieved through attention to varietal choice, timing, cropping intensity and
fertiliser management. Multilocation testing and pilot production
programmes at recommended levels of management had shown a decided
yield gap.
26
A median dadan loan of Tk 1500 had been included for which a
farmer would pay twelve maunds (or 448 kgs.) of paddy after harvest (or
approximately Tk 2400). Around the homestead, the existing practices
entailed a poorly managed winter vegetable garden of 300 sq. m, a small
unit of scavenging chickens, a ploughing pair and a shaded pond of 300 sq.
m.
A three-pronged approach was proposed for enhancing the system.
Firstly, for the rice land, the interventions were recommended rice
management on owned land and improved practices on shared-in land.
Secondly to offset the dadan loan, institutional bank credit was considered
critical. Thirdly production around the homestead was enhanced by
expanding the pond area to provide supplementary irrigation for winter
vegetables. The winter vegetables comprised the use of two innovative
26
Magor. 1984. Potential in Rainfed Rice Production in North-East Bangladesh;
Mainur Rahman Siddiqui and others. 1991 . 'Farming Systems Research and its Impact on
Farm Families in Two Selected Sites of Bangladesh,' paper presented at the workshop on
Impact of Farming Systems Research, Dec. 9-13, 1991 at Kandey, Sri Lanka; Mainur
Rahman Siddiqui and others. 1990. 'Towards Equity: Impact of Modern Rice Technology in
a Rainfed Lowland Environment,' paper presented at the 1990 Asian Farming Systems
Research and Extension Symposium, Bangkok, Thailand, 19-22 Nov. 1990; Mainur Rahman
Siddiqui and others. 1988. 'The Impact of Farming Systems Research in Two Rainfed
Lowland Sites in Bangladesh,' paper presented at Workshop cum Monitoring Tour on Impact
Assessment, Apr. 25-29, 1988, Iloilo, Philippines.
179
local practices. There was the very productive Jadabh Singh system with its
complex intercropping of two cauliflower varieties, khol rabi, bush bean,
pusto and sweet pumpkin. The assumed production level achieved for the
Jadabh Singh system was set at 75 per cent level to allow for the
knowledge and experience of the innovative farmer.
27
An innovative mixed
crop system of local potato and mixed vegetables was also included.
Another local innovation of growing a Colocasia sp. (modon kochu) was
suggested for the monsoon period. Diversifying of cropping near the
homestead reduced rice production area by an estimated 100 sq. m. Non-
farm employment was set at 71 working days.
28

For Sitakundu, marginal farm families cultivated 2180 sq. m
(including homestead) and 1670 sq. m of shared-in land. The enterprises
were the two rice system, winter vegetables of tomato, water-melon and
chilli, country bean trellised on the plot boundaries, relay sown khesari, a
cattle unit, a small number of chickens and homestead coconuts. Overall
cropping intensity was high at 220 to 225 per cent. Sixty to sixty-five per
cent of land in the winter was cultivated. With the ready availability of
factory work non-farm labour was high at 142 days per year.
For Sitakundu options identified were improved varieties of disease-
resistant tomatoes, improved water-melon varieties and the recommended
rice technology. Discussion with farmers revealed a general lack of
awareness of the existence of high quality vegetable seed, and for this
reason it was included.
29
The Jadabh Singh vegetable system, as a
precursor to a developed sorjhan system (vegetable cultivation on raised
beds), was included to further exploit the vegetable market and to
eventually allow the year-round cultivation of vegetables over a larger area.
27
Jadabh Singh's systems was so sophisticated and scientifically sound that it will
be described in detail in chapter 5.
28
Siddiqui. 1988. 'Impact of Farming Systems Research . . .'
29
Magor . 1990. 'Reducing Vulnerability in Bangladesh.'
180
Challenges for further development include rectifying poor drainage
from flash flood waters near the coast due to the embankment, and squirrel
damage to the coconuts. The poor drainage factor must be taken up at a
community level. A cage system for vertebrate pest control, being
developed at BARI, may be considered for squirrels but only on a pilot basis.
It has not been included in the interventions. The homesteads of Sitakundu
were very crowded and heavily planted to timber and fruit trees. Optimising
the perennial trees for improved production requires ongoing attention.
30
Net family income
31
was Tk 17 406 for Kamalganj and Tk 27 938 for
Sitakundu (table 27). The 61 per cent higher net income for Sitakundu
reflected greater non-farm employment and a more diversified agriculture-
base. The higher net income was despite the lower productivity of the two
rice crop system. Cash inputs for Kamalganj were 18 per cent lower than
Sitakundu.
Tables 27 and 28 compare incomes under the existing and potential
farm systems for each site. Net farm income rose by 78 per cent in
Kamalganj and 53 per cent in Sitakundu (table 29). Such significant
increases at both sites are possible by addressing both intensive and
extensive production. For Kamalganj 15 per cent of increase in output was
from the improvements in the rice system and the balance from attention to
intensification around the homestead. A shift from a dadan loan to a bank
30
BRRI Internal Review. 1991. 'Farming Systems Research Activities,' BRRI Internal
Review, Rice Farming Systems Division, 21.
31

The total system production with input, output and labour requirements is shown
in appendix 4. In determining net family income it has been necessary to maintain
consistency with earlier studies. For this reason family labour and kind inputs have not been
costed. All output, both consumed and sold, has been included but by-products such as
cowdung and paddy straw have been excluded. Village studies on income and expenditure
are not always clear on inclusion and exclusion. See also S.S. Choudhury, A.K. Azad and
M.A. Khan Majlis 1985. 'Income Analysis of Rural Households in the Farming System
Research Site, Kalampur, 1982-83,' BARC, Agricultural Economics and Social Science
Workshop Paper Series, no. 9. Photocopied; and Jerry D. Buckland and Anup Kumar Kar.
1989. 'Income and Expenditure of Rural Landless and Subsistence Farm Households in
South-eastern Bangladesh,' The Journal of Rural Development 19, no. 2 (July), 64-89.
181
loan also contributed significantly. For Sitakundu 24 per cent of the increase
was from the improvement in field crop performance.
32
Exploration of a
vegetable system, structured like the sorjan, may on a relatively small area
account for a very significant portion of the remaining increase.
Cash costs in Kamalganj increased by 31 per cent. The interventions
utilised an extra 10 days of labour. The rice technology had been
extensively tested in Kamalganj and the homestead innovations were
observed practices amongst outstanding farmers.
For Sitakundu the improved system required a cash input increase of
25 per cent. Given the existing high level of productivity in Sitakundu, only
a shift towards the next stage of intensification in sorjan can be expected to
give large increases in income. The market proximity of Chittagong and the
considerable cash in the system already makes a move in that direction
possible.
Upland-dissected with Partial Irrigation: Sreepur
Sreepur falls within the Madhupur forest. Prior to the opening of the
main Dhaka-Mymensingh highway in the 1980's, it was relatively isolated.
There was a railway station at Sreepur town, but the survey site was three
to eight kilometres to the interior. The new highway, however, dissected
the site and had opened the area to rapid agricultural diversification.
Studies in the 1950's indicated sugarcane
33
as a minor cash crop and
that most fruit produced was eaten within the village or through limited
sales to fellow villagers.
34
Aus paddy and jute had occupied most of the
upland or chala land and even some of the lowland or byde.
35
Development

32

Water-melon, tomato and country bean were cultivated as field crops.
33
A.I.H. Rizvi and Najma Rizvi. 1959. 'Barami: a Land Use study of Sripur Terrace,'
Oriental Geographer Vol. 3:2, 41.
34
S.H.H. Nqavi. 1959. 'Charbahar: A Study in Rural Land Use,' Oriental
Geographer Vol. 2:1, 57 and 64.
35
Rizvi. 1959. 'Barami: a Land Use study of Sripur Terrace,' 40.
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185
had subsequently taken place through deep-tubewell irrigation for the
lowland or byde and expansion of perennial fruit and sugarcane for sale on
the upland or chala. The new access to the main Dhaka markets and ever
increasing demand from that market had positively stimulated agriculture
diversification and growth.
Twenty-one enterprises were assessed: sixteen were existing
practices, one was a farmer innovation and four were extension or
researcher initiated. The land comprised 2085 sq. m of chala land and 2585
sq. m of byde land, of which 1465 sq. m was owned and 1120 sq. m
shared-in.
36
Sugarcane and jackfruit on the chala land were the main sources of
cash income. A local variety of direct seeded aus was grown on the
remaining chala land with some plots being followed by blackgram.
Jackfruit had shifted from a dominantly homestead crop to more extensive
cultivation and sale. All byde land was under either rainfed or irrigated rice.
Intervention focused on an expansion of the irrigated area by fifty per
cent for the byde land through improved tubewell and water management.
Yields for both the irrigated and rainfed rice were increased by twenty per
cent through correct timing and management.
37
For the homestead, the
Kalikapur vegetable system, which covers only 36 sq. m and is mainly for
home consumption was included. Small areas of turmeric and ginger, of 100
sq. m each, under the jackfruit and 200 sq. m of banana formed part of the

36
The byde land was similar to the Sitakundu and Kamalganj sites. In fact the byde
of Moana Pather, within the survey area, had been part of the multilocation testing for the
rainfed two rice system and also for the irrigated rice technology. See Nur-E-Elahi and Noel
P. Magor. 1986. 'Development of the Rainfed Aus and T.Aman Cropping Pattern,' in
Proceedings of the Workshop on Experiences with Modern Rice Cultivation, Apr. 5-7, 1986,
BRRI and Department of Extension, Gazipur, Dhaka, 81-99.
37

Experience from the Prosperity Through Rice Project in the Sreepur area had
shown such increases as being quite modest. See M. Abul Quasem and others. 1991.
'Bangladesh Project Report Prosperity through Rice Project Phase II,' in Research,
Demonstration on Rice Production, Postharvest Technology and Biomass Utilisation: Phase II
(Prosperity through Rice: Phase II) Project Completion Report Volume 2: Appendices IRRI,
Los Banos, Philippines, 1991, 1-60.
186
upland diversification. Given the importance of goat rearing, improved black
bengal goat rearing, based on the recommendation by the Savar
Development Centre, was considered. The given interventions form only
part of the potential for diversification of the upland. Some innovative
farmers have commenced the cultivation of guava and papaya. In addition
commercial eggplant, with late monsoon marketing, and trellised white
gourd were established and expanding.
38
For livestock development
experimental work on hedgerow forage was recently initiated and does
appear attractive.
39
Net family income was Tk 19 134 (table 27). The total person-days
required was 198 with 12 per cent hired. Interventions increased cash costs
by 85 per cent but raised net family income by 64 per cent. Ten per cent of
increased income came from improvements to rice production on the byde
land. The balance of nearly 90 per cent was through addressing
diversification of the chala land. Fifty per cent of the increase was from a
small intensive plot of bananas (table 29).
Further increases are possible through the development of an
integrated vegetable/fruit/goat system for the upland. Irrigation through
diverting deep-tubewell water towards upland crops may aid such
intensification.
Coastal Saline: Char Matua
Due to the extensive field research of the NGO, the Mennonite
Central Committee (MCC), information on enterprises within the remote
38
These practices were similar to those found in another part of the Madhupur
Tract, namely Shibpur, where there had been good road access for longer (personal
observation) .
39
BRRI Internal Review. 1991. 'Farming Systems Research Activities,' 28.
frontier char land was available.
40
MCC had pioneered research and
development in the coastal char in 1972, with the initial objectives of
187
identifying potential crops for the winter rabi season, a vast area that was
normally fallow.
41
From 1979 the single season view was replaced by a
whole year or cropping systems approach, which in 1988 broadened out to
embrace all production aspects of marginal farmers.
A most detailed data bank had been built up by MCC over many
years of systematic research. Each varietal, fertiliser or tillage experiment
for the major and potentially new crops was documented in the annual
reports. The systems had been defined through socio-economic surveys.
Research and development efforts had operated through a number of
relatively independent programmes. These were the Farming Systems
Research Programme (FSR), the Extension Programme and the Homesite
Programme. The FSR programme grew out of the earlier Cropping Systems
Research Programme with a consequence that livestock and poultry
research were more recent additions. Extension worked with farmers with
an RPA of 3-8 months and covered summer and winter vegetables,
homesite improvement, rice and soybean projects, fish pond and livestock
development. The Homesite Programme targeted women with a range of
agricultural and non-agricultural activities.
42
Integration of findings from
each programme area was difficult. An attempt was made through the use
of FARMACTION to integrate the findings and recommended interventions
of the different programme areas.
43

40
MCC was a North American voluntary agency that drew on its agricultural
volunteers from rural Canada and northern USA. Volunteers generally worked for three
years or with a possible further contract of three years.
41
Tom Bruulsema and Tom Ewert. 1990. Summary of Agronomic Research on Salt-
affected Soils in Noakhali, Bangladesh, 1979 to 1990, MCC, 111 Block A, Mohammadpur,
Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1.
42
MCC. 1991. Agriculture Programme Bangladesh Report no. 18, Sections 1, 2 and 5.

43
It had been important to complete this process in 1990-91 as the three expatriate
volunteers for agronomy research, horticulture extension and livestock research were
188
Twenty-eight enterprises were assessed: seventeen were existing
practices, three were researcher-developed and eight comprised the
extension-developed vegetable system. Five of the existing enterprises were
for the finely-tuned rice system, for which the choice of rice variety was
influenced by the soil series. Production of traditional fish culture, by the
trap and hold system, was determined from survey data. Informal interviews
were used to collate non-documented enterprises, like grass cultivation for
mat making, mat making itself, the livestock activities of goat rearing, cow
rearing for both cultivation and milk, and the raising of a goat breeding
buck.
A more accurate definition of the target family has been the main
refinement in the planning since the first analyses of 1991 and 1992.
44
A
family with an RPA of 3-5 months owned 3890 sq. m and shared-in 2660
sq. m. Non-farm income, which is not estimated here, included one family
member migrating temporarily in the winter season. Often contracts were
made during the aman season with advance consumption loans and
subsequent low wage rates at the time of migrating. Existing system
production, input, output and labour utilised is given in table 27.
Four main interventions had emerged from the extensive field
research and extension conducted by MCC over the last ten years.
(a) Substitution of Kajasail rice on the Hatya soil series with BR23
MCC had committed considerable time to rice research in the aus and
aman seasons. BR20, BR9 and Lucky IRRI had limited potential in aus; BR10

leaving. It is hoped the brevity, here, in no way detracts from the depth of effort that has
been given over many years to studying specific constraints within the area.
44 Bruulsema. 1991 . ' ... MCC in a Marginal Coastal Saline Environment'; Tom
Bruulsema and others. 1992. 'Example: A Marginal Environment: The Subsistence Farmer
Target Group of the NGO, Mennonite Central Committee in a Marginal Coastal Saline
Environment in Bangladesh,' in Noel P. Magor. 1992. FARMACTION a Program to Assist
you in Understanding the Complexity of Small Farm Systems and to Devise Potentially New
Plans that Utilise Innovative Farm Practices, Existing Practices and Researcher-developed
Technologies, BRRI, Gazipur, Dhaka and IRRI, Los Banos, Philippines (not released)'
Appendix B, 1-20.
189
and BR11 on the Ramgoti soil series showed some potential in aman; but
BR23 on Hatya soil series had been rated highly. It was harvested at a
similar time as Kajasail and had bold grain characteristics, which were
preferred amongst the local community. It was estimated that BR23 could
cover half the Hatya soil series of the farmer's own land. The extra
production was estimated at 50 kg of paddy.
(b) Substitution of local sweet potato with an improved variety, Tripti
Varietal and fertiliser research of the existing winter crops and
potential new crops like wheat and mustard had resulted in the
recommendation of the sweet potato variety, Tripti, for extra home
consumption. An extra 31 kg of sweet potato was anticipated.
(c) Extension of the homestead vegetable kit
45
Existing vegetable cultivation had been minimal in the Char, and may
be contributed to the migration of many household heads in the winter. The
extra cash was Tk 3354, which represented a considerable increase in
income. Access to seed may be the main constraint to the lack of vegetable
cultivation outside of the MCC program.
(d) Tilapia nilotica fish monoculture
Village pond research over a number of seasons indicated the
potential of introducing tilapia fish culture in place of the traditional system.
An extra 35 kg of fish was produced, but required an additional cash
investment of Tk 190.
46
The extra cash required for the whole farm was Tk 573 for inputs
and the extra labour was 30 days. The cash was required in August -
September for fertiliser for BR23; July for Tilapia fish; and November -
45
The data for the intervention was from two representative farmers for actual
production and 100 farmers for the area cultivated (personal information Ed Paechey, MCC,
Dhaka) .
46
A shift from trap and catch to cultivating fish is a major social shift in production
and may take an extended period for introduction and acceptance.
190
December for the vegetable kit (figure 27). The extra cash income would
enhance the cash availability at the low period from December to February
(figure 28) . It may be sufficient to reduce the present migration.
47
The
increases in labour would be mainly from July to December (figure 29). The
extra labour for July that was mainly for crop production may present a
problem as it lifts the need above 35 days for the month. Group discussion
on this possible bottleneck is part of the ongoing process of formulating
farm plans. For vegetable cultivation in the winter season women and
children contribute substantially to labour.
Net farm income was Tk 10 533 and with the planned interventions it
rose by 45 per cent (table 29). Cash costs rose by 84 per cent for a total
output increase of 45 per cent . Family labour absorption increased by 29
per cent. If a family member continued to migrate it is likely the vegetable
output for the winter season would be carried out by the women and
children. Homestead activities of fish culture and vegetable raising
accounted for 94 per cent of the increase in total income, in comparison to
only 4 per cent gains from rice production.
Deepwater: Mirzapur
Twenty-five enterprises were reviewed: fourteen were existing
practices, three concerned the share-cropping arrangement, udhari borga for
boro, jute and mustard, and seven were researcher-developed.
48

The major enterprises were 1360 sq. m of boro rice, 740 sq. m of
jute and 1090 sq. m of mustard . Minor enterprises were mixed aus+aman,
47
Alastair W. Orr and Noel P. Magor . 1993. I Khine Khowa: Targeting and
Evaluating Farming Systems Research in Bangladesh, I BRRI , Gazipur, Bangladesh.
Photocopied.
48
The practice of udhari borga involves a cash advance for the right to sharecrop a
plot. Apart from information on udhari borga, the individual enterprise data (on diskette)
were from the earlier modelling completed by Kipp Warr under the ULG/ODA deepwater
project. See BRRI/ Overseas Development Administration. 1989. Deepwater Rice Project
Phase Two: Final Report, BRRI, Gazipur, Dhaka, 96-119.
191
Figure 27. Monthly cash input for existing and potential farm systems for
marginal farm families for the coastal saline ecosystem, Char
Matua, Bangladesh, 1991 .
Cash Input (Tk)
3 0 0 ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,
250
200
150
100
50
.... . - -
O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jan Mar May Jul Sep Nov
Feb Apr Jun Aug Oct Dec
D existing extra cash
192
Figure 28. Monthly taka output for existing and potential farm systems for
marginal farm families for the coastal saline ecosystem, Char
Matua, Bangladesh, 1991.
Taka output ('000)
7
6
5
4
El existing extra output
Figure 29. Monthly labour requirements for existing and potential farm
ecosystem, Char Matua, Bangladesh, 1991.
Labour days (famlly+hlre)
EJ existing extra labour
193
194
relayed khesari, and wheat. A cash advance, known as udhari borga, was
given for shared-in boro jute and mustard land.
Interventions were in two directions. Firstly, the introduction of the
short-duration BR 14 in the boro season, a practice tested in the area
49
,
would allow for the transplanting of deepwater rice immediately after its
harvest. Such a move may offset the increase in fallow during the flooding
season as farmers have been observed to be moving away from the risk-
prone deepwater rice to the secure boro rice. It is hoped double cropping
may be possible. The second direction proposed was to exploit the
proximity to Dhaka markets through expanding intensive cash cropping in
the winter season. Irrigated potato, water-melon and the intercropped
Jadabh Singh vegetable systems may form part of such
commercialisation.
50
Productivity of the existing system by enterprise and the impact of
interventions are summarised in tables 27-29. Present net family income
was Tk 6 671.
51

Net farm income rose by 128 per cent, with 12 per cent of
the increase achieved by shifting the rice system to incorporate transplanted
deepwater aman. The balance in income increase was through intensive
cash cropping on a small area. This expansion had displaced some of the
mustard followed by jute cropping pattern.
49
Nazrul Islam Miah and others. 1990. 'An Overview of Deepwater Rice Farming
Systems Research in Bangladesh,' paper presented at the Deepwater Rice Farming Systems
Research Planning Meeting, Jul. 16-18, 1990, Ayutthya, Thailand.
50
The cost of purchasing the water for irrigation was set at fifteen per cent of the
total harvest. Shallow-tubewell irrigation has shown considerable expansion in the last few
years. STWs may have single or multiple owners, with the selling of water an emerging
enterprise.
51
The net family income estimate does not include non-farm income or traditional
homestead activities.
195
Irrigated Lowland Favourable: Thakurgaon and Boda
The long establishment of deep-tubewells, managed through the
Bangladesh Water Development Board, in Thakurgaon, contrasted with the
irrigated treadle-pump technology that had been more recently extended by
the NGO, RDRS in Boda. As will be shown in a later chapter the two sites
contrast in irrigation technology and target group. For the BWDB project it is
claimed all farmer groups had access to highly subsidised irrigation. In
contrast, in Boda, the target group were small and marginal farmers, who
had access to non-subsidised irrigation.
Twenty-three enterprises were assessed for the two sites; five were
research or extension initiated; sixteen were existing practices and two
were dadan loans for aman rice for the respective sites .
Since 1981, intensive research in the deep tubewell areas
encompassed command area water management, seasonal crop cuts of
major crops and limited cropping systems research. However, the
proportions of irrigated and rainfed cropping and the extent of share-
cropping within the irrigation schemes were unknown.
52
Research from this
study showed that share-cropping for small and marginal farm families
stood at approximately 55 per cent and that only 30 per cent of land was
irrigated.
For Thakurgaon, a marginal family possessed 430 sq. m homestead,
1910 sq. m of owned land and 2880 sq. m of shared-in land. Of the
irrigated, 590 sq. m was owned and 1200 sq. m shared-in. The dominant
52
BRRI-IRRI-BWDB. 1983. A Preliminary Report on Applied Research for Increasing
Irrigation Effecti veness and Crop Production. A joint project of the BRRI and the BWDB in
collaboration with the IRRI, 8. Two subsequent reports make no mention of the extent of
share cropping within the command area or the proportion of rainfed to irrigated land. BRRI-
IRRI-BWDB. 1984. Second Progress Report on Applied Research for Increasing Irrigation
Effectiveness and Crop Production. A joint project of the BRRI and the BWDB in
collaboration with the IRRI; BRRI-IRRI -BWDB. 1986. Third Progress Report on Applied
Research for Increasing Irrigation Effectiveness and Crop Production. A joint project of the
BRRI and the BWDB in collaboration with the IRRI.
196
cropping pattern on the irrigated land was late transplanted bora rice
followed by aman rice, with a minor pattern of wheat followed by aman
rice. On rainfed fields local direct-seeded aus rice, millet, jute, and sesame
comprised the early monsoon crops, with all plots being planted to
transplanted aman in the late monsoon. A dadan loan was taken for am an
rice. The share-cropping arrangement was 50:50, with the sharecropper
covering expenses.
Within the irrigated area, improvements focused on delaying the
establishment of the first rice crop to early aus and irrigation of the
following aman rice. As per the recommendation of BARI,
53
mungbean was
planted after wheat and before aman rice.
54
Potato and chilli, as upland
crops, along with the Kalikapur homesite vegetable system were promoted.
Boda, in contrast to Thakurgaon had 55 per cent irrigation. The
enterprises were irrigated boro on 650 sq. m of owned land and 1950 sq.
m of shared-in land. Rainfed crops comprised millet, jute and aus rice in the
early monsoon, wheat in the winter and both modern and local rice varieties
in the late monsoon. Farmers took a dadan loan for aman rice production.
With irrigation being by treadle pump, expansion of irrigated area was
impractical. Irrigation was, however, promoted for the aman crop with a
shift from local to modern varieties. A shift in the share-cropping
arrangement to 2/3 : 1/3 for the modern aman was advocated. With
irrigated wheat, mung bean was included as per Thakurgaon. For the
53
M.A. Mannaf and others. 1987. 'Performance of the Cropping Pattern
"Mungbean (Grain/Green Manure) - Transplanted Aman (Modern Variety) - Wheat" in
Gangachara - Bobarpara Highland Soil,' Research Report Rabi, 1986-87 On Farm Research
Division Region 1, BARI, Rangpur, Jul. 1987, publication no. 7, 10-17.
54
The inclusion of mustard, variety Tori 7, was reported as a highly potential
intervention for Thakurgaon in a 1992 workshop. However, given the late harvest of BR 11,
I consider it to have limited scope due to its delayed establishment. It was not included
here, even though recommended. See M. Nazrul Islam. 1991. 'Rice - Wheat Tradeoff in
Irrigated Agriculture - Some Experiences from North Bangladesh Tubewells (NBT) Project,
Thakurgaon,' in Irrigation Issues in Bangladesh Proceedings of the Workshop held at RDA,
Bogra Mar. 11, 1991, ed. W.M.H. Jaim and R.L. Sarker,139-140.
197
rainfed area chilli replaced wheat. Potato, through supplementary irrigation,
was grown before aman rice on previously fallow land. A homestead
vegetable area of 36 sq. m based on the BARI Kalikapur system was also
introduced.
For the existing system net family income was Tk 6 954 for
Thakurgaon and Tk 8 851 for Boda. Comparing the existing systems of
Thakurgaon and Boda, cash inputs for Boda were 65 per cent higher, and
labour use, due to the treadle pump, was 72 per cent higher (table 27). The
difference was mainly due to the higher management level in crop
production with the treadle pump due to the involvement of RDRS. With the
proposed interventions net farm income rose by 61 per cent for Thakurgaon
and 57 per cent for Boda (table 29). Increases in cash inputs were 73 and
41 per cent respectively.
Given the success of the treadle-pump programme and its impact on
reducing vulnerability it may be timely to explore the inclusion of a shallow-
tubewell. The introduction may combat its exploitation by larger farmers and
enable expansion of irrigated rice, through expanding shared-in land and the
selling of water. Cultivation of kochu and turmeric were mentioned as being
popular with Boda farmers. The possibility of establishing small-scale
commercial plots of these crops may be reviewed.
Comparison Across Ecosystems
Production and a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 Months
For a RPA of 3-5 months, the family paddy requirement was estimated at
665 to 1110 kg per annum.
55
Only the estimate for Boda was decidedly
55
What is the family paddy requirement for a year? Westergaard used an estimate
based on Mukherjee of 0.61 kg of rice per day. According to Westergaard this was higher
than the National Nutrition Survey (1962-64), cited by Chen, of 0.51 kg but lower than that
quoted by villagers of one seer per adult per day (0.93 kg). Ramkrishna Mukherjee. 1971.
Six Villages in Bengal, Bombay, 156; quoted in Kirsten Westergaard. 1980. Boringram: an
198
outside the range (figure 30 ). For Boda, there were two possible reasons
for higher paddy production than required for a RPA of 3-5 months. Firstly,
cash costs were high and were equivalent to about 260 kg of paddy.
Secondly, paddy was the major source of income. In order to meet the high
costs of production it may have been necessary to sell one to one and half
months of consumption paddy. The only other site to have similar costs of
production was Sariatpur (figure 31). However, for Sariatpur there was cash
income from kejur gur and jute sales, which may have reduced the need to
sell paddy to finance rice production.
Complexity Within and Across Ecosytems and Sites
Even with the analysis of 185 enterprises or farm family activities
across the sites, the full complexity has only been partially captured. For
field crops, the plans do reflect the diversity and give an accurate measure
of the productivity of the system. Figure 32 which shows the proportion of
output by source clearly reveals the diversity across sites.
56
Kamalganj,
Economic and Social Analysis of a Village in Bangladesh, (Bogra: Rural Development
Academy), 49; and Lincoln C. Chen. 1975. 'An Analysis of Per Capita Foodgrain
Availability, Consumption and Requirements in Bangladesh: A Systematic Approach to Food
Planning,' Bangladesh Development Studies (Apr.), 112; quoted in Westergaard. 1980.
Boringram: an Economic and Social Analysis, 49. The National Nutrition survey of 1981-82
gave a rice requirement of 0.40 kg. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. 1986. Socio Economic
Indicators of Bangladesh (Second Edition), BBS, Statistics Division, Ministry of Planning,
Dhaka, Bangladesh, 203. With an average chula size of 5.8 the respective paddy
requirements per annum (milling of one kg of paddy gives 0.7 kg of rice) were 1855, 1560,
2815 and 1220 kgs. Apart from the villagers' quote of one seer per adult per day, the
emphasis in each estimate was on actual consumption.
A rice marketing survey, by Islam and others, across four major zones and covering
2000 families gave a family requirement of 2670 kg of paddy (2180 kg paddy and 490 kg
of rice). M. Aminullslam and others. 1987. A Benchmark Study of Rice Marketing in
Bangladesh, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh, publication no. 87. 54. According to Islam, their
figure included the bartering by women of some of the paddy and rice kept for home
consumption. As mentioned, the term Rice Provision Ability incorporates the economic
balance of paddy within the family. Even within a deficit rice family, paddy was sold at
harvest, which necessitated more months of paddy and rice purchase than production
would indicate. For this reason the estimate from the rice marketing survey of 2670 kg
paddy requirement per annum was used. If extra paddy is sold to meet loans or production
or extra family living costs this estimate may indeed be lower than actual production.
56
Non-farm income for both Kamalganj and Sitakundu came from a study in which
90 families in each site were monitored weekly over a two year period. An estimate of non-
199
Char Matua, Thakurgaon and Boda were locations with over seventy per
cent of crop income from paddy production. For the deepwater sites jute,
mesta and mustard gave cash diversity. In addition, for Sariatpur the
tapping of the date palm for gur contributed 10-15 per cent to agriculture
income. Diversity in Sitakundu was achieved through the vegetables of
country bean, tomato and water-melon. For Sreepur sugarcane and jackfruit
accounted for seventy per cent of income.
Potential Systems
Table 29 shows that increases in net returns of 45 to 128 per cent were
achievable from the limited number of presently identified innovative-farmer
and researcher-developed technologies. Extra cash requirements ranged
from a reduction of 2 per cent at Sariatpur to an increase of 80-85 per cent
for Sreepur and Char Matua. Addressing the problem of unfavourable
repayment rates for the dadan loans made a significant impact in increasing
the availability of paddy for family consumption. The intervention of
managed-credit empowered marginal farm families to control more of the
output of existing production. Promoting the 2/3: 1 /3 share arrangement
was also a means of increasing control of output.
Expansion of high input-output systems around the homestead was a
major source of the increase in income. Greater emphasis on potential
systems around the homestead was given for the three sites with ready
market access, namely Sitakundu, Mirzapur and Sreepur. For both
Kamalganj and Char Matua, despite remoteness, the homestead
interventions were gauged as reasonable since the sites themselves were
the original source of the innovations. The Singh vegetable system was
farm income was made for Sariatpur in number of days of work (table 24). However, that
figure was not available for Mirzapur. Therefore for comparison of deepwater sites only crop
enterprises are shown in the pie charts.
200
Figure 30. Estimated paddy available for consumption for marginal farm
families across five major ecosystems and eight sites,
Paddy available for consumption (kg)
3 0 0 0 ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~
2500
Paddy requirement lor twelve months
lor average family of 5.8 members
" ...... -" - -, - ~ - ~ - -~ , -" - , - ~ - - - -,
2000 - - - - . - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - - . - -
1500 - - - - . - ... - - - - - - . - . - - . - - - - - - - . . - - - .... - - -
1000 Paddy AlCluired -for - -
RPA of 3-5 months
500
Figure 31 . Percentage of gross returns for field crops from paddy and
paddy equivalents in kgs required to cover cash costs for
paddy cultivation for five major ecosystems and eight sites,
percent of gross returns kg of paddy
1 0 0 = - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ 3 0 0
250
80
200
60
150
40
100
20
50
o
Q paddy (percent) paddy (kg)
201
202
Figure 32. Diversity of income for five major ecosystems and eight sites,
non-farm
29%
(a)
sugarcane
34%
ploughing pair
22%
Kamalganj
(Rainfed lowland favourable)
jackfruit
20%
rainted rice
16%
irrigated rice
12%
chickens
8%
(c) Sreepur
(Upland dissected, partially irrigated)
country bean
coconut
5%
10%
vegetables
10%
khesari
rice
15%
cattle rearing
15%
(b)
(d)
chickens
4%
Sitakundu
non-farm
39%
(Rainfed lowland favourable)
aus rice
7%
cowpea or
5%
aman rice
51%
goat rearing
6%
Char Matua
(Coastal Saline)
pond
11 %
dual purpose cow
14%
203
Figure 32. (continued) Diversity of income for five major ecosystems and
eight sites, Bangladesh, 1990-91.
boro rice
48%
mixed aus.amYl//,
11 %
(e)
(g)
jute
25%
Mirzapur
(Deepwater)
rainted rice
40%
itrigated rice
50%
Thakurgaon
(Irrigated lowland favourable)
(f)
(h)
boro rice
53%
rnesla
9%
Sariatpur
(Deepwater)
irrigated rice
65%
Boda
fainted rice
22%
kejur gUt
9%
(Irrigated lowland favourable)
204
from Kamalganj and the MCC vegetable kit had been developed in the char
land. From 80 to 94 per cent of increases in net returns for these sites were
from homestead related enterprises. For Thakurgaon and Boda, only minor
vegetable enterprises were included in the interventions, but with the
presence of RDRS in Boda more intensive systems may be possible.
PROSHIKA, in its organic model of agricultural development,
emphasised:
... integrating homestead horticulture with livestock rearing, small
scale fisheries and organic arable farming where such crop land is still
available.

57

Wood, in his comprehensive analysis of rural development on Bangladesh,
raises the question, 'Can homesteads be made more efficient to produce a
commercial surplus?'
58
I would not only answer in the affirmative, but go
further and suggest that from the findings of this study it is essential. With
marginal farm families, integrated intensive systems in and around the
homestead take on considerable significance in reducing vulnerability.
Labour and Gender
Comparison of labour use across sites clearly demonstrates under-
employment in field crop cultivation. Boda, with a similar family structure to
the other sites, but with the labour intensive treadle-pump technology,
utilised 181 person days of labour. This was 105 per cent more than the
average across the other sites (table 27).
Labour usage within the homestead was high. Rough estimates for
daily labour for cattle, goat and poultry rearing, and vegetable cultivation
suggest homestead labour constituted 50 per cent of total field crop,
57
Geof D. Wood. 1994. Bangladesh: Whose Ideas, Whose Interests? (Dhaka:
University Press Ltd.}, 170. See also Shimpei Murakami. 1991. Lessons from Nature: A
Guide to Ecological Agriculture in the Tropics, PROSHIKA, GPO Box 3149, Dhaka,
Bangladesh.
58
Wood. 1994. Bangladesh: Whose Ideas, Whose Interests?, 481.
205
homestead and non-farm labour. Women and children were generally the
main participants in these activities.
59

Within the interventions, the question of 'whose labour?' must be
raised. For winter vegetable cultivation in the char in Char Matua, with adult
male migration in the winter, homestead development will need to focus on
women and children. For Boda, with very high labour demands for the
treadle pump, women were an integral part of field operations. The
enterprise analysis for jute in both the deepwater areas of Mirzapur and
Sariatpur in its present form did not adequately acknowledge female and
child labour in the field processing.
60
FARMACTION has the capability to
analyse systems by gender but in this study adult male, adult female and
child labour were combined.
61
With the recognition of the homestead as an
important income-base, the nature of the existing extension service and its
present limited role for female extensionists obviously arises as the nature
of the homestead and its potential are given due weight.
Are the Interventions Enough?
The question, 'Is it enough?' has been addressed by a comparison
with those families with a RPA of 6-8 months. In the analysis of
vulnerability it was found that these families had been able to both maintain
their landholdings over the present generation and to increase them
marginally. Table 30 shows the input-output for small farmers with a RPA of
59
It was 56 and 50 per cent respectively for Kamalganj and Sitakundu.
60
Mead T. Cain. 1977. 'The Economic Activities of Children in a Village in
Bangladesh: Population and Development Review 4, no. 3 . 210; Mead T. Cain and others.
1979. 'Class, Patriarchy and Women's Work in Bangladesh: Population and Development
Review 5, no. 3, 429.
61

Cain showed the importance of child labour to the reducing of risk for marginal
households. ' . .. children mitigate the pervasive and substantial economic risks that
confront households.' Mead T. Cain. 1977. 'The Household Life Cycle and Economic
Mobility in Rural Bangladesh: Population and Development Review 4, no. 3, 437. Cain also
showed that ' . . . children of both sexes begin to work and put in relatively long hours of
work at young ages. Male children appear to become net producers at least by age 12.'
Cain. 1977. 'The Economic Activities of Children in a Village in Bangladesh: 224.
206
6-8 months.
62

Net returns for existing systems
63
for marginal farm families
were 46 to 76 per cent of families with a RPA of 6-8 months (figure 33).
Interventions, except for Thakurgaon and Sariatpur, more than lifted the net
returns of marginal families to the level of small farmers. It may, therefore,
be anticipated that with the interventions marginal farm families may hold
onto their land.
Importance of the Homestead
The homestead, until recently, has rated very little attention in rural
development strategies. Perhaps for research its very diversity cannot be
handled by the narrowly focused reductionist research approach that is
utilised for field crops. Whatever the reason, it has suffered from neglect in
both research and development. Each of the comprehensive documents
Agriculture Development in Bangladesh (1984), Bangladesh Agriculture:
Towards Self Sufficiency (1988) and Main Report for the Agriculture Sector
Review (1989), failed to mention homesteads.
64
Despite the lack of
attention given in major development planning documents there are several
studies that complement the findings here of the significance of the
homestead.
Abdullah gives a clear definition of homestead
. .. as the land owned and occupied by the dwelling unit(s) of the
household and immediate area surrounding the dwelling unit(s)
including courtyard pond, road space around homesteads, space used
for cultivation of trees and vegetables, and unutilised space if any ...
62
For site details see appendix 4, tables 66-72.
63
Excludes non-farm income and homestead activities except where obviously for
sale. Examples are jackfruit in Sreepur and kejur gur production in Sariatpur.

64
E. Boyd Wennergren, Charles H. Antholt and Morris D. Whitaker. 1984.
Agriculture Development in Bangladesh, (Colorado: Westview Press) ; UNDP. 1989. Main
Report for the Agriculture Sector Review Pol icies and Performance, sponsored by UNDP
BGD/87/023; Mustaq Ahmed. 1988. Bangladesh Agriculture: Towards Self Sufficiency,
External Publicity Wing, Ministry of Information, Government of Bangladesh, Dhaka.
207
Homestead agriculture production includes food, fuel, fodder crops,
livestock and fish in village homestead land. Homestead agricultural
production is mainly women's responsibility. However, male members
and children assist them.
65
Hossain coined the phrase 'the homestead functions as a lifeboat during
floods'
66
to emphasise its importance in survival strategies for families. For
poor households owning less than 0.2 ha, a seasonality study showed for
the nine week period of peak flood (August-September) and the following
lean period (October-November), the homestead provided from 55 to 76 and
37 to 57 per cent of income respectively.
67
A critical seasonal aspect was
observed for which further study is warranted.
Abdullah reported that approximately 5 per cent of total cultivated
land was classified as homestead land.
68
However, in our study homestead
land, for vulnerable farmers with a 3 to 5 month RPA, varied from 8.2 to
20.6 per cent of total cultivated land or 18.4 to 29.2 per cent of owned
land (table 27).
Homestead income has been reported to contribute about 10 per cent
of total income.
69

Choudhury et al
70
reported 13 to 18 per cent of
agriculture income being from the homestead for small and marginal farm
families respectively. What was significant in their study was the income
range from Tk 14 to 10 134; the range, itself, indicating the potential that
may be realised through the identification of innovative practices amongst
homesteads achieving the high returns .
65
Tahrunnesa Abdullah. 1986. 'Homebased Agricultural Production in Rural
Bangladesh,' ADAB 13, no. 5 (Sep.-Oct.), 1.
66
Bruce Curry. 1990. 'Homegarden/ Homestead Activities by Season,' occasional
paper presented at a Farming Systems Review Meeting, BARC. Photocopied.
67
Curry. 1990. 'Homegarden/ Homestead Activities by Season: table 2.

68

Abdullah. 1986. 'Homebased Agricultural Production in Rural Bangladesh: 1.
69
Giashuddin Miah and others. 1990. 'Homestead Plantation and Household Fuel
Situation in Ganges Floodplain of Bangladesh,' in Homestead Plantation and Agroforestry in
Bangladesh, Proceedings of a National Workshop held Jul. 17-19, 1988, in Joydebpur,
Bangladesh, ed. M. Zainul Abedin, Chun K. Lai and M. Omar Ali, 122.
70
Choudhury. 1985. Income Analysis of Rural Households in Farming Systems, 12
and 28.
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209
Figure 33. Net returns for existing and potential farm systems of marginal
farm families with an RPA of 3-5 months as a percent of net
returns for families with an RPA of 6-8 months for five major
ecosystems and eight sites, Bangladesh, 1990-91.
Percent of Net Returns
1 6 0 ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - '
140
120
existing 0 potential
210
This study emphasises the importance of the homestead and adjacent
plots from two angles. Firstly in existing systems and I refer to both
Kamalganj and Sitakundu, sites with the most complete data for field crop,
homestead and non-farm income and labour. For the respective sites, field
crops contributed 27 and 31 per cent of net returns, homestead 39 and 26
per cent and non-farm income 34 and 43 per cent.
71
The per cent
contribution of homestead income is higher than that determined by
Choudhury. Their study was limited to monetised activity, which greatly
under-estimates the importance of the homestead,
72
Secondly, in potential
systems, the homestead and nearby plots were the source of the most
significant increases in income across the sites.
Conclusions
The systems of survival of marginal farm families vary across
ecosystems, with a strong integration of field crops, homestead and non-
farm activities. Within a single ecosystem, the opportunities varied. For
example, Sitakundu and Kamalganj were found to contrast. Firstly, the
merging of piedmont soils, near the hills in Sitakundu, with the coastal soils
had resulted in soils with high soil moisture retention in the dry winter
season. Tomato, water-melon, chilli and khesari were, therefore, field crop
winter options. In addition, the urban market and non-farm factory labour
gave a cash flow that facilitated greater investment in agriculture. Similarly,
71
The source for non-farm income estimates was a major impact study completed
by BRRI from 1987-91. Siddiqui. 1991 'Farming Systems Research and its Impact on Farm
Families in Two Selected Sites of Bangladesh'; Siddiqui. 1990. 'Towards Equity: Impact of
Modern Rice Technology in a Rainfed Lowland Environment'; Siddiqui. 1988. 'Impact of
Farming Systems Research in Two Rainfed Lowland Sites in Bangladesh.'
Homestead production, encompassing vegetable, agroforestry, cattle, fish and
poultry were determined by case study.
72
'Income (gross receipts) has been defined to include all farm and non-farm
income derived from monetised activities.' Choudhury. 1985. Income Analysis of Rural
Households in Farming Systems, 4.
the contrast between Thakurgaon and Boda in institution and technology
option allowed contrasting enterprise mixes and opportunity.
The significance of the homestead and nearby plots for vegetable,
211
agroforestry, livestock and aquaculture enterprises is a resource that can be
greatly enhanced through presently available innovations. The Singh
vegetable system, the MCC vegetable kit and the Kalikapur vegetable
system clearly show the potential to lift marginal farm families to a level of
income that can minimise the loss of land. The enterprises of aquaculture,
poultry, goat rearing and intensive forage systems will add further potential.
At the time of this study promising technologies with these enterprises were
emerging.
73
FARMACTION has enabled a unique view of both existing and
potential systems. Through the integration that was possible of field crops,
homestead and non-farm activities questions emerge that lead into chapters
5- 7. Are existing institutions of R&D able to integrate? Does R&D look for
synergistic relationships in production? Has adequate attention in
development been given to the homestead? A number of the interventions
that were listed in the plans do come from non-conventional sources.
Innovative farmers, NGOs and state research institutions were each sources
of innovation. Does the present process of technology development
acknowledge multiple sources of innovation? The choice of interventions
was not too difficult; the reality of those interventions forming part of the
established systems of marginal farm families in each respective ecosystem
is another matter. Can the institutions handle the development of the
73
Modadugu V. Gupta and others. 1992. 'Socio-economic Impact and Farmers'
Assessment of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticusl Culture in Bangladesh,' ICLARM
Technical Reports, no. 35; Modadugu V. Gupta. 1992. 'Aquaculture for Small Farmers: A
Technology Development and Dissemination Strategy,' in Proceedings of the BRRI
Workshop: Reducing Small Farmer Vulnerability in Bangladesh 30-31 May, 1992, held at the
BRRI, Gazipur, 120-127.
212
necessary support activities around minor enterprises? Are the institutions
too narrowly focused to address the needs of marginal farm families?
The interventions were not all technology orientated. Particularly for
Kamalganj and Sariatpur, overcoming crippling production loans was an
important part of empowerment. The extra paddy available to families
through providing an alternative to dadan loans was considerable. In
addition, the interventions represented an increase in cash input from Tk
500 to 1200 or 40 to 90 per cent. Questions of credit and savings arise.
The availability of capital is obviously of central importance. It is for this
reason in the chapter 7 on institutions that I use several case studies that
specifically address credit and savings.
CHAPTER 5
CHOICE AND SOURCES OF TECHNOLOGIES
FOR ENHANCED PRODUCTIVITY
I ntrod uction
It was late afternoon and I was sitting on a grass mat under a mango
tree a short distance from the courtyard (uthan) of Kalam's homestead
(ban). Kalam was there along with Mannan. Several women, one of whom I
learned later was Kalam's wife, were standing in the background. I knew
from an earlier discussion that Kalam's debts had risen steeply due to the
1987 and 1988 floods and that he saw little chance of resecuring a plot
that he had recently mortgaged-out.
In chapter 4 I detailed Kalam's farm system and suggested potential
changes. His village was in a deepwater ecosystem and was located at the
border of Madharipur and Sariatpur districts. It was in a remote village. I
was aware of the gaps in the farm plans; I noticed a pond and there was no
fish enterprise. I also noticed some chickens and ducks and I wondered at
their significance in terms of cash income at a time of shortage. But I knew
in the farm plans there was more information in terms of existing and
potential systems that could be expanded and adjusted with FARMACTION
than most village research sites possessed after several years of research .
As I mentioned in chapter 2 there had been no farming systems research in
the study villages of the Sariatpur site.
In discussion, almost in passing, the potential of bamboo cultivation
came up. It was an option that was also raised in Kamalganj and Sreepur
sites and yet the cultivation of bamboo was not included. Bamboo is a
mUlti-purpose species that is important for building and fuel. Its propagation
213
214
is limited to the planting of rhizomes, which are underground stems.
Propagation by traditional methods is slow and costly. I knew the Forestry
Research Institute had recently developed a method of rapid propagation of
the common bamboo, Bambusa vulgaris, using branch cuttings.
1
The small
size of the propagating material augments the ease of transportation of
seedlings. It was an innovation that was unavailable. What was missing? It
is a very important question for minor enterprises, which I hope to answer
in this chapter.
Almost invariably in discussions with families like Kalam's and
Mannan's winter irrigation of rice is raised as a technology with high
potential. 'Can you provide us with irrigation, so that we can grow more
rice? My family only has rice for 3-5 months and if we could increase that
by a few months it would provide us with more peace of mind.' I find the
consistency with which this question is raised fascinating because I know
that in the academic corridors of universities there is a group, predominantly
social scientists, that is strongly antagonistic to the Green Revolution (GR)
technology. The opponents of the GR technology have two main lines of
argument. They question both its ecological suitability and the distribution
of benefits resulting from its adoption. I want to briefly highlight the
arguments before coming back to Kalam and exploring further the options
for his family.
Environmental Appropriateness and Sustainability
of the Green Revolution Technology
The research process as implemented by the Consultative Group of
International Research (CGIAR) of which the Centro Internacional de
Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CYMMIT) for maize and wheat and the
1
Ratan Lal Banik. 1984. 'Techniques of Bamboo Propagation with Special Reference
to Pre-rooted and Pre-rhizomed Branch Cuttings and Tissue Culture, ' Forestry Research
Institute, PO Box 273, Chittagong, Bangladesh. Photocopied.
215
International Rice Research Institute (lRRI) for rice are member bodies has
been challenged by Glaeser as only a partial solution to improving the lot of
the rural poor.
2
He argues that 'an eco-development' strategy presents a
viable alternative. Glaeser defines an eco-development strategy as one that:
(a) is orientated towards fulfilling the basic needs of the poor, (b)
promotes self-reliance in agriculture; and (c) strives for environmental
compatibility in production methods.
3
In 'The Green Revolution Revisited' there is an underlying theme
suggesting that the technology was wrong and its nature has resulted in
rural proletarianisation. If the type of technology and the process of
developing that technology had been different and along eco-development
lines the benefit would have gone to the rural poor. In his rather emotive
conclusion to 'Towards a Second Green Revolution,' Sachs dismisses the
first revolution as inappropriate because of the
... exceptional conditions required by the lucky cultivator of access
to water, power, fertiliser, pesticides and 'miracle' seeds.
4

Sachs states that such a requirement' ... is likely to worsen rather than
improve the material situation of the large masses of the rural and urban
poor by-passed by the Green Revolution'.
5

Social Inequality at the Village Level
From the experiences with the modern Mexican wheat varieties in
northern India, T J Byres, in 'The New Technology, Class Formation and
Class Action in the Indian Countryside,' argues that
... technology and technological innovation cannot be usefully
separated from the mediation of class relations and class interests.
6
2
Bernhard Glaeser . 1987. 'Agriculture Between the Green Revolution and Eco-
development: Which Way to Go?' in The Green Revolution Revisited, ed. Bernhard Glaeser
(London: Allen and Unwin)' 5.
3
Glaeser. 1987. 'Agriculture .. . the Green Revolution and Eco-development,' 5.
4
Ignacy Sachs. 1987. 'Towards a Second Green Revolution,' in The Green
Revolution Revisited, ed. Bernard Glaeser (London: Allen and Unwin), 193.
5

Sachs. 1987. 'Towards a Second Green Revolution,' 193.
216
The new technology encompassed both a biochemical and a
mechanical innovation. The biochemical aspect comprised new genetic plant
material and chemical fertiliser. The plant material was capable of
responding to high levels of fertiliser and controlled water supply. The
mechanical aspect consisted of irrigation pumps, reapers, tractors and
threshers. It had been argued that the biochemical innovations had the
desirable traits of improving the productivity of land without the
displacement of labour;
7
it was scale neutral. By contrast the mechanical
inputs were indivisible capital. These were costly and thereby scale-biased
and accessible only to large cultivators. Byres argues that 'the two are
linked' and 'the supposed scale neutrality of biochemical innovations was a
myth.
'8
Each aspect of the technology had become a tool of further class
differentiation. The dominant class had access to land and government
resources of education, credit, inputs and markets and as a consequence,
according to Byres, stood to gain the most.
9
The technology was
appropriated by the dominant class and used to further the interest of that
class through avoidance of taxation, maintenance of high procurement
prices, subsidised inputs of fertiliser and irrigation, prevention of land reform
and subversion of attempts to nationalise the grain trade. Within the village
the dominant classes hastened the process of rural proletarianisation
through resumption of leased-out land, mechanisation to reduce labour
demand, shifts in sharecropping, the use of migrant labour and labour
contracts with small peasants. A consequence was depeasantisation, with
poor peasants separated from the means of production and rendered
6
Terry J Byres. 1981. 'The New Technology, Class Formation and Class Action in
the Indian Countryside,' Journal of Peasant Studies 8, no. 4 (July), 408.
7
Byres. 1981 . 'The New Technology, Class Formation and Class Action,' 410.
Byres traces the development of this argument and then disputes its validity.
8
Byres. 1981. 'The New Technology, Class Formation and Class Action,' 411.
9
Much debate has centred on the shift to capitalism in the rural countryside. I do
not wish to enter into that argument except to say that it has been an ongoing process and
that the Green Revolution has hastened that process.
landless.
10

Byres concludes that the evidence shows that the Green
Revolution hastened the process of differentiation of the peasantry.
An example from the late 80's of an impact and adoption study in
Nepal reflects caution concerning equity:
217
Since agrarian structure in Nepal is characterised by highly skewed
land ownership distribution, technological change has the potential of
exacerbating income equality. In this context, a land reform policy
which encourages efficiency but discourages land concentration is
needed to mitigate the adverse effects of new technology on income
distribution.
11
The argument that the spread of the GR technology is the inescapable
cause of marginalisation of weaker peasants represents a strong criticism of
the technology. I would suggest that the findings of chapter 3 already cast
serious doubts on the conclusion of dispossession. Polarisation was not
observed in the eight sites, and furthermore vulnerability to loss of land was
less in the more developed areas. The results also showed that the control
of land was shifting to small and marginal farm families. Mannan's family,
although only supporting themselves for 6- 8 months in rice, had increased
their landholdings marginally. Unfortunately, for Kalam, the prospect for his
family was rather bleak unless interventions like those suggested became a
reality.
As I reflect I am puzzled on the one hand by the vehemence of some
of the critics of GR technology and on the other hand that a marginal farm
family like Kalam's wants the same technology. Obviously Kalam does not
see a social determinism in which his family will become dispossessed
because of the GR technology. He perceives it as an opportunity. It leads
10
Byres. 1981. 'The New Technology, Class Formation and Class Action,' 428.
11
Ganesh Thapa, Randolph Barker, and Keijiro Otsuka. 1989. 'New Agricultural
Technology and Income Distribution in Nepal,' presented at Third Workshop and Cross
Country Visit on Differential Impact of Modern Rice Technology on Favourable and
Unfavourable Production Environments Mar. 26-Apr . 6, 1989, Bangladesh and Nepal ,
sponsored by the IRRI, Philippines, 24. Photocopied.
218
me to conclude that there must be something missing in our understanding
of technology and its impact. Does Kalam see the GR technology as more
than mechanical and biochemical inputs? Does he see a shift in status in
which his family has access to credit, fertiliser, pump repairs and so on and
with that shift greater security? I do not know because I never thought to
explore what a marginal farm family perceived its gain to be from embracing
the irrigated GR technology. I do know that their perception differs from
that of the critics. Perhaps Kalam has a broader definition of technology.
Perhaps the reasons the bamboo propagation technique remains within the
confines of a research institution lies in a narrow definition of technology.
The technique is obviously ecologically suitable. The cost of a seedling is
minimal. The inputs required are far less than what is needed for irrigation
of modern winter rice. Surely equity is not an issue.
It is my intention within this chapter to develop a more
comprehensive definition of technology. In doing so, I seek to refute the
social and technological determinism which is espoused in the arguments of
the critics of the GR technology; I will locate the issues confronting the
bamboo propagation technique; and I will account for the hopes that
families like that of Kalam see in GR technology. The reader will see that the
outcome of a technological intervention can be directed towards marginal
farm families, and moreover will realise that with a more comprehensive
definition of technology, the outcome of technological innovations in
reducing vulnerability is more predictable.
I have already shown in chapter 4 that all income options must be
explored in the endeavour to reduce vulnerability. Diversity of income is
implicit in the target group definition; marginal farm families had a Rice
Provision Ability of only 3-5 months. From the definition, rice is central in
the family perception of vulnerability: rice production is important but at the
same time inadequate. More than half the family economic security-base
219
was from non-rice sources. In the farm-plans the greatest impact arose from
changes made within or near the homestead. Therefore in drawing out a
broader definition I have chosen three quite different technologies for
review.
12
The first technology is the vegetable system of Jadabh Singh, a local
innovation for cultivation within or near the homestead. For the three sites
for which it was a proposed intervention (Kamalganj, Sitakundu and
Mirzapur), it accounted for 75 to 85 per cent of the estimated gain in
income. Given its potential it is important to document this technology to
demonstrate its biological and environmental sustainability and social
soundness. The Singh vegetable system is an archetype of a high potential
local innovation that has somehow remained hidden from the technology-
development knowledge information system. Questions arise. Why has it
been missed as an opportunity? Is the problem of its diffusion similar to that
for bamboo? What is needed to exploit it for marginal farm families? Finally,
are there other comparable local innovations that are overlooked within
remote homesteads?
Secondly, I have chosen the BRAe poultry model as an example of a
high potential minor technology. It is a homestead-based gender-targeted
intervention with a complex of organisational support and is typical of
neglected minor enterprises. Other examples are fish culture, goat rearing,
12
Non-farm interventions may also be included. Lewis is his study identified the
importance of the emerging non-farm informal sector. Tractor, pesticide, fertiliser, rice mills
and paddy thresher services are part of the emerging support business around new
technology that may offer non-farm revenue for farm households. David J. Lewis. 1991.
Technologies and Transactions: A Study of the Interaction between New Technology and
Agrarian Structure in Bangladesh (Dhaka: Centre for Social Studies); The potential of added
income from' ... common property resources of land, water, grassland, forests, fisheries
and so on,' has also not been explored. Robert Chambers. 1984 . Beyond the Green
Revolution: a Selective Essay,' in Understanding Green Revolutions: Development Planning
and Agrarian Change: Essays in Honour of B.H. Farmer, ed. Tim P. Bayliss-Smith and Sudhir
Wanmali (New York: Cambridge University Press), 367.
220
sericulture, guava cultivation, banana cultivation or bamboo. The list goes
on.
The third example, which is a group of case studies, falls within
mainstream agriculture R&D; it is the Green Revolution (GR) rice technology.
The importance of rice in the economy of individual families and to the
nation is unquestioned. The research effort and institutional support given
to GR rice technology is immense. The research effort will be outlined more
in the next chapter. As already indicated, GR technology has been
controversial, particularly concerning the distribution of benefits. I have
briefly highlighted the key points of the well developed academic arguments
over who receives the benefits. For this reason I have chosen a number of
case studies that illustrate ecosystem fit, organisational targeting and policy
impact.
Why has it been important to not only concentrate on the high
potential local innovations and the neglected minor enterprises for marginal
farm families but to also look closely at GR technology? It is here that I
differ with Chambers and Wood, both of whom miss the importance of GR
technology to marginal farm families. Chambers in his essay 'Beyond the
Green Revolution' suggests:
Professionals concerned with rural development should.
concentrate more of their attention on resources which local elites are
less likely or able to capture, and to which the poorer people have a
realistic chance of establishing lasting rights.
13
Wood advocates organic farming as an alternative for marginal and small
farmers in that it has the potential of reducing their' ... dependent
interaction ... with the market for chemical and some mechanical inputs' .
14
13
Chambers. 1984. 'Beyond the Green Revolution: 367.
14
Bosse Kramsjo and Geof Wood with Foreword by Faruque Ahmed. 1992.
Breaking the Chains: Collective Action for Social Justice Among the Rural Poor in
Bangladesh (Dhaka: University Press Limited)' 30.
221
He sees the ' ... the disengagement from certain input markets ... '
15
as
contributing to empowerment of the vulnerable. The case studies of the
Singh vegetable system and the BRAe poultry model bear out a
commitment to exploring alternatives but there are a number of reasons for
giving considerable attention to GR technology.
Firstly the case studies illustrate how marginal farm families can take
advantage of GR technology. It is too good an opportunity to miss. The
intention is to maximise benefits to marginal farm families from all possible
technologies. Secondly, in the centrality of rice is power. State policy,
linkages for inputs of fertiliser, water and credit and the sale of marketable
surpluses are at the centre of the rural economy. Increasing options through
peripheral technologies is empowering but there is additional gain for
marginal farm families in strengthening their ability to negotiate in the rice
economy. Finally and central to the argument developed in this chapter, the
case studies illustrate that whatever the technology it is possible to tailor
organisations to shift benefits to landless and marginal farm families. By
demonstrating this premise, the arguments of the opponents of the GR
technology are weakened and the more critical issue of the nature of the
organisational interface to the vulnerable is brought to the centre.
For each case study, I will briefly highlight the technology or project,
the distribution of benefits and the replicability and sustainability of the
technology. I will also draw out that factor neglected in the GR debate - the
organisational component. From the case studies I will then define a more
complete definition of technology. The term I will use is the enterprise
matrix or the activity web of a technology.
15 Kramsjo. 1992. Breaking the Chains, 31.
222
Local Innovation: The Vegetable System of Jadabh Singh
To me Jadabh Singh was a very special farmer. Continual
experimentation coupled with careful observation over many years make
him stand out as an exceptional applied scientist. He had an 'intimate feel'
for the land that over the years allowed the emergence of a very complex
and scientifically sound practice of intensive vegetable cultivation. He was a
Manipuri from Tilakpur village in Kamalganj upazila in the North-East of
Bangladesh. At the time of documenting his system he was 72 years old.
He had begun as nearly landless but through effort and his evolving
innovative winter vegetable system, had managed to accumulate land and
finance higher education for his six children. I first met Jadabh Singh during
my six years in Kamalganj Upazila in the late 70's. On a number of
occasions he was involved with the agriculture programme of the voluntary
agency HEED, giving practical advice to other farmers on the
implementation of his innovative vegetable system.
A Description of the Singh System
In essence Singh's system is a complex of intercropping and
sequential planting. With the end of the monsoon in October and the
declining temperatures of the approaching winter season, two varieties of
cauliflower, an early variety - Agrohani, and a late variety - Kartika ( or
Banarosi or Snow Ball according to availability of seed) were planted. Along
the southern border of each bed was planted a line of bushbean and khol
rabi. Sweet pumpkin was intercropped within the cauliflower. After
harvesting of the early cauliflower, seedlings of pusto, a seeded amaranth,
were transplanted into the gap. The distance between plants and the
geometrical arrangement was critical as were the cultural practices for each
vegetable.
223
The Environment
Kamalganj is in the wetter region of Bangladesh. There are six wet
months with more than 200 mm per month (April to September) and one
month with more than 500 mm. The rainfall in October is highly variable
16
with minimal rain in some years and as much as 100-200 mm over 2-3 days
in other years. The median for October is 171 mm but the minimum is 8.8,
the lower quartile 78, the upper quartile 239 and the maximum 422.
17
The
heavy unpredictable rain in October can be highly problematic for the
establishment of winter vegetables. In addition there is a fast start to the
monsoon with very heavy rains in early April. November to February is
relatively dry with a median rainfall of 123 mm. Annual rainfall is 2325 mm.
The summer growing period is 260-270 days from April 12 to
January 2 and the winter growing period of 135-150 days from October 27
to March 18. There are 90-110 days for which the minimum temperature is
less than 15
0
C (November 20 to February 28). The transition from the cool
to hot occurs between March 20 and April 14.
18
The general soil of the village is a Grey Piedmont with a loam to silt-
loam top soil. Under the cultivation of paddy a puddled layer and resulting
ploughpan develops. The soils are low in organic matter and are of medium
acidity (pH 5.5-6.0). In the wet season fields are shallowly flooded. The
fields may be periodically more deeply submerged by flash floods from the
hills and occasional breaches in the embankment of the Doloi river. Moisture
holding capacity is low due to the puddled topsoil and ploughpan. In the dry
winter season drought can therefore be a real constraint.
16
Noel P. Magor. 1982. 'A Cropping Pattern Model for Rainfed Lowland Rice,'
M.Agr . thesis, Sydney University, Australia.
17
Eugenio B. Manalo. 1979. Agro-Climatic Survey of Bangladesh, BRRI and IRRI.
18
FAO/UNDP. 1988. Land Resources Appraisal of Bangladesh for Agricultural
Development, BGD/81 /035 Technical Reports 1-3.
224

Soil management
The soil structure does not lend itself to good winter vegetable
cultivation. With rice cultivation the soil is puddled and flooded for 5-6
months. In addition there is the possibility of heavy rains and water logging
in October - the critical time for good establishment.
Each year for 45 years, Jadabh Singh has added up to 100 tonnes
per hectare of ditch mud to his fields. The ditch that runs from his pond to
the vegetable field is lower than the pond and about one metre below the
field. This mud is high in organic residues and its removal ensures good
drainage and ease of irrigation from his pond. Drainage is further enhanced
by each vegetable bed of 300 sq m (one poa) being separated by a drain
that runs perpendicular to the main ditch. He maintains four buffaloes and
uses all the dung and waste straw as an organic fertiliser. This is added wet
to the fields in October at about 100 tonnes per hectare and then as a
topdressing as dry manure. The continual addition of organic matter has
enhanced tilth - a critical factor for enabling plants to withstand the
occasions of very heavy rainfall in October and, for the sweet pumpkin, the
heavy storms in March to early April.
Another important factor, which contributed to maintaining soil
structure, was the cropping pattern. The land was not used for
transplanting rice but for aus followed by aman rice seedbeds into which
was relay-sown blackgram. No fertiliser was applied to the seedbeds or the
blackgram. There was no puddling of the soil, another critical factor
contributing to survivability of the newly established vegetable seedlings in
October.
No basal chemical fertiliser was used but three top dressings of urea
were applied to give a total of 350 kg of nitrogen. Fertility was maintained
by a combination of very high levels of organic fertiliser and chemical
nitrogen.
225
The Production System
The plot unit was 300 sq. m. Singh cultivated 5-6 such plots.
Seedlings were raised to three weeks on a raised bed that was loamy in
texture and very rich in organic matter. The general practice of other
farmers in the area was to employ heavy shading from the hot midday sun,
which if excessive resulted in an elongated weak seedling. Shading from the
sun and any rain was necessary due to the lack of vigour in the seedlings.
Mortality was a consequence and with that higher seedling costs and slow
establishment. Singh, however, used the minimum of shade; this was
possible as a very favourable soil tilth had been built over many years.
Singh emphasised the importance of minimum shade. In contrast to
traditional Bengali villages there were no trees around the plot to throw
shade. Singh also commented that he did not surround his field with
country bean due to its shading effect. The spacial arrangement is shown in
figure 34. Note the diagonal arrangement of the cauliflower varieties. The
bushbean and khol rabi were inter-planted along the long southern side of
the vegetable bed. This ensured extra winter sunlight due to the gap
created by the drainage channel.
The starting date for transplanting depended on the break in the
rains. An optimal date was October 25. After transplanting Singh believed
the plants 'sleep' for 9 days and so no basal urea was given. An urea top
dressing was given at 11 days after transplanting. At the same time the first
irrigation of approximately 5 cm was applied. Irrigation water was firstly
scooped from the pond into the main ditch. The water was then applied to
the ditches that divide the beds and finally onto the plant beds. All irrigation
was manual. A week later there was a single weeding and a second top
dressing of urea mixed with dry buffalo dung. At this time soil was heaped
around the cauliflower and buffalo dung was applied to each hole, 10-15
cm from the plant base. A second irrigation was given. After another week,
a third topdressing of urea was applied, followed by a further irrigation.
Since the manure and the ditch mud were dried in the sun on the field
226
before incorporation it may be assumed much of the nitrogen was lost.
Minerals and organic matter for soil structure were the positive benefits. No
phosphorus or potassium fertiliser were applied. No insecticide was used.
The early harvested cauliflower received 2 to 3 waterings and the late
harvested 5 to 6. The time between irrigations decreased and the quantity
increased up to the harvesting of the early cauliflower.
The early cauliflower with 112 to 1 kg heads and 450 heads per 300
sq. m was harvested from January 10-15. Pusto was immediately
transplanted into the gap. Being a tall plant (up to 1 m) it was quickly above
the late cauliflower canopy and the spreading sweet pumpkin but caused no
shading as plants were one metre apart. The bush bean was harvested in
the third week of January. The late cauliflower at 3-4 kg, with 450 per bed,
was harvested throughout February, some 200 khol rabi from mid January
until late March and the pusto in late March. Finally the sweet pumpkin was
harvested in early April with an average weight of 5-7 kg and about 500 in
number. The 40 kg of pusto and the 60 kg of bushbean were kept for home
consumption, but all the cauliflower, khol rabi and sweet pumpkin (apart
from ten for seed) were sold. All marketing was direct from the garden.
Cash returns, which have been estimated at up to Tk 430,000 per
hectare were 3-4 times that for mono-cropping cauliflower.
19
The
commercial cauliflower seen in Tangail near Dhaka is mono-cropped and the
fields were generally empty by late February. In that situation a farmer
received cash only in February whereas Singh had a vegetable cash income
from January until late April from the one plot.
19
M. Bazlur Rahman and M. Harun-Ar-Rashid. 1989. Annex III in Banana
Production Manual, Tangail Agricultural Development Project with BRDB and Deutsche
Gesellschaft Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, 62-63.
Figure 34. Plant geometry for Jadabh Singh vegetable system.
Symbols
M avveet pumpkin (plant to plant 2.28 m)
X early caullflovver (90 cm)
o late caullflovver (90 cm)
b buahbean
k khol rabi
227
228
A Variant of the Jadabh Singh System
Bojendro Kumar Singha or Kutu, in his early thirties, was from the
same village as Jadabh Singh. He had substituted radish (early Mino) for the
late cauliflower and used White Contessa as the early cauliflower variety.
He did not cultivate pusto. Kutu's focus was the early market for
cauliflower. He was experimenting with Farmer's Early No 2 for a December
20-30 harvest.
In contrast to Jadabh Singh, Kutu used about 1/3 the amount of
cowdung and applied super phosphate, urea and oilcake for fertiliser. Kutu's
variation may not sustain fertility and soil tilth and may be expected to
suffer more losses from the occasional storms in October. It is interesting to
note that the seed rates for cauliflower, bushbean and sweet pumpkin were
higher for Kutu. This may reflect the greater experience of Jadabh Singh in
nurturing seedlings. Returns were of a similar order (Tk 400,000 cash per
hectare at 1989 prices). Kutu needed more labour and had a greater
dependence on cash inputs. The major extra cash input was for oilcake.
The principle of early and late crops over the winter season was
parallel to Jadabh Singh's and illustrates that varietal and plant species
substitution is possible and may indeed be encouraged.
The Secret of Jadabh Singh's Success
His multiple sources of income over an extended period minimised
risk. February storms may damage the late cauliflower but the early variety
had already been harvested in January. For example, in 1991, early April
rain damaged sweet pumpkin but instead of decimating his income it was
effectively only reduced by about 25 per cent at the most. Over many years
it has meant relatively constant income and most often very high returns
that enabled accumulation of capital.
229
It may also be argued that damage to Singh's plots during unseasonal
storms was considerably less than more traditional practices. He had
maintained a yearly program of adding large amounts of organic manure and
mud. The resulting tilth aided aeration during heavy rainfall. A network of
ditches and one main ditch up to one metre deep maintained good drainage.
In addition his seedlings were raised with minimal of shade and in a very
friable soil. Both factors contributed to strong seedlings that may more ably
stand up to heavy rains.
Singh had maximised the winter season solar radiation coupled with
cool temperatures and then the early summer heat by optimal timing of
operations and manipulating plant varieties and spacing. Distance between
early cauliflower was 95-100 cm but between early and late it was only 45-
50 cm. A high Leaf Area Index was reached early in the season and
maintained throughout. Initially early cauliflower dominated, followed by late
cauliflower and then sweet pumpkin. The early cauliflower was also able to
take advantage of higher per unit weight prices because it was at the
beginning of the season. The sweet pumpkin was more tolerant of the onset
of the hot and was able to grow vigorously in late February and March. The
pusto utilised the temporary solar radiation gap left by the early harvested
cauliflower and by time the late cauliflower had expanded its leaves the
pusto was above the canopy. Its shade was minimal. Also to maximise solar
radiation, shade around the field was minimal, an important factor in the
intense cropping. His system maximised advantage of the thermal regime
from October to April through the choice of both crop and variety and the
sequencing of the same. Careful soil management and an extended
harvesting time enabled management of the vagaries of nature that occur at
the beginning and end of the vegetable season.
230
Suitability for Marginal Farm Families
Biological and Environmental Sustainability
The system is stabl it has evolved over 45 years of experimenting in
an environment that is not as favourable for winter vegetable cultivation as
some other parts of Bangladesh due to heavy unseasonal rainstorms both in
October, February and early April. Resista to these storms testifies to its
stability.
Biologically, in addition to production of rice seedlings and blackgram,
a high Leaf Area Index has been maintained from mid December until late
April. It has optimised early, mid and late winter varieties along with early
hot season pusto and sweet pumpkin. The soil management, over the years,
has not just maintained the soil but enhanced its productivity. The system
has improved with time. It is for this reason the system was included at
Sitakundu and Mirzapur at 0.75 of Jadabh Singh's production level. The
blending of manure, mud and urea has integrated organic and inorganic
nutrient management and has resulted in the very good soil tilth, an
essential for stable vegetable production in an environment subject to heavy
storms.
Social Suitability
The system is potentially attractive for marginal farm families. Firstly,
it provides an income from January until late April. Storage of pumpkins and
the delayed sale of dried beans and pusto can further extend the income
period. Secondly, the extended harvesting period for a range of vegetables
spreads risk. Thirdly, the system is not cash intensive. Organic residues are
used in conjunction with urea. A family may begin on a single small plot.
231
Organisational Linkage and Extending the Singh System
Like the propagation of bamboo the Singh vegetable system has not
been exploited. It is ready for extending. Despite satisfying both the
ecological and social criteria of acceptance, it will continue to remain
neglected unless organisational linkages are brought to the fore. There are
several reasons why it has remained predominantly within Singh's village.
Singh is a tribal and therefore to a degree socially isolated. Within
Bangladesh access to land around homesteads is socially restricted. A final
point is that the system is so productive that the local market could be
flooded very easily. For its use by marginal farm families, I would suggest
that it should receive the same attention to organisational detail as was the
case in the development of the BRAC poultry model, which is discussed in
the next case study. Commercial vegetable growing for urban and export
markets is a distinct possibility. Within the farm plans in Chapter 4, the
system was included at Sitakundu and Mirzapur, sites near urban markets.
An Organisational Intervention: the BRAC Poultry Model
The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) was formed
in 1972 after the War of Liberation, with an emphasis in relief and
rehabilitation. It has emerged into a major agency which pursues two goals:
. . . alleviation of poverty and empowerment of the poor .
20

The evolution of BRAC centred around the long-term strategy:
... for sustainable development the ability of rural people has to be
developed so that they can mobilise, manage and control local and
external resources themselves.
21
Experience showed that in order to reach marginal families, a targeted
strategy was necessary. BRAC targeted those families who owned less than
20
BRAC. 1991. BRAC Report 1990, 66 Mohakhali Commercial Area, Dhaka 1212,
7.
21
BRAC. 1991. BRAC Report 1990, 6.
0.2 hectare of land and survived by selling manual labour.
22
BRAC has
pioneered the single focus enterprise activity around which grassroots
mobilisation has occurred. In agriculture the sectoral programmes for
232
income and employment generation have been poultry management,
sericulture, livestock development, fish culture and social forestry.
23
Here
the BRAC poultry programme will be described.
The Poultry Model
Before outlining the case study of the BRAC poultry system of
targeted development, a brief description will be given of the earlier
approach used for increasing poultry production for resource-poor families.
In the mid seventies in Bangladesh the thrust of poultry development
was limited to operating within the resources of the feed system of an
existing village homestead. Poultry had been identified as having the
potential to increase income through a programme known as 'cockerel
exchange':
Cockerel exchange is the process by which native cocks in a village
are replaced by foreign cocks of higher genetic quality. The resulting
offspring should retain the disease resistance and scavenging ability
of the local birds but are expected to give higher egg production and
larger body weight characteristics of the improved breed .
24
It was accepted that the scavenger system was the norm and
the growing of poultry ... on a scavenger basis may be seen as a
way resource-poor families have decreased their under-employment
and generated some food and income with minimal investment.
25
22
Aditee Nag Chowdhury. 1989. Let Grassroots Speak: People's Participation Self-
help Groups and NGO's in Bangladesh (Dhaka: The University Press Ltd.), 67-83.
23
BRAC. 1991. BRAC Report 1990, 11 .
24
HEED. 1980. Agriculture Sector Fourth Annual Report, HEED Bangladesh,
Kamalganj Rural Development Project, PO Keramatnagar, Moulvibazar District, Bangladesh,
55.
25
Noel P. Magor. 1986. 'Livestock and Poultry Components in Small Farmer
Development in Bangladesh: a Case Study,' in Proceedings of the Crop-Livestock Systems
Research Workshop held at Khon Khaen, Thailand, Jul. 7-11, 1986. Sponsored by Farming
Systems Research Institute Department of Agriculture, Thailand and Asian Rice Farming
Systems Network, IRRI, Philippines, 637
.
233
For any programme of improvement the control of ranniket or Newcastle's
disease was essential.
The programme developed by HEED in the late seventies typified this
approach. Apart from the purchase of an improved cockerel and regular
vaccination by local village vaccinators the system operated within the
resources of the target village families. It was deemed to be a low-input,
sustainable, targeted development. However,
... a study showed mixed results and appeared to depend on the
village. Eggs from local cross improved cockerels were 45 grams
compared to local of 31 grams and cross hens gave about 60 eggs
per year compared to local of 36 eggs.
26
The outcome was not predictable and was dependent on cooperation across
the village. The programme was non-targeted as all local cocks needed to
be removed.
BRAC's starting point was the same with training in poultry care
accompanied by a 'modest HYV cock replacement programme.
'27
BRAC did
not stay with the less than satisfactory cockerel exchange but instead
progressed through an experimental programme that systematically
addressed each obstacle to the effective improvement of homestead poultry
rearing. The final BRAC poultry development model contrasted significantly
with the earlier low-input model. Even though it has been well documented
in literature on NGOs and technology innovation
28
I will describe it briefly
here so as to provide additional insights.
26
HEED. 1982. Agriculture Sector Sixth Annual Report, Kamalganj Rural
Development Project, PO Keramatnagar, Moulvibazar District, Bangladesh, 91; and HEED.
1979. 'Appendix 5 - Village Poultry Production - An Initial Study,' Agriculture Sector Third
Annual Report, Kamalganj Rural Development Project, PO Keramatnagar, Moulvibazar
District, Bangladesh, 66-69.
27
Catherine H. Lovell. 1992. Breaking the Cycle of Poverty: The BRAC Strategy
(Connecticut: Kumarian Press, Inc.), 99.
28
David J. Lewis. 1992. 'Catalysts for Change? NGOs, Agricultural Technology and
the State in Bangladesh,' ODI Network Paper no. 38; Shams Mustafa, Sanzidur Rahman and
Ghulam Sattar. 1993. 'Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) - Backyard
Poultry and Landless Irrigators Programmes,' in Non-Government Organisations and the
State in Asia: Rethinking Roles in Sustainable Agriculture Development, ed. John F.
234
Poultry rearing for high production requires an all or nothing
approach. Vaccination underpins husbandry. For high production genetically
superior stock is necessary along with an improved level of nutrition.
Disease control, breed improvement and better feed are integral to high
production. If there is no vaccination the programme can collapse due to
disease. If there is no chick supply it is equally non-viable. If there is no
feed, production and economic viability is reduced. If each requirement is
not satisfied fully the programme collapses.
No organisational framework existed to ensure that the complete
management package was available to targeted families. BRAC made a
decision early in the experimental phase to intervene at each identified
obstacle. On the production side there were four major problems, namely
the unsatisfactory supply of improved chicks, unavailability of vaccine and
trained vaccinators, a lack of trained chick raisers and distributors and a
lack of formulated chicken feed with distributors. On the marketing side a
system of egg collection and selling did not exist. In addition the absence of
credit limited the poor. For vaccine and chick supply a close relationship
with the Directorate of Livestock Services (DoL) was essential. BRAC not
only forged linkages with the State services for the client group but also
created an informal entrepreneurial sector of vaccinators, chick rearers, feed
sale centres and egg collectors. Eight specific activities emerged:
. .. 1) training of cadres of poultry workers, 2) regular vaccinations,
3) establishment of day-old chick rearing units, 4) development of key
rearers, 5) establishment of feed sales centres, 6) egg collectors, 7)
credit and 8) follow up on regular basis.
29

To indicate the extent of the programme:
Farrington, and others, (London: Routledge), 78-82; Lovell. 1992. Breaking the Cycle of
Poverty: The BRAC Strategy, 90.
29
235
By mid 1991 there were more than 11,000 chick rearers who had
supplied nearly 750,000 HYV chicks to 132,000 key rearers in 3,500
villages. Serving the rearers were nearly 9,000 poultry workers...
30
Following the success of the poultry model, the poultry sector of
BRAC, in collaboration with the World Food Programme, The Ministry of
Relief and Rehabilitation and the DoL, implemented a major programme for
destitute women. The programme was called Income Generation for
Vulnerable Group Development (lGVGD)
31
and was intended to replace the
Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) scheme of the Ministry of Relief and
Rehabilitation under the terms of which destitute women received a monthly
wheat ration of 31.25 kg of wheat for two years.
32
The objective of the
new programme was to replace the ration with an income generating
activity of equivalent value. Seventy-five thousand destitute women were
trained during 1990. Average monthly earnings for vaccinators were Tk
250, key rearers Tk 150-200, chick rearers Tk 600-800, feed sellers Tk 450
and egg sellers Tk 235.
33
The monthly earnings were more than the ration
which was equivalent to Tk 175 monthly.
34
Suitability for Landless and Marginal Farm Families
Biological and Environmental Sustainability
The earlier cockerel exchange programme was biologically
questionable as it involved the removal of a source of genetic diversity, the
cock. The presence of a stray local cock from a non-participating family was
30
Lovell. 1992. Breaking the Cycle of Poverty: The BRAC Strategy, 100. An
economic analysis showed an investment of $ US 471,494 generated an income of $ US
2,172,434 or a net profit on investment of $ US 1,770,940; Zafar Ahmad. 1991. The Price
of BRAC's Development Intervention: How Costly is Too Costly. Dhaka BRAC, 1991;
quoted in Lovell. 1992. Breaking the Cycle of Poverty: The BRAC Strategy, 102.

31
Lovell. 1992. Breaking the Cycle of Poverty: The BRAC Strategy, 101.
32
BRAC. 1991. Income Generation for Vulnerable Group Development (IGVGBl,
BRAC, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2; H. Shaikh. 1991. 'An Analytical Report on the Poultry and
Livestock Programme of BRAC,' BRAC Research and Evaluation Division, BRAC, 66
Mohakhali CIA, Dhaka. Photocopied.
33
34

Assumes a price of Tk5.35 per kg. for wheat in 1990-91.
236
a source of potential crossing, with a subsequent returning to smaller bird
weight, reduced egg size and number. Under the poultry model, targeted
rearing of improved chicks could coexist with local birds.
The poultry model is a complex intervention biologically. Chicks are
from an external source. Vaccine is an essential to protect the capital
investment in chicks and feed. Supplementary feed is external to the
existing feed system. Biologically the system is fragile and must be
recognised as such.
Social and Organisational Suitability and Replicability
The BRAC poultry model created an economic opportunity for the
vulnerable, mainly women. The extent of the programme is impressive. The
income impact on the most vulnerable within the village, destitute women,
attests to the structural soundness of all organisational aspects. It is not
possible, however, from the programme reviews to estimate economic risk
as all analysis is based on average earnings. For example, how many
women failed in their venture? What organisational aspects were most
problematic? Did egg sellers always give a reasonable price to egg
producers? Were the egg sellers, a group developed by BRAC, acceptable
within the market?
What BRAC achieved was a technically and organisationally sound
approach to the development of a significant but neglected minor
technology. The poultry model was more complex and required the creation
of a higher level of organisation than GR technology. The seed, fertiliser and
irrigation technology of the GR were additive but for the poultry programme
every component was essential. The poultry model was not only effectively
administered to reach the target group but was highly profitable. Action
research within the environment of the target group enabled the technology
237
to be broken down into identified key issues. Organisational interventions
formed an integral part of the programme.
Appropriateness of the technology was not tied to the more recent
convention of insisting that technology for resource-poor families should be
low input. A commitment by BRAe to cover all weak linkages, either
biological or organisational, with an organisational intervention enabled an
otherwise out-of-reach technology to be accessible to a vulnerable client.
State-led services do not have the means to replicate the complex
management system employed by BRAC. At best the state can be a supplier
of chicks, vaccine and training. The availability of feed is dependent on
developing a supplier-base. At this point in time there is no state service
that has a mandate to develop the organisational aspect of the BRAC
approach. BRAC has successfully developed a viable infrastructure for a
minor enterprise. This is what is most significant concerning the BRAC
poultry model. It is what is needed for such technologies as bamboo
propagation or the Singh vegetable system. The potential of a minor
enterprise has been tapped through building the necessary activities around
the target group. In this case it was vaccine supply, chick rearing, feed
processing, training and marketing of eggs. Other minor enterprises which
can potentially increase incomes of vulnerable farm families are fish culture,
goat rearing, silviculture and so on. The significance of the BRAC example
lies in its approach to creating greater diversity of economic opportunity for
vulnerable families.
Already in the example of the Singh vegetable system and the BRAC
poultry model it is apparent that bamboo seedlings through the innovative
bamboo cultivation technique were not available for Kalam's family simply
because there was no organisational structure developed around it. Despite
the fact that Kalam's wife raised chickens the BRAC system was not open
to her because BRAC were not working in the area. Once again another
potential technology was out of reach. Is it no wonder that Kalam and
Mannan looked to GR technology.
The Green Revolution Technology
238
The task of development of improved rice production has been
undertaken by specialist research institutions. For each ecosystem studied
rice contributed from 35 to 100 per cent of field crop gross returns (chapter
4, figure 31). The term Rice Provision Ability was coined on the basis of the
very clear understanding amongst families across sites of the economic
significance of the number of months of rice consumption provided from
their own fields.
In this section, I will highlight the nature of the rice technology and
then illustrate its intervention in both rainfed and irrigated sites. Through
case studies, I will also show that organisational structure around the
technology is important. This involves asking whether the presence of an
agency that specifically targets marginal farm families affects the outcome
of a technology intervention? This will lead into debate on the 'Green
Revolution', the critics of which have based their attack on ecological and
equity grounds.
The Nature of the Technology
Three factors have been linked together under the Green Revolution -
genetically superior plants or new varieties, fertiliser and irrigation.
Rice Varieties
The miracle rice varieties were self-pollinating seed. The advantage of
non-hybrid seed can be illustrated from the introduction of the rice variety
BR 11 into Kamalganj upazila in North-East Bangladesh in 1980.
35
Initially 10
35
Personal observation.
239
kg of seed were distributed in demonstration kits through the NGO HEED.
For transplanted rice 10 kg of seed covers 0.25 ha and gives approximately
1 tonne of seed for the following year. A small farmer can, assuming the
new variety is suitable, produce sufficient seed from an initial handful to
cover his whole land. In practice a farmer does not plant all land under one
variety but grows several varieties to enable adjustments to season and
timing.
36
A variety, perceived by farmers to be well adapted and superior,
can spread rapidly within three to five years.
Fertiliser
The modern rice varieties are fertiliser responsive, with nitrogen and
sulphur being the key elements needed for many soils in Bangladesh. A
traditional rice variety has weak stems that lodge or fall over easily after
moderate applications of nitrogen fertiliser. For the new modern varieties
(MVs) fertiliser itself is an additive input. Up to the recommended level of
60 to 80 kg of nitrogen per hectare, the response is approximately linear,
with output rising in direct proportion to fertiliser use. This means farmers
may apply as much as is affordable.
Irrigation
Modern rice varieties are also water responsive and much initial
development activity promoted irrigation technology with the new rice
variety. It is essential for growing rice in the dry winter season. A similar
drive to expand local variety production in the dry season would equally
require irrigation. In the wet season the modern rice varieties performed well
without irrigation.
36
Alastair W. Orr and Noel P. Magar. 1987 . A Model of Resource Constraints on
Turnaround Time in Bangladesh,' IRRI Research Paper Series no. 130.
240
There are organisational structures that have developed around the
variety, fertiliser and irrigation components of the technology. For example
for a new rice variety the most complex structures are at the initial stages in
which the variety is developed. The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute has
numerous divisions of research scientists committed to the development of
suitable varieties. After the release of a variety the required structures are
minimal with seed exchange from farm to farm being most effective.
37
Cash
is not necessary as the seed can even be exchanged in kind. For fertiliser a
distribution network of dealerships is essential and a farm family requires
capital for purchase. The availability of credit may also become critical for
the recommended level of inputs. Irrigation is by far the most complex with
the level of organisational support varying from simply market sale and
repair capability for a manual irrigation pump to an institutional support
structure like the Bangladesh Water Development Board for project
management of canal irrigation. Table 31 gives examples of the type of
organisational support needed for the respective components of GR
technology coupled with the different requirements for capital.
The Rainfed Two Rice Crop System
Of 10.3 million ha of rice land in Bangladesh, 3.0 million ha is
classified as shallow rainfed.
38
Approximately 1.0 to 1.5 million ha is
planted to the rainfed two rice system of direct seeded or transplanted aus
37
Personal observation; Suresh Ch. Paul of Ghospur village of Shamshernager
Union brought a small amount of the new rice variety BR3 from Comilla in 1977. It became
a substitute for IR8 with the varieties IR8 and BR3 together covering a niche area of 15 per
cent of the aus crop.
38
M.S. Ahmad and N. Nasiruddin. 1979. 'Rainfed Lowland Rice in Bangladesh, ' in
Rainfed Lowland Rice: Selected papers from the 1978 International Rice Research Institute
Conference, IRRI, Los Banos, Philippines, 75. Shallow rainfed refers to the landtype that is
not flooded to more than 5-1 5 cm after heavy rainfall.
241
followed by transplanted aman.
39
Being a double-crop system, its
development confounded the then conventional approach to research which
focused on the single crop. BRRI, in 1976, adapted its research approach to
what became known as the cropping systems research methodology.
40
For
Bangladesh the systems approach was a pioneering effort:
Conventional agriculture development concentrates on optimising
production of a single crop or commodity. This commodity approach
has not always been successful in Bangladesh, because of the
complexity .... Often the technology or variety that gave the best
yields at the experimental station did not fit the farmer's existing
pattern. Therefore, optimal planting dates and recommended
management practices were not followed and this resulted in lower
than expected yields. The farmer was not always encouraged by
these results to adopt the new technology and in many cases found
his existing system more to his liking.
41

The research was conducted on a representative site and consisted of '.
60 to 100 contiguous plots covering an area of four to six hectares.
'42
A
general recommendation to emerge from the research was:
The farmer should preferably grow a modern transplanted aus crop in
the first season. If the farmer grows a short duration aus variety like
Chand ina or BR6 a modern aman variety, like BR4, Pajam or the new
varieties like BR 10 or BR 11 should be grown in aman.
43
A crucial question that arose was the feasibility of transferring such
results in time and space.
44
The contiguous plot approach did not allow for
the identification of hydrological determinants. Topographical position and
timing were key determinants in a farmer's choice of varieties for each
season.
39
Akhter Hossain Khan and others. 1987. 'The Rainfed Aus-T.Aman System-
Moving Ahead with Understanding,' paper presented at Regional BRRI-DAE Multilocation
Testing Review Meeting, Dec. 1987, 1. Photocopied.
40
M. Zahidul Hoque and Peter R. Hobbs. 1981. Rainfed Cropping Systems: Report
of Research Findings at Bhogra Village 1975-79, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh, bulletin no. 46,
3.
41
Hoque. 1981. Rainfed Cropping Systems ... Bhogra Village 1975-79, 5.
42
43
44
Magor. 1982. 'A Cropping Pattern Model for Rainfed Lowland Rice,' 1.
242
My research led to the development of:
... a cropping pattern model that accounted for rainfall variability
and topography that incorporated the additional determinants of
photoperiod and low night temperatures to define the length of the
two-rice season.

45

Table 31. Examples of organisational support and complementary capital
requirements for each component of the Green Revolution rice
technology.
Technology
Component
Organisational
Support
Capital Requirements
Rice variety state research
extension training
state investment
minimal farmer to farmer
exchange
Fertiliser banks, credit co-
operation,
dealerships.
a distribution
network
small amount of cash
possibly critical for
the marginal
Irrigation banks, cooperatives,
repair workshops,
fuel outlets,
electricity grid
large capital works
for a project area,
dependent on choice
of irrigation -
capital dependent on
choice of irrigation
deep-tubewell
shallow tubewell
treadle pump
Several important findings emerged from the research:
and
Within the single rainfall zone topographic position was found to exert
a major influence on the yield performance of cropping patterns. In
1981, the yield of the aus-aman pattern was only 2225 kg per
hectare for fields where water stood for up to 5 days after rain and
6595 kg per hectare, where the water stayed for up to 18 days.
46

For the aman crop, 62 per cent of all yield variation was attributable
to transplanting date and water stress.
47
45
Magor. 1982 . A Cropping Pattern Model for Rainfed Lowland Rice,' 1.
46
Noel P. Magor. 1984. Potential in Rainfed Rice Production in North-East
Bangladesh, BRRI, Gazipur, bulletin no. 69, 1.
47
Magor . 1984. Potential in Rainfed Rice Production in North East Bangladesh, 2.
243
The research confirmed the BRRI recommendation, but only for some of the
farmers' plots. Transplanting of the first crop had to be completed by May
25 for the recommendation to be followed and it was necessary that plots
held standing water for about ten days after heavy rain in September or
October. Also a critical cut-off date for transplanting the second rice crop
was proposed, after which a local variety should be grown.
The establishment of the aus crop within anyone year is spread over
a four to eight week period and the aman crop over a similar period. A
study by Orr et al.
48
identified labour and draught power constraints as
contributing to the length of the turnaround time between the two rice
crops. By drawing the socio-economic factors of labour and draught-power
availability and the biological model of varietal sequence recommendations
together, it was found that farmers were optimising production through
varietal choice within the constraints of labour and draught power.
49

Through many years farmers had developed a finely-tuned system
that matched expectations of rainfall pattern, land type and labour and
draught-power availability.
As indicated in table 32 the recommendations from BRRI for the
eastern and central regions were made very specific.
50
In addition to the
extensive site research ' ... the opportunity of interaction with the
Department of Agricultural Extension in over 30 upazilas in which the
rainfed aus - aman system is a major cropping pattern'
51
added to region-
48
Alastair W. Orr and others. 1990. Economic Constraints on Turnaround Time in
Bangladesh A Pilot Study, BRRI, Gazipur, bulletin no. 89.
49
Orr. 1987. 'A Model of Resource Constraints on Turnaround Time.'
50
Mainur Rahman Siddiqui and others. 1990. 'Towards Equity: Impact of Modern
Rice Technology in a Rainfed Lowland Environment,' paper presented at the 1990 Asian
Farming Systems Research and Extension Symposium, Bangkok, Thailand, 19-22 Nov.
1990 and published in Best Paper Awards 1990 Asian Farming Systems Research and
Extension Symposium International Potato Center User's Perspective with Agricultural
Research and Development (UPWARD), ed. Robert E. Rhoades, Virginia. N. Sandoval and
C.P. Bagalanon, 67.
51
Khan. 'The Rainfed Aus-T.Aman System-Moving Ahead with Understanding,' 14.

244
specific recommendations
52

that were also linked to the national agro-
ecological zones database.
53
With the detailed understanding that had emerged, the possibility of a
critical link between the complex two rice system and future breeding
efforts was apparent. To draw the site findings and breeding together, the
Rice Farming Systems Division initiated a collaborative activity with the
Breeding Division from 1985 the central objective of which was:
To identify transplanted aus and transplanted aman advanced lines
that will enable growing of modern aus followed by modern
transplanted aman over a greater area than is at present being
achieved. The emphasis was on the use of short duration
lines/varieties in the aus season and short duration or photo-period
sensitive lines/varieties in aman.
54
Biological and Ecological Suitability
The rainfed two-rice system is a sophisticated finely-tuned technology
that has evolved, with shifts in population pressure, rice varieties and
availability of fertiliser, over many generations. The fitting of the GR
technology into the two-rice system has made possible a sustainable
incremental increase in productivity. It is an example of appropriate GR
technology in a rainfed environment. The use of the Cropping Systems
Research approach has ensured ecological fit. The linkage to plant breeding
has ensured the ongoing release of appropriate varieties. The R&D process
will be further discussed in Chapter 6.
52
Nizam Uddin Ahmed and others. 1988. 'Performance of Rainfed Technologies in
Multilocation Test Programme in Bangladesh, ' paper presented at the BRRI -DAE Sponsored
Workshop on the Experiences with Modern Rice Cultivation in Bangladesh, Apr. 5-8, 1988,
Gazipur. Photocopied.
53
Nizam Uddin Ahmed and others. 1990. 'Extrapolation and Testing of
Technologies in Bangladesh,' paper presented at Workshop for Ecosystems Analysis for
Extrapolation of Agricultural Technologies, May 22-25, 1990, Cagayan, Philippines.
Photocopied.
54
IDRC. 1988. Sixth and Final Technical Report for Cropping Systems Research and
Development Phase III (3-P-81 -0081), 12.
245
Table 32. Cropping pattern recommendations for rainfed lowland
environments for heavy textured soils based on the aus
transplanting cut-off dates.
Cut off date for Cropping pattern
transplanting aus
aus transplanted aman
May 25 BR1 BR11 or BR1 0
May 25 long duration modern local variety
variety
Before June 20' a) short duration local BR11 or BR10
variety
b) short duration local variety
modern variety
After June 20
2
No aus BR11 or BR1 0
'If rain (200 mm per month) starts late beyond May.
2Late rainfall, labour or draught power constraints.
Remarks
Refined original
recommended pattern
aman transplanting will
take place in
September
aman transplanting to
be completed within
August
aman transplanting is
expected to take place
in September
transplanting to be
completed within July
The future in terms of productivity increasing can also be seen. The
earlier set of recommendations did not include a modern variety for late
transplanted aman, which in an area like Kamalganj represented thirty per
cent of the total area.
55
The photo-period sensitive varieties of BR22 and
BR23 provided an option for farmers and on release were immediately
placed in multi-location test (ML T) plots for late planting:
55
Magor. 1982. 'A Cropping Pattern Model for Rainfed Lowland Rice,' 22.
246
Farmer response was very positive. BR22 was preferred for its seed
characteristics and all farmers said they would increase the area
cultivated next year.
56
Such quick-linking was possible through the ongoing practice of systematic
research that had commenced in 1976. It formed part of the critical
incremental increase in productivity of field crops that small and marginal
farm families require.
Equity Suitability
The outcome for small and marginal farmers was significant. In an
extensive study to determine the impact of the two rice crop
recommendations in Kamalganj:
Comparatively, poorer farmers as measured by gain and loss of
capital assets, type of non-farm income and luxury consumption have
been higher adopters and have invested more in the extra inputs
required for the new production process. Without adopting the
modern rice technology in the system, their economic condition could
have been worse.
57
A 'what if scenario?' as shown in figure 35 illustrates the
ramifications in terms of cash balance for marginal farm families of not
adopting the improved rice technology. The cash balance expressed on a
per hectare basis is for the whole-farm and includes non-farm income. For
low adopters, rice contributed 43 per cent to total family income, whereas
for high adopters it was 60 per cent. Non-farm income sources in business,
service employment and overseas remittances contributed more for low
adopters. In contrast the contribution of labour income was higher for high
adopters. Poorer families were the higher adopters. The growing of rice was
a profitable enterprise and was more profitable at the high adoption level.
Over the two seasons of aus and aman net returns were Tk 3800 or 28 per
56
Noel P. Magor. 1989. 'Trip Report: Kamalganj Nov. 25-30, 1989,' in Quarterly
Report (Oct.-Dec.) BRRI/IRRI Project Rice Research and Training Phase III, US A.I.D. Project
No. 388-005103; CIDA Project No. 170/08004, Attachment II, Appendix 4d, 1.
57
Siddiqui. 1990. 'Towards Equity: Impact of Modern Rice Technology,' 53.
247
cent more for high adopters. Low adopters were larger farmers with an
annual net cash balance per ha of Tk 3770. For medium adopters the net
cash balance per ha was Tk 450. Expenditure and income more or less
balanced. For small farmers, who were high adopters of the recommended
rice technology in terms of land-use intensity, varietal use and fertiliser, the
net cash balance per ha was slightly negative at Tk 877. In other words
even with the extra net returns that were possible through higher adoption
of the recommended rice package the family still operated at an overall
deficit. That negative balance was reflected in the sale of fixed assets over
time for the high adopters. However, if the high adopters who were small
and marginal farm families had operated at the level of the low-adopter large
farmers, their net cash balance per ha would have stood at minus Tk 8880.
In other words the lower output per ha from using the lower levels of
management as practised by the larger farmers would have resulted in a far
greater family budget deficit. The higher use of recommended variety
sequence, fertiliser usage, and intensity of land use had given a yield
advantage of 1.74 tonnes per hectare to the smaller farmers.
58
The
improved rice technology had enabled the small farmers to avoid a large net
cash deficit. In other words their vulnerability was reduced through the
adoption of the improved rainfed rice technology.
58
Siddiqui. 1990. 'Towards Equity: Impact of Modern Rice Technology,' 58 and
66.
Figure 35. Annual net cash balance by level of adoption, with a
comparison of the estimated balance for high adopters
operating at the low level of productivity, Kamalganj rainfed
lowland ecosystem, 1989-90 (adjusted to per ha).
Taka Net Cash Balance ('000)
6
4
2

- 2
- 4
What if
- - - - - - - - scenario for - . -
small farmers
- 6
-6

Low Medium High High
Low production
Adoption level
248
249
Irrigated Improved Rice Technology
The following case studies provide insights on irrigation and
vulnerable families, both landless and marginal farm families. The case
studies suggest that, by giving importance to the linking organisation, it is
possible with minor irrigation to direct benefits to vulnerable families. In
each case study the biochemical components of rice variety and fertiliser
are constant. The choice of irrigation equipment and institutional linkages
differ.
The first case study contrasts the NGO, Rangpur Dinajpur Rural
Service (RDRS)' which promoted the use of manual irrigation, and the state-
owned, Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), which employed
electric-operated deep-tubewells. For RDRS the clientele were landless and
marginal farm families, and for BWDB there was no targeting. In the second
case study I look at the recent phenomenon of Proshika, BRAC and the
Grameen Bank in their organisation of assetless groups to sell water to
farmers.
The case studies with their different combinations of irrigation
technology and methods of institutional delivery for a similar rice technology
are summarised in table 33.
Table 33. Case studies for the modern rice technology linked to different
institutions and irrigation type.
Case study Rice technology Irrigation type
Case study 1
RDRS modern rice
Bangladesh Water modern rice
Development Board
Case study 2
Proshika; BRAC; Grameen modern rice
Bank
manual irrigation
deep-tubewell
deep-tube well or
shallow tubewell
Institutional client
focus
targeted
non targeted
targeted
Comparative Case Study: RDRS and the Bangladesh Water Development
Board and Mode of Irrigation
The Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Services (RDRS) is a non government
organisation operating across six northern districts that have a total
population of six million.
59
In 1991 it was one of the largest NGOs in
Bangladesh, with just under 1700 staff.
60
250
The Comprehensive Project is RDRS's largest project, working with
over 117,000 households across 28 upazilas. The seven group-based
Comprehensive Project Units organise small groups of 15 people
owning less than one acre [0.4 ha] of land .... Building economic
and social independence aims to help people live better and become
less dependent on the rich and powerful.
61

From their field experience of working with small and marginal farm
families during the seventies, there arose the need for a cheap pump for
irrigation.
62
RDRS started with a clear concept of the type of pump farmers
needed. It had to have an output sufficient to irrigate at least 0.5 ha
of wheat; the total cost of purchase and installation was not to be
more than the price of one bag of paddy; and the pump was to be
simple enough to make and repair locally.
63
The pump which was developed satisfied each of these criteria. RDRS had
pioneered a minor revolution in manual irrigation through the development
of the treadle pump which was made from low-cost bamboo and PVC.
64

Since its introduction in 1979:
... over 185,000 pumps have been sold, making it one of the most
successful irrigation pumps ever made in Bangladesh .... Currently
sales are running at about 65,000 manual pumps a year.
65
59
RDRS. 1991. RDRS 91; LWS Bangladesh Annual Report, RDRS, House 62, Road
7 A, Dhanmondhi, Dhaka, 1209, Bangladesh, 7.
60
RDRS. 1991. RDRS 91 LWS Bangladesh Annual Report, 7.
61
RDRS. 1991. RDRS 91; LWS Bangladesh Annual Report, 17.
62
Alastair W. Orr, A.S.M. Nazrul Islam and Gunnar Barnes. 1991 . The Treadle
Pump: Manual Irrigation for Small Farmers in Bangladesh, RDRS House 62, Road 7 A,
Dhanmondhi, Dhaka, 1209, Bangladesh, 7.
63
Orr. 1991. The Treadle Pump: Manual Irrigation for Small Farmers, 18.
64
65
Orr. 1991 . The Treadle Pump: Manual Irrigation for Small Farmers, 31.
251
In an impact study it was found that the treadle pump was used extensively
by marginal farmers to irrigate winter rice. The treadle pump' ... [had]
acted as a "leading input" by facilitating the spread of modern rice.
'66

In the same northern region in which RDRS operated, the North
Bangladesh Tubewell Project comprised 381 deep-tubewells (DTW) and was
managed by the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB).
67
The
tubewells were electric and each tubewell operated as an independent unit
that was managed by a village-level cooperative.
68
Operational costs were
highly subsidised. The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and BWDB
in collaboration with IRRI commenced a research project in 1981 with one
of the specific objectives being:
To develop practically useful criteria and a suitable method for
improved allocation and equitable distribution of irrigation water to
increase irrigation efficiency and service area per unit volume of
available water. [emphasis added]
69

Modern rice and modern wheat were an integral part of the crop
technology.
The project areas for the deep-tubewells and the treadle pumps were
on the same landtype and had a similar soil type. The selected deep-
tubewells for the case study were near the main road to the District
headquarters of Thakurgaon whereas the treadle-pump area was more
remote but within about 5 km of the deep-tubewells.
In this case study there was the use of a common biochemical
technology, different irrigation technology and different institutional modes
of delivery. The North Bangladesh Tubewell Project was non targeted and
66

67
Irrigation Effectiveness and Crop Production, a joint project of BRRI, BWDB in collaboration
with IRRI, 1.
68
BRRI-IRRI-BWDB. 1986. Increasing Irrigation Effectiveness, 1.
69
BRRI-IRRI-BWDB. 1983. Progress Report: Applied Research for Increasing
with IRRI,1 .

252
was perceived by BWDB to benefit all, in contrast to the RDRS programme
which was targeted to marginal farm families.
Distribution of Benefits
What has happened in each project concerning:
i) control of irrigated area;
ii) area of land irrigated; and
iii) land assets over time?
In the RDRS site landless and marginal families controlled over 50 per
cent of the irrigated land and medium and large farmers less than 15 per
cent (figure 36a).
70
This was achieved through a substantial sharing-in of
land. By contrast for the BWDB area approximately 50 per cent of irrigated
land was managed by medium and large farmers and only 25 per cent by
landless and small cultivators (figure 36a). Cultivators in each land class in
the RDRS programme irrigated a considerably higher percentage of their
cultivated land than their corresponding land class in the BWDB project
(figure 36b).
The interpretation of change in land assets over time is far from
complete, but the following are initial observations. Figures 37a and 37b
show changes in landholding aggregated by land class since inheritance.
Treadle pumps were mainly used by small, marginal and landless families.
Farmers with larger holdings in both sites showed greater gains in land
owned. However, the percentage of families in the landless to small class
that showed gains in landholding were greater in the RDRS site. For the
BWDB area there was a more substantial increase amongst medium and
large farmers.
70
Data from a stratified sample adjusted to land class proportions of a completed
village census. Class based on land owned with class categories of less than 0.02 ha for
landless; 0.02 to 0.2 for functionally landless; 0.2 to 0.4 for marginal; 0.4 to 1.0 for small;
1.0 to 3.0 for medium; and above 3.0 for large.
253
Figure 36. Comparison of total land irrigated by each land class (a) and
percent of irrigated land in each class (b) for the deep-tubewell,
BWOB, and treadle pump, RORS, programmes in north-west
Bangladesh, 1991.
Percent
1 2 3 4 5 6
Land Class
(a)
Land category
1 <0.02 ha landless
2 0.02 - <0.2 funtionally landless
3 0.2 - <0.4 marginal
4 0.4 - <1.0 small
5 1.0 - <3.0 medium
6 >3.0 large
Percent
1 234 5 6
land Class
(b)
254
Figure 37. Comparison of change in landholding since inheritance for (a)
deep-tubewells, BWDB, and (b) treadle-pumps, RDRS,
programmes; in north-west Bangladesh, 1991.
3 - - - - - - - - - . -. - - - - - -
...
- - - - - - - - i -

I
a
...

1 - - - - - - - - - - - -
..
~
1

-2 - - - - - - - - -
O ""bNo .. IBwOe)
~ L - __ ~ I __ ~ I ____ ~ i __ ~ j __ ~
L.,d O ISS
(a)
Land category
1 <0.02 ha landless
2 0.02 - <0.2 funtionally landless
3 0.2 - <0.4 marginal
4 0.4 - <1 .0 small
5 1.0 - <3.0 medium
6 >3.0 large
ChIW1g8 in Land (hI)
2 '. - - -
x t
*
...
a
...
...
...
-1 - - - - - - - - p ... - ' '. - - -
~ , L - __ ~ __ ~ ~ ~ __ ~ __ ~
1
Land a
(b)
255
The benefit to marginal farm families in the targeted RDRS irrigated
programme is greater than within the BWDB project. This is not dismissing
the positive benefit to marginal and small farm families in irrigation schemes
as opposed to the absence of irrigation. An equity study on DTWs showed:
... small farmers still do relatively better [than larger farmers] from
the DTW, because they own a significantly higher proportion of the
command area.
Relative to all land operated, production benefits were higher for
smaller farmers than medium and larger farmers,
71
Also Khan's study in the Comilla District, the heartland of the GR
technology in Bangladesh found:
With access to irrigation, the small and marginal landowners were
able to improve their economic position, overcome their household
food deficit and thus become less vulnerable to alienation from their
land,
72

Case Study Two: Water Sellers
The entry of landless water sellers into the agricultural market-place
represents a unique development. Wood interprets the opportunity as
arising out of the significant pressure of increased population coupled with
the fragmentation of landholdings. Irrigation, which demands the
consolidation of land, is increasingly important for farm viability but is in
contradiction with the fragmentation of landholdings. The separation of the
ownership of land and the distribution of water has emerged as a means of
combating the above contradiction. With the separation comes an
opportunity for non-cultivators and even landless to participate in the
benefits of increased agricultural production through services like the sale of
71
IDA Deep-tubewell II Project. 1990. Equity Impact of Deep-tubewells, Mott
Macdonald International Limited in association with Hunting Technical Services Limited
Engineering and Planning Consultants, Dhaka under assignment by Overseas Development
Administration, United Kingdom, Working Paper no. 58, Abstract .
72
S.A. Khan. 1989. The State and Village Society: The Political Economy of
Agricultural Development in Bangladesh (Dhaka: University Press Limited Dhaka), 57.
water. It is an opportunity open to large landholders, urban persons with
capital and the landless,73 However, for the landless or marginal farm
families to capitalise on the opportunity, organisational intervention is
256
necessary. Proshika, BRAC and the GB are organisations that have sought
to exploit the gap in services to benefit the landless through landless-
managed irrigation groups.
Proshika and Water Sellers
Proshika is an NGO that was established in 1976. In 1992 it was
active:
.. in 50 Area Development Centres (ADCs) which cover 3460
villages, 440 unions, 72 upazi/as and 28 districts. . .. now the total
number of groups stands at 25, 436. .. . presently there are
25,355 employment and income generating activities supported by
the revolving loan fund. Total amount disbursed as loans .. . is Tk
358,506,856. Besides, the group members have invested a total of
Tk 70,172,000 from their own savings. As many as 2,281,950
people have been benefited from these projects over the year.
74
Proshika developed a programme I of establishing irrigation assets in
the hands of the landless as the basis of a landless-provision of irrigation
services.
75
The irrigation services were sold to farmers within the command
area for a percentage of the harvest. Proshika had undertaken 747 irrigation
projects with 85 new projects in 1991 -92. Of the most recent projects the
irrigation technology comprised 57 shallow-tubewells, 16 low-lift pumps and
12 deep-tubewells. The crop technology was dominantly modern rice and
the irrigation was conventional deep-tubewells, low-l ift pumps and shallow-
tubewells. Wood et al. completed a thorough analysis of the process and
73
Geof D. Wood. 1994. Bangladesh: Whose Ideas, Whose Interests? (Dhaka:
University Press Ltd.), 250-51.
74
Proshika Manobik Unnayan Kendra. 1992. Proshika A Praxis in Participatory
Development: Annual Activity Report , July 1991 - June 1992, Proshika, 5/2 Iqbal Road,
Mohammadpur, Dhaka- 1207, 1-3.
75
Geoff Wood, Richard Palmer-Jones with O.F. Ahmed, M.A.S. Mandai and S.C.
Dutta. 1991 . The Water Sellers: A Cooperative Venture by the Rural Poor (London: IT
Publications)' Introduction xxi.
257
social benefits of the experimental projects.
76
I wish to highlight some
pertinent remarks from their concluding analysis:
... some NGO's have entered the space ... with programs that
offer an immediate prospect of greater material security, at a time of
changing structural relationships when the entitlements to the means
of survival are becoming more precarious for many.
The existence of NGOs like Proshika represents a further set of
special development institutions, which have combined the ideas of
Paolo Freire with an analysis of the political economy of Bangladesh
to create distinctive programs of work with the rural poor.
77
The programme has not been transferable to the government sector with
many such groups 'being dominated by individuals linked to the dominant
families in the village.
'78
BRAe and Water Sellers
Irrigation is a second example of a single-focus enterprise activity.
BRAe entered irrigation and consequently modern rice cultivation in the late
1970s. The DTW programme had expanded to 309 wells in 1991.
79
Some 25,000 members of landless groups were shareholders. Eighty
five per cent ran profitably, and the total profit stood at Tk
2,349,323. Some 25 [wells] ... operated .[at] .. a loss.
80
For 1991-92 the number of DTWs had expanded to 626.
81
The technology
was the traditional DTW and modern rice cultivation. BRAe has highlighted
the economic and social impact of its programme:
The bottom land category [0.50 acre or 0.2 ha group] performed
better than the other landholding groups. . .. this ... is ... of
special significance not only from the point of economic success but
76
Wood. 1991. The Water Sellers.
77
Wood. 1991. The Water Sellers, 224.
78
Wood. 1991. The Water Sellers, 225.
79
80
81

BRAC. 1992. Deep Tubewell Report: 1991-92 Bora Season, 66 Mohakhali
Commercial Area, Dhaka 1212, 3.
258
also from the accrual of land related benefits to the BRAC targeted
population.
82
Social benefits had increased solidarity amongst the poor. There had been a
significant shift in social dependency with the large farmers now being
dependent on landless groups. Education of group members resulted in a
greater awareness of rights in share collection. In disputes there was
greater confidence in filing cases with the police. The new solidarity was
weakening the patron-client relationship, and there was a positive change in
the status of the poor, who were owners of the tubewells.
83
The Grameen Bank, Purchase of Government DTWs and Water Sellers
GB is a specialised financial institutional that was established in 1983
to provide credit to the rural poor.
84
Credit is tightly targeted.
One member of a household that owns less than 0.5 acre [or 0.2
ha]of cultivatable land or assets not exceeding 1.0 acre [or 0.4 ha] of
land is eligible to take loans from the bank.
85
Since 1988 GB made moves to increase the control of capital assets
on behalf of the landless. GB purchased over 700 deep-tubewells from the
Government with the intention of establishing a water selling and input
service delivery programme. GB management of these assets was quite
different to that of Proshika and BRAC.
GB had rejected the idea of landless ownership of DTWs and was
developing a new project in which a wholly owned subsidiary of GB
would own and manage DTWs directly.
86
In the first year of operation there was a loss of Tk 19,034,113 but
individual performance varied.
87

According to Palmer-Jones, by the end of
82
BRAC. 1992. Deep Tubewell Report, 24-27.
83
BRAC. 1992. Deep Tubewell Report, 25-28.
84
Mahabub Hossain. 1988. Credit for the Alleviation of Rural Poverty: the Grameen
Bank in Bangladesh, International Food Policy Research Institute in collaboration with the
BIDS, Research Report no. 65, 9.

85
Hossain. 1988. Credit for the Alleviation of Rural Poverty, 9.
86
R.W. Palmer-Jones. 1992. 'Sustaining Serendipity? Groundwater Irrigation,
Growth of Agricultural Production, and Poverty in Bangladesh,' Economic and Political
Weekly September 26, 1992, A 135.
259
the 1990-91 season ' ... its accumulated losses were put at some $ US 4.4
million.
'88
Despite taking control of the DTWs, the management system
instituted by the GB has yet to develop a profit in the exercise of
management of DTWs for the landless. The programme has been part of a
broader objective of GB that is embodied within the articles of the new
Grameen Krishi (agriculture) Foundation.
89
The objectives for which the Foundation is established are any or all
of the following: .. .
ii) To acquire and take over from the government and/or private
organisations and to manage the whole or any part of agricultural
farms, equipment, enterprises, seed multiplication farms, livestock
farms, fruit nurseries, fisheries, research stations, storage and/or
such other facilities which will help alleviate poverty.
90

The ambition of GB to control assets like irrigation equipment on behalf of
the landless must in the future be matched by a management capability in
handling lumpy capital assets. Management of capital assets like DTWs
requires a management capability that is distinct from that needed for
individual credit. I take this up further in the chapter on institutions.
Suitability for Landless and Marginal Farm Families
Increased irrigation has been seen as the keystone of policies to
increase agricultural growth in Bangladesh.
91

87
Correspondence with Professor Yunis, dated October 25, 1990, regarding
interpretation of loss. In reviewing the loss, I had been given access to printed records for
all deep-tubewells. All expenses and production records had been completely itemised.
88
Palmer-Jones. 1992. 'Sustaining Serendipity?' A 135.
89
Grameen Krishi Foundation. 1991. Memorandum and Articles of Association,
Grameen Bank, Mirpur 2, Dhaka 1216. Photocopied.
90
Grameen Krishi Foundation. 1991. Memorandum and Articles of Association, 1.
91
A.C. Lindquist. 1989. 'Project Aid in Agriculture: Major (Surface Water) Flood
Control, Drainage and Irrigation Projects,' in Bangladesh Agriculture Sector Review:
Bangladesh Agriculture Performance and Policies: Compendium Vol III Land, Water and
Irrigation. Sponsored by UNDP March 1989, 1-41.
Irrigation Equipment Suitability
Minor irrigation equipment encompasses deep-tubewells, shallow-
tubewells, low-lift pumps and manual equipment like the treadle pump.
260
Traditional irrigation is with a swinging basket. The relative profitability of
each form of irrigation has been profoundly affected by government policy.
Issues of public versus private ownership, levels of subsidy for different
types of irrigation equipment, specification requirements for irrigation
equipment and level of tariffs, all affect the performance of each type of
irrigation equipment. Because of the changing policy, rather than being
specific concerning suitability, I will trace recent changes and what
pressures these produce concerning choice of equipment.
Policy has been subject to intense manipulation. In the seventies
DTW and LLP equipment was supplied at minimal cost with strict
specifications limiting the types of irrigation equipment. Through BWDB and
the Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) the equipment was leased
out. However, poor performance in minor irrigation' ... gave rise to
pressure to privatise the supply of STW and LLP and the ownership of
DTW
'
92
. In 1987 there was a substantial shift in policy.
Starting in 1987 the government of Bangladesh deregulated the
standardisation of minor irrigation equipment, and lifted for the
meantime import duties and sales taxes on small diesel engines for
irrigation; it also committed itself to reducing subsidies of DTW. Sales
of STW picked up rapidly and private sector imports of mainly
Chinese small diesel engines boomed.
93
The benefits of this policy shift became apparent:
By 1992 farmers had a far wider range of equipment to choose from,
and there were many entrants to the business of supplying this
equipment. Boro production rose rapidly ...

94

92
Palmer-Jones. 1992. 'Sustaining Serendipity?' A 131; UN DP. 1989. Bangladesh
Agriculture Sector Review: Bangladesh Agriculture Performance and Policies: Compendium
Volume V Institutions, sponsored by UNDP BGD/87/023, 117.
93

94

261
However, relaxation of equipment specifications and subsidy levels
caused upheaval in the market. For example, DTWs in the North-West, sunk
in the 1960s and onwards, were part of a policy environment of high
subsidies and controls on specifications of irrigation equipment. That
particular area is highly suited to STWs. The DTWs, with subsidies
removed, are not able to compete with the cheap Chinese STWs. In addition
STW motors are very versatile. Examples are as motors for boats, multi-site
irrigation and crushing of sugarcane.
Proshika, BRAC and GB entered the market at a time when price
distortions were being lifted. The profitability of DTWs was in question.
Palmer-Jones states:
It should be realised that at present no economically viable mode of
management of DTW that will fit the bill has evolved , or is on the
horizon.
95
The cost of extracting water through DTWs is more expensive than for
STW, LLP or treadle pumps. How much the losses by GB were due to
management strategy and how much due to shifts is policy is difficult to
ascertain. The competition between irrigation equipment extends also to
treadle pumps. In the North-West Chinese STWs will also challenge the
spread of treadle pumps.
96
The suitability of irrigation equipment is in
turmoil due to shifts in irrigation policy.
Deregulation of irrigation equipment has affected the relative
profitability of the major forms of minor irrigation. The critical issue for the
organisations that are working with landless and marginal farm families is to
be aware of the shifts in relative profitability and to switch equipment
accordingly.
95


96
262
Equity Suitability
Proshika, BRAC and the Grameen Bank, through the control of water
delivery have effectively directed the benefits of GR technology to the
assetless. The poor are gaining' ... rents and profits from expanded
agricultural production.
'97
The creation of appropriate institutional linkages
was essential for increasing benefits for the vulnerable. These findings
contrast with the line of argument developed by Boyce.
According to Boyce, irrigated technology is the leading input in
agricultural development; but it faces obstacles. He argues along the
following lines. Adequate water control is the' ... binding technological
constraint at the present level of agricultural development in the region'.
98

Water control is defined as irrigation, drainage and flood control. Irrigation is
not divisible at the individual level but requires a degree of collective
management, which requires institutions.
99
However, it is ' ... public good
problems [that] inhibit water control, in the absence of institutional
mechanisms for cooperation above the level of the individual farm' .
100

Without' ... greater equality of land ownership ... ' through redistribution
a breakthrough in improved agricultural performance may not be
achieved.
101

Collective action is not a strong trait in the village within
Bangladesh. Even the Communist Party Government within West Bengal had
failed in this regard.
102
Boyce faces a dilemma as one of his underlying
assumptions is the necessity for a government body to direct efforts
97
Wood. 1994. Bangladesh: Whose Ideas, Whose Interests? 255.
98
James K. Boyce. 1987. Agrarian Impasse in Bengal: Institutional Constraints to
Technological Change (London: Oxford University Press), 252.
99
Boyce. 1987. Agrarian Impasse in Bengal, 49.
100
101
102
Boyce. 1987. Agrarian Impasse in Bengal, 255; Ross Mallik. 1992. 'Agrarian
Reform in West Bengal: The End of an Illusion,' World Development 20, no. 5, 735-750.
West Bengal has been under a communist government for many years and has reportedly
initiated land reform measures and yet Mallik concludes otherwise and contributes ... 'The
failure of programs to bring significant empowerment or material benefits to the lower
classes is due to rural elite dominance over the local state bureaucracy and ruling parties'.
263
towards marginal farm families and yet the elite already control all the local
institutions. His conclusion is rather bleak, as based on the recent
performance (up to 1980 in his study), agriculture growth had not kept
pace with population increase.
103
I now need to add a word of caution. For Kalam in Sariatpur the
option of exploiting the change in policy and of being linked with one of the
targeted organisations like BRAC is not available. As I sit on the grass mat
with Kalam and Mannan and the growing group of villagers, what do I say?
In our discussions on irrigation several of the women in the background
have even become vocal. In their area the quest for irrigation is dominating.
The experiences of the 1987 and 1988 floods and the consequences of the
losses are very real. The same GR irrigated technology in the case studies
was the technology directly affected by the liberalisation of tariffs and
equipment specifications in 1987. That liberalisation was pre-empted by a
national need for a rapid recovery from the devastating floods of 1987.
However, the economic position of many marginal farm families has
deteriorated since that time. And yet irrigation equipment has become more
available at cheaper prices. Let us look at Kalam's dilemma more closely.
In 1987 and 1988, Bangladesh experienced devastating floods that reduced
the national production for the aus rice and major aman rice crops.
104
The
deepwater ecosystem was particularly affected. To accelerate recovery and
as part of an ongoing structural reform process, cheap imported irrigation
pumps became available on the market. The positive effect of the wider
availability of these pumps is reflected nationally in the expansion of winter
rice cultivation - the traditional Green Revolution technology (figure 38a).
103
104
Aus rice is either direct seeded or transplanted from April to June and harvested
from July to September. It is harvested during the monsoon. Aman rice is transplanted from
June to late September and in exceptional years in early October and is harvested from
November to January after the monsoon.
264
The earlier cited work by Palmer-Jones gives a similar finding and covers up
to 1992. That expansion in pump use, however, needs to be seen
alongside the difficulty some families in deepwater areas were having in
recovering from the devastating floods. Many families, like Kalam's
mortgaged-out or sold their land. Marginal and small farm families
transferred-out 18 to 20 per cent of their land compared to 11 to 15 per
cent for medium and large farmers (figure 38b).
105
With the debt resulting
from the disaster and the lack of an effective institution for marginal farm
families, the more vulnerable were not able to take advantage of the
liberalisation of irrigation policy. Hence they did not receive the maximum
possible benefit. It is quite possible that for some their impoverishment
increased. In contrast to this, a wealth ranking survey in the deepwater area
showed that families who owned or share-owned a shallow-tubewell were
classified as rich.
l06
Kalam's predicament was apparent. He and his family in their fight to
survive were on their own. Their resource-base was inadequate to take
advantage of a new economic opportunity in cheaper irrigation. The
organisational options like RDRS in the North-West were not available in
Sariatpur.
105
Environments: the Impact of the 1988 Floods,' in Reducing Small Farmer Vulnerability in
Bangladesh, Proceedings of the BRRI Workshop 1992, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh, 41.
106
See Noel. P. Magor and Alastair. W. Orr. chapter 2 'Vulnerable Farmers' in
Reducing Small Farmer Vulnerability in Bangladesh (book in process)
.
265
Figure 38. Growth of winter bora rice from 1948 to 1989 showing the
rapid increase since 1987 (a) and the corresponding transfer of
land by land class (b) in a deepwater area since 1988.
3.000.-----------------,
2,500 - -
2,000 --
1,500 - - . -
1,000 -
- - - - - .
.....
....
" -.-.-
...

..
'00 - . .. .. - - ... - . - - - - - -
~ .. ". ... ....
1'" 1'" 1."
'871
(a)
..
1."
p.,cont of lind awned _. tood (1Gee)
23%
<0.2 ,2-< .5 .8-<1.0 1.0-<3.0 3.0> 101.
(b)
Comment: It is important to be careful in drawing an inference between national
growth statistics and data for a specific upazila. However, the deepwater areas have
shown a tremendous growth in winter irrigated rice since 1988.
Sources: Md Abdul Hamid. 1991. A Database on Agriculture and Foodgrains in
Bangladesh (1947-48 to 1989-90) Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council , Dhaka;
and A.W. Orr, A.S. M. Nazrul Islam, Md Rafiquul Islam, Md Shah-E-Alam and M.A.
Jabbar. 1992. 'Vulnerable farmers in the deepwater rice environment: the impact of the
1988 floods' in Reducing Small Farmer Vulnerability in Bangladesh Proceedings of the
BRRI Workshop, 1992, Dhaka, 33-50.
266
A Different Thread
The GR debate concerns technological choice. In the introduction I
very briefly highlighted two facets of that argument; ecological suitability
and the more dominating issue of the distribution of benefits. The GR
debate centres on rice and wheat, but given the diversity of income sources
of marginal farm families it is more appropriate to broaden it to embrace all
technological options. For this reason I began with the rather obscure
example of bamboo propagation. The same issues of ecological suitability
and equity must apply equally. Despite bamboo propagation satisfying both
criteria as a technology it remains locked within the Forestry Research
Institute. I then moved on to introduce examples of technology from quite
different sources; a farmer innovation, the Singh vegetable system; a
homestead-based gender-targeted intervention, the BRAe poultry model;
and finally a range of case studies of GR technology.
Drawing on these examples, I will attempt to crystallise an essential
that has been obscured in the GR debate, one which if accepted, broadens
both the range of technological options available to marginal farm families
and allows them to lever greater advantage from GR technologies. My
starting point is the GR debate.
Personal experience with the development and diffusion of the
improved rainfed rice technology with the NGO, HEED, in Kamalganj upazi/a
created for me a measure of doubt concerning the validity of the intense
criticism of the GR rice technology.
Priority in HEED's programmes was the small marginal farmer. Efforts
[were] biased to the poor with the larger landholder benefiting
through a passive trickle up rather than vice versa.
107
107
Magor. 1984. Potential in rainfed rice production in North East Bangladesh, 56.
267
Literature written in the 1980s did indicate positive consequences of the GR
that were not readily apparent to the authors of the first wave of concerned
literature. Writing in 1989, Michael Lipton notes that:
Small farmers adopted ... and raised yields. Farmworkers found that
the effect of MVs in boosting the demand for their labour seldom
brought much higher wage rates - but employment rose. Above all ,
poor consumers gained, as extra cereals supplied by MVs restrained
food prices.
108
Hossain in a study comparing developed and under-developed regions in
Bangladesh reached the conclusion that:
The potential for increasing rural incomes through diffusion of the
modern technology is substantial.
Technological progress seems to have made a significant impact on
the alleviation of rural poverty. The proportion of people living below
the poverty line, the poverty-gap ratio, and the concentration ratio of
income of the poor are all lower in the technically-developed villages
than in the underdeveloped viliages.
109
The case studies presented in this chapter give additional insight. The
RDRS treadle-pump scheme in contrast to the subsidised deep-tubewell
scheme of BWDB, clearly demonstrated that marginal farm families could
more intensively cultivate irrigated rice land and effectively increase their
control of land through sharing-in additional land . Evidence from the RDRS
experience suggests that organisations, with a clear definition of their target
group, can be proactive in effecting a positive shift in land ownership and
control of production towards marginal families.
In the BRAe and Proshika schemes, the greater material-security of
the poor came from a new access to the very mechanical and biochemical
108
Michael Lipton with Richard Longhurst. 1989. New Seeds and Poor People
(London: Unwin Hyman), 19.
109
Mahabub Hossain. 1988. Nature and Impact of the Green Revolution in
Bangladesh, International Food Policy Research Institute in collaboration with the BIDS,
Research Report no. 67, 130. The moderate poverty line is income needed for daily intake
of 2, 200 kilocalories and the extreme poverty line income for 1, 800 kilocalories; the
poverty-gap ratio measures the shortfall of the mean income of the poor from the poverty
line; and the concentration ratio is the Gini coefficient.
268
innovations that were characterised earlier by Byres as being inherently
biased towards the dominant classes. With the Grameen Bank, we see the
first stage of acquisition by an organisation that exists solely for the
landless of the public-subsidised section of the Green Revolution
technology, that formerly had been controlled but not necessarily owned by
the dominant class.
110
The examples from BRAC, Proshika and the Grameen
Bank programmes show that the argument of technological determinism is
wrong. There is more to who benefits from a technology than the nature of
the technology itself. Even choice of irrigation technology is not crucial in
directing benefits to the more marginal.
111
In each of the cases studied an
organisational structure had been established around the technology that
ensured access for poorer families.
112
I reach the conclusion that the GR debate has been based on an
inadequate definition of technology. With the GR technology, I was able to
show that marginal families were consistently able to benefit from the
110
It was contended in the early stages of the irrigation cooperative programme of
IRDP that the Green Revolution technology was not being equitably distributed. See
Swadesh Bose. 1974. 'The Comilla Co-operative Approach and the Prospects for Broad-
based Green Revolution in Bangladesh,' World Development 2, no. 8, 21-28.
111
It is important to emphasise here that policy shifts on level of subsidies, tariff
protection and irrigation equipment specifications have created market instability,
particularly for the viability of DTWs. Profitability for the organisationally-linked landless
schemes is in disarray. Were the organisations able to discern the impact of the policy
shifts? Was RDRS testing the three horse power Chinese engine as a potential alternative to
the treadle pump? Were Proshika, BRAC or the Grameen Bank weighing up whether to enter
the irrigation equipment market? Were the agencies open to change? Why were the
agencies for the vulnerable not more aggressive in exploiting the market shift and the
resulting influx of cheap STWs? Proshika, in fact, recognised the opportunity. Wood states:
The problem for us, therefore, at the outset of the programme was the extent to
which the landless irrigation programme was competing for scarce command area
territory in a one-off race to capture control over this sector of groundwater
irrigation in Bangladesh. We were anxious lest the approach to agrarian reform via
landless control over irrigation would not have time to be established as a significant
programme. (Wood. 1991. The Water Sellers, 205).
The policy shifts were logical. Alerting agencies, working with vulnerable families, to
the implications of deregulation may have enabled a more proactive stance to the policy
shift .
112
The purpose in these case studies was not to illustrate perfect programmes. The
loss to the organisation, in the early stages, of the Grameen Bank scheme raises
management questions that must be addressed to ensure long-term viability.
269
technology in those situations in which there was organisational support.
That leads me to propose that when an innovation is to be extended to
vulnerable farm families due consideration must be given to the enterprise
matrix or activity web around the technology. In drawing out this broader
consideration in introducing an innovation I have found the discussion on
knowledge-based innovation by Drucker in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
most useful.
113
The enterprise matrix or activity web comprises all aspects of the
organisational, technical and social domain that are essential requirements
for a new technology to become a sustainable economic activity of an
identified client group, in the case of this thesis marginal farm families. The
creation of the enterprise matrix is built on
a careful analysis of all the necessary factors, whether knowledge
itself, or social, economic or perceptual factors.
114
The analysis must identify what factors in the matrix are weak or require
engineering. Any enterprise, whether for subsistence or for the market has
an activity web that must be fully satisfied for sustainability. The social
requirement of targeting may vary according to the nature of the technology
and the extent of social stratification. It is readily apparent in each case
study - the development of the treadle pump by RDRS, the poultry model by
BRAC and the use of the GR technology by BRAC, Grameen Bank and
Proshika - that the enterprise matrix was taken into account for the
respective technologies.
Conclusion
Chapter 4 emphasised the potential of a number of proven alternative
agricultural practices to reduce vulnerability for marginal farm families with

113
Peter F. Drucker. 1985. Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practice and Principles
(London: Heinemann).
114
Drucker. 1985. Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 105.
an existing RPA of 3-5 months. Those interventions were diverse and
suggested that considerable untapped potential exists in and around the
homestead.
270
This chapter looked at specific examples of technology. The local
innovation, the Singh vegetable system, drew on informal conversations
with Jadabh Singh himself. The ecological soundness of the system was
unimpeachable, but so far it has not been made part of programmes for
marginal farm families. On the other hand the technology of poultry rearing
had so many fragile points as to almost be courting disaster. Yet it was
benefiting countless destitute women, due to competently organised
support from BRAC. The GR technology in its rainfed and irrigated forms
when delivered in an appropriate institutional matrix did benefit marginal
farm families. As an aside it is worth noting that the irrigated technology
was partly in crisis or transition due to changes in state policy.
The overall responsiveness of marginal and small farm families to the
GR technology as generally indicated by Lipton, by Hossain for Bangladesh
specifically and illustrated through case studies here points to the strong
survival or resilience characteristic of vulnerable families. Chapter 3, on
vulnerability to loss of land, showed a far greater resilience amongst small
farmers with an RPA of 6-8 months than anticipated. For marginal farm
families, with an RPA of 3-5 months, the tangle of debt, inadequate land
resources and market distortions due to the elite, meant that their ability to
grasp the opportunities of the GR technology in an elite dominated market
was insufficient. Chapter 3 documents their loss of land. Organisational
linkages to groups like Proshika, BRAC and RDRS must come into play to
enable these marginal farm families to take advantage of opportunities.
Each type of technology had the potential to be taken up by the
target group. Technological determinism is an incorrect interpretation of the
potential distribution of benefits from an innovation. There is an
271
organisational factor that has been generally ignored. For this reason I
strongly advocate that the definition of technology be expanded to include
the organisational component that is necessary for its adoption by the
identified clientele. The organisational or institutional factor will be explored
in Chapter 7. Now, I will look more closely at the R&D process, its change
in emphasis in recent times and the required focus for the future in
addressing the reduction of vulnerability of marginal farm families.
CHAPTER 6
TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
AND VULNERABLE FARM FAMILIES
Introduction
In the previous chapters we met families like Kalam's, that were
losing the battle for economic security within the problematic deepwater
ecosystem. In the realm of new technologies, we encountered the
innovative Jadabh Singh vegetable system as a knowledge source that was
still sitting within his village, with very little researcher investigation apart
from some interest in its novelty. On the other hand, as we shall see in this
chapter, the R&D around rice technology is so developed as to have an
institution within Bangladesh committed solely to its improvement. Within
such a specialised institution, a rice scientist may devote a career to
knowledge development within a narrow specialty and yet never know or
even be aware of its relevance to a marginal farm family. Kalam's multi-
enterprise system seems far removed and unrelated to much of the routine
research within such an institution.
Questions arise from this juxtaposition. Is the research carried out in
specialist institutions relevant in impacting on the well-being of Kalam's
family? Why has a potentially valuable innovation like Jadabh Singh's
vegetable system not received more attention? In other words:
Does the R&D system support marginal farm families?
Does the R&D system support complexity and diversity?
The answers are not straightforward; one can respond to each with both
'yes' and 'no'. Biggs emphasises the historical context:
272
273
... all technology generation and promotional activities are seen to
take place in an historically defined political, economic, agro-climatic
and institutional context.
1
The directional change in the process of R&D is more important than having
it right at any point in time. A more appropriate phrasing of the questions
may be:
Is the R&D system moving towards greater support for marginal
farm families?
Is the R&D system moving towards supporting complexity and
diversity?
If the answers to both questions are more or less affirmative then the
charge of inappropriate technology as a prime factor in marginal farm family
vulnerability is misleading. Already the findings of chapter 5 in which the
benefits of the GR irrigated technology were directed towards the landless
suggests that inappropriate technology is not the prime reason.
I will trace the change in approach to R&D of the national research
system, with a particular emphasis on the Bangladesh Rice Research
Institute, from a single crop or commodity focus and the gradual shift
towards a farming systems research perspective. In critiquing the
technology research and development (R&D) process three aspects will be
considered; namely ecosystem suitability, institutional appropriateness and
1
Stephen O. Biggs. 1989. 'A Multiple Source of Innovation Model of Agricultural
Research and Technology Promotion,' OD1 Agricultural Administration (Research and
Extension) Network, Network Paper no. 6, 9; Stephen Biggs and John Farrington. 1991.
Agricultural Research and the Rural Poor; a Review of Social Science Analysis, 10RC PO Box
8500, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K 1 G 3H9, 45; Stephen Biggs and John Farrington. 1990.
'Assessing the Effects of Farming Systems Research: Time for the Reintroduction of a
Political Institutional Perspective,' paper presented for the Asian Farming Systems Research
and Extension Symposium, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand 19-22 Nov.
1990, 3; Stephen Biggs and John Farrington. 1990. 'Farming Systems Research and the
Rural Poor: The Historical, Institutional, Economic, and Political Context,' paper presented
for the 10th Annual Association for Farming Systems Research-Extension Symposium,
Michigan State University, Oct. 14-17 1990, 42. The authors in each paper emphasise that
in assessing institutions and technology development an historical perspective must be
considered.
274
client focus and participation. Initially a brief overview of the R&D system in
Bangladesh is given.
Research and Development Institutions in Bangladesh
It is helpful to begin this review of R&D by establishing some
understanding of the number of autonomous or semi-autonomous agencies
concerned. The Bangladesh government has committed considerable
resources to the development of institutions and infrastructure.
Table 34 lists the institutions linked to agriculture. In this chapter I
will discuss only those institutions engaged in agricultural research and
technology transfer. For agricultural research there are eleven relevant
institutions. All institutions, apart from the Bangladesh Tea Research
Institute (BTRI) are mandated to carry out research that impinges on the
rural community. In addition the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU),
the Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD), and the
Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) are also mandated to
implement limited research.
The crop research institutes are the Bangladesh Agricultural Research
Institute (BARI), the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), the Sugar
Research and Training Institute (SRTI) and the Bangladesh Jute Research
Institute (BJRI) . BARI is by far the largest institution with a mandate for
research on all crops other than rice, jute and sugarcane. Each of the main
crop institutes has regional stations or substations. For example BARI has
four major regional stations, centres for wheat, oilseeds, pulses, citrus,
mango, tobacco, cotton and potato and 21 substations. BRRI has six
regional stations in Habiganj, Sonagazi, Comilla, Rajshahi, Bangha and
Barisal. For BRRI, the location of stations is determined by major ecosystem
and respectively they cover the deepwater and winter rice, coastal saline,
rainfed favourable and irrigated, rainfed drought prone and irrigated,
275
deepwater and tidal submergence zones. BJRI has six regional stations, 24
substations and two large seed farms. The number of research institutions,
each with a level of autonomy, and their respective regional stations and
sub-stations, at the national level is a vast and possibly unwieldy set of
bodies. The Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (BARC) has the
responsibility for overall coordination of research at the national level.
2
If one assumes a linear flow of improved technology, from laboratory
to farmer's field, a concept that I will challenge, the Department of
Agriculture Extension (DAE) is required to have extensive interaction with
each of the above institutions, both at the national level to ensure
coordination and at the regional, district and ideally at the farm level. The
service delivery agencies also need to access technological information. The
Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), BRDB and the Bangladesh
Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC), generally draw on the DAE
for technology information at the District and Upazila level.
The development of the above organisations has not been uniform
over time. BARC was established in 1973, but received a major financial
input from donors in the 1980s. BRRI, initially the East Pakistan Rice
Research Institute, was founded in 1970. BARI, which was initially part of
the Directorate of Agriculture (Research and Education), became
autonomous in 1976. The Fisheries and Livestock Research Institutes were
established in 1984 with' ... the initial limited facilities of their respective
directorates'.
3
The respective directorates, the Fisheries Directorate and the
2
UNDP. 1989. Bangladesh Agriculture Sector Review: Bangladesh Agriculture
Performance and Policies: Compendium Volume V Institutions, sponsored by UNDP
BGD/87/023. 142-144; BRRI. 1984. About BRRI, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh, 14-15; M.A.
Jabbar and Md Zainul Abedin. 1989. 'Bangladesh: the Evolution and Significance of On-
farm and Farming Systems Research in the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute,'
ISNAR, The Hague, Netherlands, OFCOR Case Study no. 3, 11-17.
3
Jabbar. 1989. 'Significance of On-farm and Farming Systems Research,' 12-13.
276
Livestock Directorate, were the equivalent of the DAE, but with the addition
of production farms and vaccine facilities.
The development of the institutions has involved foreign donors and
some technical assistance. For example BARD and subsequently BRDB
(earlier known as the Integrated Rural Development Programme or IRDP)
received considerable assistance from Michigan State University and the
Ford Foundation. BRRI, from before its inception, has had considerable input
from the International Rice Research Institute in a developmental and
collaborative capacity. BARI has had financial and technical input from
Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT) for its
wheat programme. US A.I.D. (United States Agency for International
Development) and the World Bank, from the early 1980s, have had a major
input into strengthening the national research system and enhancing the
position of BARC. The Danish Government funds some of the ongoing
research and development of the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute
(BLRI), and ICLARM (International Centre for Living Aquatic Resource
Management) has had a number of research scientists attached to the
Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) in recent years.
These are only some of the players involved in the development of
the national R&D capacity that is concerned with the development of the
agricultural potential of Bangladesh. Within the network, of evolving and in
some instances declining institutions, have been all the politics and
manoeuvring that characterise government bureaucracies everywhere.
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278
A Single Crop Focus
Bangladesh came into existence in 1971, after a bloody liberation war
with West Pakistan. Within three years of independence it was decimated
by a famine. The 1974 famine, in which an estimated 100,000 persons
died, was partly precipitated by devastating floods in the North-West and
partly by the high level of chaos of the time.
4
There has been a close link
between environmental disasters such as floods or drought and political
unrest. As a consequence, successive governments have been very
sensitive to food production. There was a political urgency.
Consequently there has been a single-minded emphasis on achieving
food self-sufficiency and the development of a food security system. In the
eyes of the policy makers the paths of modernisation of its agriculture
sector and of food autarky have been synonymous. The Bangladesh
Government (BOG) has allocated up to 30 percent of the Annual
Development Plan (ADP) to agriculture.
5
As a result, the foundation for much of the current expansion in
HYVs (high yielding varieties of rice and wheat), irrigation, and
fertiliser distribution systems plus other forms of agricultural
investments was put in place through the early establishment of
indigenous research facilities and a fertiliser distribution system....
6
The goal has been to produce cheap food for the urban masses, the rural
landless and food-deficit farmers.
At the same time as the national drive to accelerate agriculture
growth, individual small and marginal farm families at the village level have
been seeking improved productivity as an important means of survival. It
has been essential for these families to increase their current level of
4
Amartya Sen. 1981. Poverty and Famines: an Essay on Entitlement and
Deprivation (Oxford: English Language Book Society, Oxford University Press), 134.
5
E. Boyd Wennergren, Charles H. Antholt, and Morris D. Whitaker. 1984.
Agricultural Development in Bangladesh (Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press), 316.
6
Wennergren. 1984. Agricultural Development in Bangladesh, 316.

279
productivity in order to sustain themselves over time. Their challenge has
been summed up by Ahmed:
If a given subsistence can be harvested from a smaller area by
application of technology, the threshold farm size that represents the
point of the out-migration from farming will slide down.
7

Bangladesh has limited scope to increase the area of production. As a
consequence the planning objective of research, throughout, has been to
achieve higher production through the development of high yielding varieties
and increased cropping intensity. Two major institutions, the Bangladesh
Rice Research Institute (BRRI) and the Bangladesh Agriculture Research
Institute (BARI), have been key players in research for food self-sufficiency,
focussing on commodity research for rice and wheat respectively. Rice is
the staple commodity in each major ecosystem. It is also the dominant GR
technology in Bangladesh. I have therefore chosen to build the review of the
single crop focus in R&D around a recent critique of rice research presented
by Anderson and others in Rice Science and Development Politics: Research
Strategies and IRRI's Technologies Confront Asian Diversity (1950-1980).
8

Anderson is strongly critical of BRRI, charging that its research agenda was
narrow and simplistic and that it did not cater for ecological diversity. He
argues that BRRI was overly centralised. Anderson criticises a quick-fix
mentality. In what follows I will show that Anderson's argument concerning
ecological diversity is inaccurate and misleading. By contrast his assessment
of an overly centralised institution is quite accurate. I will also argue that
the quick-fix approach had detrimental effects on implementing agencies but
the approach was not so determined by the nature of the technology as by
7
Raisuddin Ahmed . 1987. 'A Structural Perspective of Farm and Non-farm
Households in Bangladesh: The Bangladesh Development Studies 15 (June), 109.
8
Robert S. Anderson, Edwin Levy, and Barrie M. Morrison. 1991. Rice Science and
Development Strategies and IRRl's Technologies Confront Asian Diversity (1950 - 1980)
(Oxford: Clarendon Press) .
280
the lack of awareness of problems of access faced by vulnerable families in
an hierarchical society.
Ecological Suitability
In Rice Science and Development Politics, Anderson traces research
policy over the period from 1950-80, with some brief highlights from the
pre-partition period. Three phases were identified. In the period prior to
partition, research was limited and quite diverse. From 1948-1960 rice
research was virtually neglected. From 1960 onwards, the Green Revolution
dominated.
Prior to partition, rice research in Bengal appeared to be ecosystem
focused. Varietal development through pure line selection allowed for the
release of improved material for the aus and aman seasons. Patnai 23 a
saline tolerant variety was widely adopted in saline areas and Nizersail, a
photoperiod sensitive aman rice was successfully released in 1941.
9
Work
with the boro rice covered cultural practices of double transplanting, use of
manure, irrigation and so forth.
10
With partition in 1947, there was a tremendous loss of scientific
personnel as ' ... eighty per cent of the researchers in Bengal were
Hindu' .
11
Even so, during the 1950s eight deepwater varieties were
released.
12
The research continued to be ecosystem driven with
programmes for the main cultural types of aus, transplanted aman,
deepwater aman and boro rice. In addition, during this period the potential
of fertiliser nitrogen and irrigation using diesel engines came to the fore.
13
9
Anderson. 1991. Rice Science and Development Politics, 239.
10
11
12
13
280
the lack of awareness of problems of access faced by vulnerable families in
an hierarchical society.
Ecological Suitability
In Rice Science and Development Politics, Anderson traces research
policy over the period from 1950-80, with some brief highlights from the
pre-partition period. Three phases were identified. In the period prior to
partition, research was limited and quite diverse. From 1948-1960 rice
research was virtually neglected. From 1960 onwards, the Green Revolution
dominated.
Prior to partition, rice research in Bengal appeared to be ecosystem
focused. Varietal development through pure line selection allowed for the
release of improved material for the aus and aman seasons. Patnai 23 a
saline tolerant variety was widely adopted in saline areas and Nizersail, a
photoperiod sensitive aman rice was successfully released in 1941.
9
Work
with the boro rice covered cultural practices of double transplanting, use of
manure, irrigation and so forth.
10
With partition in 1947, there was a tremendous loss of scientific
personnel as ' ... eighty per cent of the researchers in Bengal were
Hindu' .11 Even so, during the 1950s eight deepwater varieties were
released.
12
The research continued to be ecosystem driven with
programmes for the main cultural types of aus, transplanted aman,
deepwater aman and boro rice. In addition, during this period the potential
of fertiliser nitrogen and irrigation using diesel engines came to the fore.
13
9 Anderson. 1991. Rice Science and Development Politics, 239.
281
From 1960 onwards, Anderson infers that there was a shift away
from a focus that accommodated the ecological diversity of Bangladesh to a
concentration of efforts on irrigated winter rice. He claims there was a
dominance of the rice research agenda by the International Rice Research
Institute (lRRI) through the successful development of IR8, which was high
yielding and responded well to fertiliser. IR8 is the rice variety that launched
the Green Revolution in rice. The apparent dominance of the irrigated rice
technology leads Anderson to argue that it limited the exploration of other
possible options in research. In addition he argues that the newly formed,
EPARRI (East Pakistan Rice Research Institute subsequently BRRI), was not
able to develop an appropriate indigenous research agenda but rather
followed the course of action promulgated by IRRI. Therefore BRRI
neglected the diversity of its regional ecosystems and the local research
problems of fertiliser requirements, pesticide screening, and ecosystem
plant breeding.
In assessing Anderson's criticism of the 1960s it is important to
remember that in that decade rice research was' ... at its lowest ebb' .
14
During this period rice research received only 25 per cent of the money
committed to research on jute and less than 50 per cent of the spending on
wheat research in West Pakistan.
15
Winter boro rice constituted a mere 4
per cent of total rice area and only 4 to 5 per cent of total production.
16
Its
high yielding potential had, however, been clearly shown on 100 farms that
were adjacent to the Comilla Academy.
17
Development agendas were,
therefore, dominated by the modern bora rice strategy for food autarky and
agricultural modernisation. Certainly there was a significant niche in irrigated
14
15
16
Mohammad Abdul Hamid. 1991. A Database on Agriculture and Foodgrains in
Bangladesh (1947-48 to 1989-90), BARc1992. 'End of Contract Report,' 3. , Dhaka, Bangladesh, 84.
17
281
From 1960 onwards, Anderson infers that there was a shift away
from a focus that accommodated the ecological diversity of Bangladesh to a
concentration of efforts on irrigated winter rice. He claims there was a
dominance of the rice research agenda by the International Rice Research
Institute (lRRI) through the successful development of IR8, which was high
yielding and responded well to fertiliser. IR8 is the rice variety that launched
the Green Revolution in rice. The apparent dominance of the irrigated rice
technology leads Anderson to argue that it limited the exploration of other
possible options in research. In addition he argues that the newly formed,
EPARRI (East Pakistan Rice Research Institute subsequently BRRI), was not
able to develop an appropriate indigenous research agenda but rather
followed the course of action promulgated by IRRI. Therefore BRRI
neglected the diversity of its regional ecosystems and the local research
problems of fertiliser requirements, pesticide screening, and ecosystem
plant breeding.
In assessing Anderson's criticism of the 1960s it is important to
remember that in that decade rice research was' ... at its lowest ebb' .14
During this period rice research received only 25 per cent of the money
committed to research on jute and less than 50 per cent of the spending on
wheat research in West Pakistan.
15
Winter bora rice constituted a mere 4
per cent of total rice area and only 4 to 5 per cent of total production.
16
Its
high yielding potential had, however, been clearly shown on 100 farms that
were adjacent to the Comilla Academy.17 Development agendas were,
therefore, dominated by the modern bora rice strategy for food autarky and
agricultural modernisation. Certainly there was a significant niche in irrigated
16 Mohammad Abdul Hamid. 1991. A Database on Agriculture and Foodgrains in
Bangladesh (1947-48 to 1989-90), BARe, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 84.
17
282
boro that could be realised. Since 1968, boro cultivation has grown from
0.211 million ha to 2.511 million ha in 1989-90.
18
In 1989-90, boro
cultivation covered 24 per cent of total rice area and contributed 34.2 per
cent to total rice production (chapter 2, table 3).
Anderson suggests that the initial early strategy of concentrating on
irrigated boro closed off alternative options. There were many factors that
could have limited BRRl's early effectiveness. Rice research had been a low
national priority in the 1960s. EPARRI had only been established in 1970
and subsequently BRRI in 1972. This had been during a period of severe
civil disobedience and non-cooperation with the Pakistan government that
resulted in a major civil war and the attaining of independence.
19
Despite
that, BRRI in its formation period had quickly established a balanced
research agenda. Contrary to Anderson's suggestion, it was a research
strategy based on ecosystem variation, the principal of diversity and one
which included from its inception an effective feedback mechanism with the
Department of Agriculture Extension. The feedback, in a yearly review
workshop, enabled ongoing criticism of varieties and recommendations for
research. At the 1975 workshop for example, which was well within the
time frame of Anderson's criticisms of BRRI, a paper was presented on the
characteristics of future varieties:
IR8 plant type of indica rice has raised the yields of tall plant type
from 50 to 100 md (maund)
20
and is not spectacular as compared to
the promise it offered.... There are limitations associated with the
18
Hamid. 1991. A Database on Agriculture and Foodgrains in Bangladesh, 76-81.
19
Noel P. Magor. 1987. 'Quarterly Report (Oct. - Dec., 1987),' in BRRI-IRRI. 1987.
Quarterly Report (Oct. - Dec.), BRRI/IRRI Project Rice Research and Training Phase II, IRRI
Dhaka Office, Bangladesh, Attachment I, 2. During a harta/, which is a protest of non-
cooperation with the government, all office work is disrupted. In a similar period in 1987,
the BRRI Rice Farming Systems Division had planned six regional workshops with the
Department of Agriculture Extension to review the joint Multi-location Testing Program.
Only one workshop took place at BRRI headquarters, as all other dates had to be postponed
and were eventually cancelled due to the continuation of harta/s.1992. 'End of Contract Report,' 3.
50-100 md an acre is equivalent to 4.6 to 9.3 tonne per hectare. One maund is
37.38 kg.
282
bora that could be realised. Since 1968, boro cultivation has grown from
0.211 million ha to 2.511 million ha in 1989-90.
18
In 1989-90, boro
cultivation covered 24 per cent of total rice area and contributed 34.2 per
cent to total rice production (chapter 2, table 3).
Anderson suggests that the initial early strategy of concentrating on
irrigated bora closed off alternative options. There were many factors that
could have limited BRRl's early effectiveness. Rice research had been a low
national priority in the 1960s. EPARRI had only been established in 1970
and subsequently BRRI in 1972. This had been during a period of severe
civil disobedience and non-cooperation with the Pakistan government that
resulted in a major civil war and the attaining of independence.
19
Despite
that, BRRI in its formation period had quickly established a balanced
research agenda. Contrary to Anderson's suggestion, it was a research
strategy based on ecosystem variation, the principal of diversity and one
which included from its inception an effective feedback mechanism with the
Department of Agriculture Extension. The feedback, in a yearly review
workshop, enabled ongoing criticism of varieties and recommendations for
research. At the 1975 workshop for example, which was well within the
time frame of Anderson's criticisms of BRRI, a paper was presented on the
characteristics of future varieties:
IR8 plant type of indica rice has raised the yields of tall plant type
from 50 to 100 md (maund)20 and is not spectacular as compared to
the promise it offered.... There are limitations associated with the
18 Hamid. 1991. A Database on Agriculture and Foodgrains in Bangladesh, 76-81.
19 Noel P. Magor. 1987. 'Quarterly Report (Oct. - Dec., 1987),' in BRRI-IRRI. 1987.
Quarterly Report (Oct. - Dec.), BRRI/IRRI Project Rice Research and Training Phase II, IRRI
Dhaka Office, Bangladesh, Attachment I, 2. During a harta/, which is a protest of non-
cooperation with the government, all office work is disrupted. In a similar period in 1987,
the BRRI Rice Farming Systems Division had planned six regional workshops with the
Department of Agriculture Extension to review the joint Multi-location Testing Program.
Only one workshop took place at BRRI headquarters, as all other dates had to be postponed
and were eventually cancelled due to the continuation of harta/s.
20 50-100 md an acre is equivalent to 4.6 to 9.3 tonne per hectare. One maund is
37.38 kg.
283
plant type which restrict large-scale growth for impact on the total
yields.
21
In other words IR8 had narrow adaptability to the ecological diversity of
Bangladesh, and BRRI scientists were addressing the issue.
The new plant types need morphological changes to suit the rice
growing conditions of Bangladesh.
22
Characteristics to be tackled in 'blue prints'
23
included plant height
coupled with taller seedlings for areas subjected to early flooding;
photosensitivity for aman rice; elongation capacity for deepwater rices; cold
tolerance at the early growth stage for boro; and salinity and drought
tolerance. There is a distinct similarity in these breeding objectives of 1975
with those espoused in 1952 by S Hedayatullah, Director of Agriculture for
the whole province of East Pakistan (as stated by Anderson):
There had to be more attention to selection and breeding of rice for
special regimes, namely flood, drought, salinity, and for upland
conditions where irrigation was impossible.
24
Progress on varietal research for specific cultural types was taking
shape. At the time of the 1975 workshop BR4 or Birrisail (BR51-91-6; a
BRRI cross) was released for the transplanted aman crop. BR4 had a
comparatively wider seeding time than IR5 and IR20. Farmers could sow
BR4 seeds up to the end of July and transplant by the end of August.
25
In
1977 BRRI hosted an international seminar with IRRI on photoperiodism,
which at that time was more a regional research issue.
26
BRRI was in the
21
Munshi SiddiQue Ahmad, Mortuza Ahmed Chowdury and Mohammed Nasiruddin.
1975. 'Characteristics of Future Varieties,' in Workshop on Experience with High Yielding
Varieties of Rice Cultivation in Bangladesh, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh, 184.
22
Ahmad. 1975. 'Characteristics of Future Varieties,' 186-191.
23
Ahmad. 1975. 'Characteristics of Future Varieties,' 186.
24
25
S.M.H. Zaman. 1976, 'Present Status and Future Prospect of the Modern Rice
Varieties in Bangladesh,' in Workshop on Experience with HYV Cultivation in Bangladesh,
BRRI. Publication no. 24, 92.
26
BRRI. 1978. Proceedings of the International Seminar on Photoperiod Sensitive
Transplant Rice, Oct. 1977, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh. Important papers presented by BRRI
were: M. Zahurul Haque. 1977. 'Photoperiodism and Thermosensitivity of Transplant Aman
Rice in Bangladesh'; M. Zahurul Haque. 1977. 'Photoperiod Sensitive Transplant Aman
283
plant type which restrict large-scale growth for impact on the total
yields.
21
In other words IR8 had narrow adaptability to the ecological diversity of
Bangladesh, and BRRI scientists were addressing the issue.
The new plant types need morphological changes to suit the rice
growing conditions of Bangladesh.Characteristics to be tackled in 'blueight
coupled with taller seedlings for areas subjected to early flooding;
photosensitivity for aman rice; elongation capacity for deepwater rices; cold
tolerance at the early growth stage for bora; and salinity and drought
tolerance. There is a distinct similarity in these breeding objectives of 1975
with those espoused in 1952 by S Hedayallah, Director of Agriculture for
the whole province of East Pakistan (as stated by An1992. 'End of Contract Report,'
There had to be more attention to selection and breeding of rice for
special regimes, namely flood, drought, salinity, and for upland
conditions where irrigation was impossible.
24
Progress on varietal research for specific cultural types was taking
shape. At the time of the 1975 workshop BR4 or Birrisail (BR51-91-6; a
BRRI cross) was released for the transplanted aman crop. BR4 had a
comparatively wider seeding time than IR5 and IR20. Farmers could sow
BR4 seeds up to the end of July and transplant by the end of August.
25
In
1977 BRRI hosted an international seminar with IRRI on photoperiodism,
which at that time was more a regional research issue.
26
BRRI was in the
21 Munshi SiddiQue Ahmad, Mortuza Ahmed Chowdury and Mohammed Nasiruddin.
1975. 'Characteristics of Future Varieties,' in Workshop on Experience with High Yielding
Varieties of Rice Cultivation in Bangladesh, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh, 184.
22 Ahmad. 1975. 'Characteristics of Future Varieties,' 186-191.
23 Ahmad. 1975. 'Characteristics of Future Varieties,' 186.
25 S.M.H. Zaman. 1976, 'Present Status and Future Prospect of the Modern Rice
Varietie
s i
n Bangladesh,' in Workshop on Experience with HYV Cultivation in Bangladesh,
BRRI. Publication no. 24, 92.
26 BRRI. 1978. Proceedings of the International Seminar on Photoperiod Sensitive
Transplant Rice, Oct. 1977, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh. Important papers presented by BRRI
were: M. Zahurul Haque. 1977. 'Photoperiodism and Thermosensitivity of Transplant Aman
Rice in Bangladesh'; M. Zahurul Haque. 1977. 'Photoperiod Sensitive Transplant Aman
284
forefront in this research as it concerned the major transplanted aman crop.
Finally, BRRI was active in deepwater rice research in the 70s, with
research on pests, cultural practices and yield assessment in farmers'
fields.
27
Concerning fertiliser, BRRI is accused by Anderson of a lack of
independence and of only taking up the issue critically in the late 1970s.
However, in 1975, A.C. Roy, Soil Chemist of BRRI, reported the results of
fertiliser management research for aus, aman and boro, and in addition the
effects of continuous cropping of rice.
28
He noted for continuous cropping:
... under constant wet conditions NPK fertilisation alone is not
adequate for intensive cropping of land with HYV rice.
29
The continuous cropping experiments, which had commenced in
1970, led to the identification of sulphur deficiency: a significant
breakthrough in Bangladesh agriculture. A major workshop was held in
1978 that highlighted findings for sulphur deficiency on the BRRI research
station and in farmers' fields. Field results dated from 1976.
30
Rice-based Cropping System in Bangladesh'; Benito S. Vergara and M. Zahurul Haque.
1977. 'The Response of Photoperiod Sensitive Transplant Rice to Day Length and Low
Temperature'; and A.J.M. Islam. 1977. 'The Influence of Cultural Practices on the Yield of
Photoperiod Sensitive Transplant Rice in Bangladesh'. Bangladesh scientists have had a
significant input into the research agenda concerning photoperiodism in rice research. For
my Master's dissertation, A Cropping Pattern Model for Rainfed Lowland Rice in NE
Bangladesh, (unpublished thesis, Sydney University), the BRRI information for
photosensitivity was the most relevant.
27
See S.M. Hasanuzzaman, S.A. Miah and Mortuza A Choudhury. 1975. 'Breeding
Comments on the Past, Present and Future of Deepwater Rice of Bangladesh,' in Workshop
on Experience with High Yielding Varieties of Rice Cultivation in Bangladesh, BRRI, Gazipur,
Bangladesh, 192-206; and H. David Catling and others. 1979. 'Yield assessment of
Broadcast Aman (Deepwater Rice) in Selected Areas of Bangladesh in 1978: quoted in M.
Zahidul Hoque and others. 1982. 'Recent Findings on Cropping Systems in Deepwater Rice
Areas,' in Proceedings of the 1981 International Deepwater Rice Workshop, jointly
sponsored by the IRRI, Philippines and the Department of Agriculture, Ministry of
Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand, 393-409.
28
Animesh Chandra Roy. 1975. 'Fertiliser Response of High Yielding Varieties of
Rice under Field Conditions,' in Workshop on Experience with High Yielding Varieties of Rice
Cultivation in Bangladesh, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh, 113-134.
29
Roy. 1975. 'Fertiliser Response of ... Rice under Field Conditions,' 134.
30
BRRI. 1978. Proceedings of the Workshop on Sulphur Nutrition in Rice, Dec.
1978, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
285
Within the parameters of a single crop focus, it is difficult to
substantiate Anderson's claims of a lack of ecosystem focus in research.
Firstly, the benefits of BRRI's forward thinking in varietal development could
not be expected to be realised within the study period. Breeding is a long-
term activity. Gains in production and adoption of modern varieties were
modest in the 1970s. The situation was also similar for eastern India.
31
The
region as a whole experienced slow growth in the production and adoption
of modern varieties. The IRRI varietal type, while being suited to the winter
irrigated season, had limited adaptability to the aus and dominant aman
seasons. For Bangladesh, the varietal types were not in place in the 70s. By
the 1980s the breeding strategies of the 70s had become apparent with the
adoption of BR11 in the aman season. BR11 replaced IR20, IR5 and BR4 in
the aman season as well as many traditional varieties due to its high yield
and ability to be transplanted later in the season than the earlier releases.
32
Institutional Centralisation
Anderson argues correctly that BRRI was overly centralised and
consequently developed a headquarters syndrome with underdevelopment
of its substations.
33
Even in the early 1990s the regional stations were
under-staffed and station heads were fighting for a regional focus in the
research agenda. This apparent weakness was evident in the Farming
Systems Programme:
31 Barker and Pal state, 'The new rice technology has, to a large degree, by-passed
the rice growing regions of eastern India.' Randolph Barker and T.K. Pal. 1979. 'Barriers to
Increased Rice Production in Eastern India,' IRRI Research Paper Series no. 25, 3.
32 Noel P. Magor. 1984. Potential in Rainfed Transplanted Rice Production in North-
East Bangladesh: Report of Research Findings and Pilot Production Programme Kamalganj
Thana 1979-1983. Bulletin no. 69. BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh. The focus of the bulletin is
the potential for BR11 to replace earlier modern varieties, such as BR4, and to substitute for
locally improved varieties, like Latisail; Alastair W. Orr and others. 1991. Constraints to the
Adoption of Modern Rice Varieties in the T. Aman Season in Bangladesh, Research Report
no. 9. Agricultural Economics Division, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
286
It must be acknowledged that compared to institutions, such as BARI,
BRRI RFSD [Rice Farming Systems Division] has been too centralised
as has the whole of BRRI. All site research to date has been managed
from head quarters and in the long-term this must change. It is
encouraging to note the Director General has made a positive effort in
building the regional station capability. For RFSD, it is still
inadequate.
34
Equity and the Quick Fix
Anderson rightly criticises the underlying assumption that the winter
rice strategy could offer a quick technological fix for the development of the
region. It was believed, that with such an approach to agricultural
modernisation, food autarky was imminent and could be achieved as early
as 1970.
35
His criticism that' ... the HYV seed package, with other
technical changes... ' were not going to be ' ... the locomotives to pull the
train of agrarian development and distributive justice...'
36
is correctly
levelled at development efforts in agriculture in the late 60s and early 70s.
The 'quick fix' centred on a technology that also required
cooperatives, credit for fertiliser and pesticide and irrigation facilities. This
required rapid creation of institutional infrastructure. The Comilla Academy
was expected to provide this, with a possible result that it over-taxed its
resources. The quick fix hopes from 1965 onwards of achieving the goal
may have caused permanent damage to the capability of the Comilla
Cooperative Model. Donors must accept some responsibility as must
advisers from IRRI during that period. It was certainly a case of 'the mango
thesis'
37
in that the trappings of the technology of irrigation pumps,
34
Noel P. Magor. 1992. 'End of Contract Report, Farming Systems Specialist,
1985-91,' BRRI/IRRI Project Rice Research and Training Phase III, US A.I.D. Project No.
388-005103; CIDA Project No. 170/08004, 8.
35
36
37
Anderson. 1991. Rice Science and Development Politics, 15. 'The mango thesis'
is thus explained:
'What exactly is transferred when science and technology are employed in
development? Our answer involves a simile: what usually is implemented can be likened to a
mango, a fruit which contains a solid seed pit surrounded by soft juicy flesh. The mango
287
subsidised fertiliser, credit, and quickly expanded cooperatives, had to be
considered along with the miracle rice.
Anderson's charge that the strategy, adopted in the late sixties to
initially focus on the irrigated winter rice clearly favoured richer farmers
38
may be made in the light of hindsight; but it was not an outcome that could
have been foreseen given the information that was available to policy
makers in 1967. The problem of bias in the irrigated efforts of the Comilla
Academy and the IRDP only started to become apparent to social scientists
in the late sixties and early seventies.
39
Given the gap in communication
between social and natural scientists, and the dominance of natural
scientists as advisers, it seems overwhelmingly probable that this
information was not known to advisers at that time.
40
However, there could
have been some room for caution.
Anderson has given an inaccurate presentation of the research
agenda of BRRI in its formative years. Through only using research material
seed pit, however, has a distinctive feature in that its surface is covered by a network of
hairy fibres which extends into the flesh. Thus it is exceedingly difficult to separate
completely the pulp from the pit of a freshly cut mango. In the case of the Green Revolution
the analogy runs this way: the mango pit is comparable to the scientific/technological core
of the research strategy, namely the HYV strains of rice; the fibrous covering of the pit
represents a network of requirements, generated by implementing the core, which includes
fertiliser, irrigation, and pest control; and the mango flesh is analogous to a mass of values
which suggest how requirements generated by the core should be met; for example the
overwhelming emphasis placed on 'quick' adjustments and technical fixes rather than long-
term structural solutions.'
38
39
Swadesh Bose. 1974. 'The Comilia Co-operative Approach and Prospects for
Broad-based Green Revolution in Bangladesh,' World Development 2, no. 8, 21-28. Bose
shows a marked bias even within the original Comilia Project Area of a dominance of larger
landholders in the cooperative groups; Peter J. Bertocci. 1977. 'Social Organisation and
Agricultural Development in Bangladesh,' in Rural Development in Bangladesh and Pakistan,
ed. R.D. Stevens, Hamza Alavi and Peter J. Bertocci (Hawaii: University Press of Hawaii),
172-173. The Integrated Rural Development Project and subsequently the Bangladesh Rural
Development Board will be covered in detail under the section on delivery institutions.
40
I will follow up on this in the chapter on institutions concerning NGOs. For
organisations like BRAC and HEED the initial idea was to support IRDP cooperatives. This
was the modus operandi for a number of efforts in the mid to late 70s. It was only as the
apparent bias became known that NGOs distanced themselves from IRDP.
288
that was available in the 70s, I have shown that BRRI's research agenda
was both ecologically sound and designed to exploit the potential niche of
irrigated boro. He is correct in his criticism that BRRI was overly centralised.
Anderson has a political agenda. If he can show that BRRI's research
agenda was flawed then it can be used to support a position of
technological determinism, which holds that a given technology has a set of
predetermined outcomes in resulting support institutions and in income
distribution amongst beneficiaries. In other words the GR rice technology,
because of its nature, resulted in a set of development structures that
reinforced the dominant class in rural society. However, his arguments
against BRRI do not hold and therefore at the fundamental level do not
support his conclusions about technological determinism. In chapter 5 I
showed that by paying attention to the enterprise matrix the vulnerable can
benefit substantially from GR technology. There has been a failure in
research on that matrix which includes choice of irrigation equipment, the
distribution systems for irrigation pumps, fertiliser, and credit and the
structure of cooperatives. Biggs states concerning choice of irrigation
equipment:
... because there is competition between techniques for water it is
not unlikely that the promotion of publicly owned low-lift pumps and
deep-tubewells may have resulted in the unnecessary substitution of
capital for labour and a shift of irrigation water away from small
farmers who use labour intensive techniques to larger farmers who
monopolise the water from the cooperatives.
41
And secondly concerning institutional models:
... it is important to note that there has been very little R&D on the
institutional issues of irrigation techniques. The government adopted
the Comilla farmer co-operative model for promoting LLPs (low-lift
41
Stephen Biggs. 1978. 'Planning Rural Technologies in the Context of Social
Structures and Reward Systems,' Journal of Agricultural Economics 29, no. 3, 264.
289
pumps). Once the model had been adopted, there was virtually no
more experimentation in the formal sector.
42
Research was dynamic and continued to change. From the mid 70s
there was a shift in emphasis. It commenced with a shift to a cropping
systems research approach and quickly evolved into a more holistic farming
systems research perspective.
43
Whole-System Emphasis
Why a Shift in Research Approach?
There were two dominating concerns that triggered the transition
from a single crop approach to a systems perspective in R&D. Firstly, there
was the perception of 'the limited adoption by farmers of new production
techniques' .
44
This may be illustrated with an example of 'the problem of
fit' of a variety within a multiple crop system. The varieties IR8 or BR3 may
perform well in the aus season, and similarly, timely transplanted BR4 may
give superior performance in the aman season. However, the sequence BR3
42
Stephen Biggs. 1986. 'Agricultural Technology Generation and Diffusion: Lessons
for Research Policy,' ODI Agricultural Administration (Research and Extension) Network
Discussion paper 16, 8.
43
Shaner provides a definition of Farming Systems Research/Extension: ' ... an
approach to agricultural research and development that views the whole farm as a system
and focuses on 1) the interdependence between the components under control of members
of the household and 2) how these components interact with the physical, biological and
socio-economic setting not under the household's control. Farming systems are defined by
their physical, biological and socio-economic setting and by the farm families' goals and
other attributes, access to resources, choice of production activities and management
practices.' W.W. Shaner and others. 1982. Farming Systems Research and Development:
Guidelines for Developing Countries (Boulder: Westview Press), 13; quoted in Farming
Systems Support Project. 1987. Diagnosis in Farming Systems Research and Extension:
FSR/E Training Units: Volume I, Farming Systems Support Project, International Programs,
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainsville, Florida, 32611,
1. The cropping systems research approach focuses on the food-crop sub-system.
44
N.C. Brady. 1977. 'Increased Food Production Through Expansion and
Intensification of Soil and Land Use,' in Society of the Soil Science and Manure. Japan.
Proceedings of the International Seminar on Soil Environment and Fertility Management in
Intensive Agriculture (SEFMIA), Tokyo-Japan, 3-18; quoted in H.G. Zandstra. E.C. Price,
J.A. Litsinger, and A.A. Morris, 1981. A Methodology for On Farm Cropping Systems
Research, IRRI, Los Banos, Philippines, 1.
290
followed by BR4 was observed to cover a minimal area on farmers' fields. In
the sequence, under rainfed conditions, BR3 was harvested in early
September and the last recommended date for transplanting BR4 was
August 15.
45
There was a clear lack of fit of the two long duration modern
varieties. The very complexity of the farm system, particularly in less
favourable environments brought about the recognition that:
... the farmer is the ultimate integrator of technology components
[and that] scientists must understand the intricacies of the farmers I
present cropping systems before introducing changes.
46
A second factor was the observation that the over emphasis on
irrigated rice technology tended to favour the resource-rich or larger
farmers.
Lipton had, noted that:
The big exception to this rather happier verdict on the MVs [modern
varieties] was that producers in non MV areas, including many poor
farmers, gained nothing from the new technology. 47
or as perceived by Oasa:
Research cannot be expected ... to yield quick, visible results from
conditions which are far from predictable and optimal. Research, in
this situation, has to get down to the cultivator's world, understand
the environment, and then propose agro-technical changes tailored to
that environment, including what each farmer can or cannot afford.
48
Together these constituted an observed 'crisis of expectation' created
by the Green Revolution.
49
Each shift in approach was a positive shift for
vulnerable farmers. It must, however, be realised that even under farming
45
Magar 1982. Cropping Pattern Model for Rainfed Lowland Rice, 35.
46
M. Zahidul Hoque. 1984. Cropping Systems in Asia: On farm Research and
Management, IRRI, Los Banos, Philippines, 18.
47
Michael Lipton with Richard Longhurst. 1989. New Seeds and Poor People
(London: Unwin Hyman), 19.
48
Edmund K. Oasa. 1987. 'Political Economy of Agricultural Research,' in The
Green Revolution Revisited, ed. Bernard Glaeser (London: Allen and Unwin), 19.
49
International Organising Committee, Asian Farming Systems Research and
Extension Symposium. 1990. Future Directions for Farming Systems Research and
Extension in Asia, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, 1.
291
systems research the two critical elements, of ecosystem and client focus,
were not necessarily jointly addressed by a research programme.
Cropping Systems Research or Crop-System Centred Research
The shift to Cropping Systems Research was the first phase.
The objective of cropping systems research was to increase the
efficiency of a cropping pattern or cropping system.
50
The methodology has been well documented.
51
The emphasis in the
definition is the technology, but within implementation there were stronger
statements concerning the farmer:
The process of combining farming skills with technology to make use
of available resources in providing for the farmers' need is the
cropping systems science.
52
There was a conceptual shift in approach:
In order to influence his [the farmer] well-being... we the scientists -
must understand the patterns of resource utilisation and how
particular cropping systems influence utilisation. 53
Research shifted to village sites and drew farmers and extension personnel
into the process of technology development:
This strategy moves in logical sequence between farmers, research
scientists and extension workers that builds confidence in the
patterns and production practices recommended for a locality while
building a sense of teamwork that should become more productive
and mutually helpful if pursued over time.
54
50
H.G. Zandstra and others. 1981. A Methodology for On-farm Cropping Systems
Research, IRRI, Los Banos Philippines, 5.
51
Zandstra. 1981. A Methodology for On-farm Cropping Systems Research; M.
Zahidul Hoque and Peter R. Hobbs. 1981. Rainfed Cropping Systems Report of Research
Findings at Bhogra Village 1975-79, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh. Publication no. 46; Robert
Tripp and Jonathan Woolley. 1989. The Planning Stage of On-farm Research: Identifying
Factors for Experimentation, Mexico, D.F. and Cali, Columbia: CYMMIT and CIAT.
52
M Zahidul Hoque. 1978. 'Recent Concepts of, Approaches to, and Methodologies
for Cropping Systems Research and Development,' paper presented at the National
Workshop on Cropping Systems Research and Development in Bangladesh (BRRI-BARC)
Feb. 6-8, 1978, BRRI, Gazipur, Dacca, 1.
53
Hoque. 1978. 'Recent Concepts of ... Cropping Systems Research,' 2.
54
Frank W. Sheppard Jr. 1984. 'Cropping Systems Research Strategy for
Introducing Modern Production Technology to Farmers,' in Proceedings of the First BRRI-
292
The change in approach heralded a move to emphasising rainfed
research with its year-to-year, within season, and spacial or topographic
variability. The research environment was no longer controlled. The most in-
depth research was for the rainfed two-rice crop system, which was
reported as an example of rainfed GR technology in Chapter 5.
For Asia, the research approach was spear-headed by IRRI with the
formation of an Asian Cropping Systems Network in March 1975.
55
BRRI
became a member of this network and subsequently established a Rice
Cropping Systems Division, to enable the development of a systems
perspective. Priorities in rice cropping systems research were:
(i) to create an immediate impact on the total food production within
the country; and
(ii) to evaluate the existing cropping patterns of the country and
devise improvements.
56
The shift acknowledged both diversity of environment and the
existence of a 'by-passed community' in the pure commodity development
approach. It was argued that:
Cropping Systems scientists were now putting priorities on the
development of appropriate technologies for these small by-passed
farmers.
57
However, in reality targeting of a specific client group did not form part of
the BRRI Cropping Systems Research approach. This is apparent by the lack
of reference to a specific client group.
58
Similarly, there is no mention of
client group definitions in the national network that was developed by BRRI
Extension Multilocation Working Group Meeting on Rice-based Cropping Systems Mar. 14-
15, 1984, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh. Publication no. 76, 12.
55
Hoque. 1984. Cropping Systems in Asia, 14.
56
M. Zahidul Hoque. 1975. 'The Rice Cropping Systems Programme at the
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute: A Proposed Programme Statement,' BRRI, Gazipur,
Bangladesh, 2.
57
Hoque. 1978. 'Recent Concepts of ... Cropping Systems Research,' 2.
58
Hoque. 1980. Rainfed Cropping Systems Report, Bhogra Village 1975-79, 1 and
22; and for the report for each multilocation test site see BRRI. 1984. First BRRI-Extension
Multilocation Working Group Meeting.
293
in the late 1970s. The network included the Bangladesh Water Development
Board and the NGOs of MCC, HEED, CARE, RDRS and NCCB.
59
There was a distinct lack of targeting of resource-poor farm families.
The emphasis in systems research was on technology development with the
omission of targeting a client group. This lack is apparent, also, in the major
review by Tripp in 1991.
60
Tripp briefly discussed the significance of
different client groups within the topic of integrating on-farm research into
the national agricultural research system:
... when a research system makes a commitment to addressing the
needs of resource-poor farmers, it must be understood that it will
have to generate a greater number of different technologies.
Strong institutional links between research and resource-poor farmers
have to be developed.
61
However, the overall thrust of the review gave scant attention to targeting
technology, but rather focused on diagnostic tools for effective on-farm
research, irrespective of client.
Farming Systems Research or Client-Centred Research
Cropping systems research was a step towards complexity. In
rhetoric there was acknowledgment of the centrality of the resource-poor
farm family. In reality the effort was less. The progression to a Farming
Systems Research (FSR) perspective was natural. Its inevitability is
encapsulated in the term Rice Provision Ability; marginal farm families
59
For reports from each agency see BRRI. 1981. Proceedings of the Workshop on
Rice-based Cropping Systems Research and Development, June 4-6, 1980, BRRI, Gazipur,
Bangladesh. Publication no. 51.
60
Robert Tripp ed. 1991. Planned Change in Farming Systems: Progress in On-farm
Research (New York: John Wiley and Sons).
61
Deborah Merrill-Sands and others. 1991. 'Integrating On-farm Research into
National Agricultural Research Systems: Lessons for Research Policy, Organisation and
Management,' in Planned Change in Farming Systems: Progress in On-farm Research, ed.
Robert Tripp (New York: John Wiley and Sons), 288.
294
survive through a wide range of economic activities in addition to rice and
depend upon earnings from all family members.
For a plant breeder or rice agronomist it was new ground. FSR
dominated the research agenda in the eighties; it was a most significant
period of exploration. I call it a period of exploration as I am not sure that
the practitioners knew where it was leading. Among the questions which
emerged as FSR was pursued were: Who are marginal farm families? What
are their systems of survival? At the micro-level, what are the critical links
between enterprises? What are potential opportunities for increasing
income? What are critical linkages between institutions for ensuring
resource-poor farm family participation?
62
The exploration of such questions
in FSR parallels the extensive collection of empirical data at the turn of the
century that gave rise to the intense debate on peasant theory by
Chayanov, Lenin, Kautsky and others.
63
Building relevance in the development of appropriate technology saw
the emergence of a plethora of tools. In this section I will give an overview
of the more important tools and then illustrate the shift in approach with an
example from BRRI. The whole-farm approach has produced a dilemma in
scientific rigour and the handling of information. I will introduce a new tool,
a computer software package, developed by the author, as a means of
62
Stephen Biggs. 1989. Resource-poor Farmer Participation in Research: A
Synthesis of Experiences from Nine National Agricultural Research Systems, Special Series
on the Organisation and Management of On-farm Client-orientated Research (OFCOR),
Comparative Study Paper no. 3. International Service for National Agricultural Research, The
Hague, Netherlands; Peter T. Ewell. 1989. Linkages Between On-farm Research and
Extension in Nine Countries, Special Series on the Organisation and Management of On-farm
Client-orientated Research (OFCOR), Comparative Study Paper no. 4. International Service
for National Agricultural Research, The Hague, Netherlands; Jabbar. 1989. 'Significance of
On-farm and Farming Systems Research.'
63
A.V. Chayanov. 1966. The Theory of Peasant Economy, ed. Daniel Thorner,
Basile Kerblay and R.E.F. Smith. (Illinois: The American Economic Association); V.1. Lenin.
1964. The Development of Capitalism in Russia, 2d. ed. (Moscow: Progress Publishers);
Teodor Shanin with Hamza Alavi. 1990. 'Peasants and Capitalism: Karl Kautsky on 'The
Agrarian Question,' in Defining Peasants: Essays Concerning Rural Societies and Expolary
Economies, and Learning from Them in the Contemporary World, ed. Teodor Shanin
(Cambridge, USA: Basil Blackwell Press).
295
handling the complexity and diversity of survival approaches used by
marginal farm families.
Building Relevance in R&D
Rapid Rural Appraisal, agro-ecosystems analysis and diagnostic
surveys are tools that enable a more authentic research agenda.
Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA)
The benchmark survey with its stratified sample population and a
large questionnaire was the characteristic contribution of social science to
research on village agriculture. More often than not, the analysis of the
survey was only completed well after the project had begun and in time for
the final report. The project decision-makers were seldom involved in the
collection of field information, with a result that often awareness of social
stratification and the needs of a particular vulnerable group did not even
feature in project formulation.
RRA was an attempt to rectify this shortfall by providing a method for
an interdisciplinary team of decision-makers to formulate plans through
direct observation. RRA was a systematic way of collecting informed first
impressions. It was the critical first step. Knowledge from rural people was
incorporated into the project.
64
RRA depends on walking, seeing and asking questions.
65
64
James Beebe. 1985. 'Rapid Rural Appraisal; The Critical First Step in a Farming
Systems Approach to Research,' in Farming Systems Support Project, International
Programs, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainsville,
Florida 32611. Networking Paper no. 5, 2; Robert Chambers. 1992. 'Rural Appraisal: Rapid,
Relaxed and Participatory,' IDS Discussion Paper no. 311, 9; M.G. Van Der Veen. 1984.
'Rapid Site Selection for Farming Systems Research: Practical Methodologies,' IRRI
Department of Agricultural Economics, Farming Systems Socio-Economics Research
Training Paper no. 4; Ali Mohammad. 1990. RRA [Rapid Rural Appraisal] Concepts,
Methods and Applications, Agricultural Research Project II (Supplement) BARC/US
A.I.D./CHECCHI & CO.
65
Beebe. 1985. 'Rapid Rural Appraisal.' 21.
296
Ecosystems Analysis
Ecosystems Analysis of research and development focuses on
processes and decisions, for example on the interrelationships between
crops and livestock or provision of credit for cropping systems and so
forth.
66
Four system properties are captured within the complexity:
productivity, stability, suitability and equity. Tools have been developed for
agro-ecosysyem mapping that may be at a farm, village or watershed
level.
67
Through the process of mapping in which RRA is utilised, problems
and opportunities for key processes are identified.
68
The important
contribution of agro-ecosystem analysis is the incorporation of systems
terminology such as systems hierarchies, nutrient flows, pattern analysis
and so forth.
In ecosystem analysis equity issues, like the identification of
specifically vulnerable families, are not paramount. The manual' Agro-
ecosystem Analysis for Research and Rural Development' gives scant
attention to specifically vulnerable groups apart from indicating the
'desirability' of equitable distribution amongst its beneficiaries.
69
BRRI, in its
ecosytems analysis, did not identify or quantify the resource-poor,
70
The
mapping exercises, for topography, hydrology, enterprise and social
66
Gordon R. Conway. 1986. Agroecosystem Analysis for Research and
Development (Bangkok: Winrock International); Gordon R. Conway. 1985. 'Agricultural
Ecology and Farming Systems Research,' in Agricultural Systems Research for Developing
Countries, ed. J.V. Remenyi, Proceedings of an International Workshop held at Hawkesbury
Agricultural College Richmond, NSW, Australia 12-15 May, 1985, ACIAR Proceedings no.
11, 55-56. Conway considers Ecosystems Analysis and Development as a third approach as
distinct from Farming Systems Research and Integrated Rural Development. It is not. It is
important not to become pedantic as rhetoric can confuse the real issue. The real issue is
impact on vulnerable farmers.
67
Clive Lightfoot and others. 1989. Training Resource Book for Agro-ecosystem
Mapping, Process Documentation of an Experimental Learning Exercise in Agro-ecosystem
Mapping, held at Rajendra Agricultural University, Pusa, Samastipur, Bihar, India, 7-10 Mar.
1989.
68
Lightfoot. 1989. Training Resource Book for Agro-ecosystem Mapping, 16.
69
Conway. 1986. Agro-ecosystem Analysis for Research and Development, 23.
70
Nizam U. Ahmed and others. 1993. Agro-ecosystem Mapping in Bangladesh: A
Pilot Study, Rice Farming Systems Division, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh. Publication no. 103.
297
grouping, are essential and represent an important progression on crop and
cropping systems research, but fall short in vulnerability analysis.
Diagnostic Surveys for Component Research
CIMMYT developed an informal diagnostic survey tool for identifying
factors for experimentation.
71
The prime innovation was the field survey by
a multidisciplinary team that represented a wide range of disciplines and
research institutes.
72
The process enabled senior research officials to
participate directly in field level diagnosis.
The informal surveys were followed by formal surveys using a short
questionnaire and focussing on key practices and issues that had
been identified in the informal surveys. An important feature was ...
a yield sample of 3-5 plots ....
The survey was followed by an extensive programme of on-farm
experimentation in each research area.
73

Experimentation was immediately linked to a diagnosed field problem.
Over time it was assumed all producers (marginal, medium and large)
would benefit incrementally from the research output. Institutional issues
were considered outside the scope of this approach.
74
Such a restriction
was very typical in on-farm component research. The method lacked a
client focus and failed to consider institutional issues.
Each of the processes outlined are one-off and are most suited to the
participation of senior personnel. In the exploration through the FSR
perspective, the importance of farmer participation has come to the fore.
71
Tripp.1989. The Planning Stage of On-farm Research.
72
D. Byerlee, P. Hobbs, and R. Tripp. 1991. 'Integrating On-farm Research with
Disciplinary, Commodity and Policy Research: The Potential of On-farm Wheat Research in
Pakistan,' in Planned Change in Farming Systems: Progress in On-farm Research, ed Robert
Tripp (New York: John Wiley and Sons), 319; For an example of a diagnostic survey from
Bangladesh see: Nizam U. Ahmed. and others. 1993. Rice-Wheat Diagnostic Survey, Rice
Farming Systems Division, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh. Publication no. 105.
73
Byerlee. 1991. 'Integrating On-farm Research,' 319-320.
74
Tripp.1989. The Planning Stage of On-farm Research, 19-20.
298
Participatory Research and Farmer Participation
The drive for farmer participation arose out of the realisation
.. we scientists often perceive technical problems through different
eyes than farmers.
75
Farmers' perceptions of problems were fundamental:
The basic philosophy ... holds that successful agricultural research
and development must begin and end with the farmer.
76
Rhoades and Booth illustrated the shift that took place in research
objectives in potato storage as farmers participated in the research.
Lightfoot provided insights into indigenous research and the complex
screening for sweet potato varieties
77
and thereby the important input that
farmers provide for basic research.
In participatory research, the knowledge-base of farm families has
credibility. However, there is a reluctance on the part of some researchers
to recognise the importance of such contributions. Pingali expresses a
typical counter view:
.. the researchers have limited capability to derive general principles
from farmer participating research.
78
Pingali voices doubt concerning 'the Farmers First' approach in dealing with
the complex issues of sustainability.
79
Chambers, however, attests that:
.. the balance of advantages shifts from scientists to farmers in
managing complexity, exploiting diversity, in experimenting and in
innovation.
80
75
Robert E. Rhoades and Robert H. Booth. 1982. 'Farmer-Back-To-Farmer: A Model
for Generating Acceptable Agricultural Technology,' Agricultural Administration 11, 129.
76
Rhoades. 1982. 'Farmer-Back-To-Farmer,' 132.
77
Clive Lightfoot. 1987. 'Indigenous Research and On-farm Trials,' Agricultural
Administration 24, 88.
78
Prabhu L. Pingali. 1992. 'From Component Technology Integration to Sustainable
Resource Management: Adapting to Frequent Paradigm Shifts in On-farm Research,' IRRI
Social Sciences Division, paper no. 92-07, 4.
79
Pingali. 1992. Adapting to Frequent Paradigm Shifts in On-farm Research,' 7.
80
Robert Chambers. 1990. 'Complexity, Diversity and Competence: Towards
Sustainable Livelihoods from Farming Systems in the 21 st Century,' paper submitted to the
1990 Asian Farming Systems Research and Extension Symposium (AFSREl, Bangkok, 2.
299
Farmer participation is even more crucial as long-term issues of
sustainability are brought to the fore. The example of the Singh vegetable
system, that was detailed in chapter 5, illustrates a highly productive and
profitable sustainable system from which scientists can almost certainly
derive broadly valid principles.
Relevance of research is not the only issue that is enhanced by
greater farmer participation. A client-focus is achievable. The very
interaction with the client group allows scientists an ongoing exposure to,
and thereby builds a stronger awareness of, the issues facing small and
[For] poor families ... competence in diversifying and continual
adapting to and exploring changing conditions is a key component in
the sustainability of their livelihood.
81
RRA, ecosystems analysis and diagnostic surveys are tools designed
to identify points of entry. Examples of farmer participation in research
regarding potato storage and sweet potato varietal screening was at the
component level. How do researchers display competence in handling both
diversity and continuous adaptation to changing conditions? Chambers saw
this as fundamental in livelihood sustainability for the resource-poor. In their
integration of a diverse set of enterprises resource-poor families somehow
survive. Integration is the Achilles' heel of the R&D process described to
date.
The five major problems, identified by Merrill-Sands in technology
application gaps, each centred around the problem of integration. These
problems were:
i) Inappropriate designation of the relevant socio-economic unit for
understanding farm management.
81
Chambers. 1990. 'Complexity, Diversity and Competence ...,' 4.
300
ii) An insufficient understanding of the multiple production and
consumption goals within the small farm household economy.
iii) A failure to recognise the influence of the social organisation and
development cycle of the household on management of the
farming system.
iv) An inadequate determination of the organisation of the
household economy in which agriculture is often only one of
several enterprises (and within agriculture a farmer has multiple
enterprises)[added as explanation].
v) A disregard for the linkages between small farms and larger
society.
82
Simple reflection on these five factors demonstrates the need for not only a
whole-farm approach in technology development, but also a need for the
consideration of technology within the broader framework of society,
comprising government, non-government institutions and businesses.
The Rice Farming Systems Division (RFSD) of BRRI attempted to
confront the weakness of integration in R&D through a farming systems
model approach.
The Farm Family as the Experimental Unit
The very mandate of BRRI places constraints on the research agenda.
Rice, rice and more rice! Are researchers violating the rice mandate in
attempts to integrate R&D for marginal farm families? RFSD is the division
within BRRI at that edge. It is the division that integrates the rice research
agenda within the context of the farm family.
In the more traditional research a farm family focus has not been
central. It is reflected in the conventional measurements of production
increases in research:
... over four sites modern direct seeded aus (followed by) modern
aman yielded 7.1 tonnes per hectare compared to 4.7 tonnes per
82
Deborah Merrill-Sands. 1986. The Technology Applications Gap: Overcoming
Constraints to Small Farmer Development, FAO Research and Technology Paper no. 1, 5-7.
301
hectare for farmers' practice. The increase in yield was 2.4 tonnes
per hectare or approximately 50 per cent higher.
83
Per hectare yield comparisons do enable productivity comparisons but may
mislead in terms of impact for a vulnerable farm family. For example in a
typical coastal saline site, it was estimated that a typical vulnerable farmer,
who owned 0.6 hectares, could cultivate 0.1 hectares only of the new rice
variety BR23. Landtype and cropping pattern limitations precluded planting
over a greater area. The estimated production gain was an extra 40 kg of
paddy for the family, or less than one month of paddy for family
consumption.
84
By shifting to a farm family focus, as opposed to a simple commodity
focus, traditional research boundaries are exposed as barriers to a more
complete understanding of problems and opportunities. The BRRI FSR site at
Sreepur illustrates an attempt to integrate at the farm family level.
85
The research covered the period from 1986 to 1990. Sreepur was
upland dissected with partially irrigated lowland. Potential existed for many
non-rice technologies. For the first two years, research comprised
component experiments on a 0.4 ha. rented block and farm monitoring for
income and expenditure analysis.
86
Component research issues included
upland and lowland rice variety, sugarcane variety, intercropping of
83
Akhter Hossain Khan and others. 1987. 'The Rainfed A us- T. Aman System-
Moving Ahead with Understanding: paper presented at Regional BRRI-DAE Multilocation
Testing Review Meeting, Dec. 1987, 12. Photocopied.
84
Tom Bruulsema and others. 1992. 'Example: A Marginal Environment: The
Subsistence Farmer Target Group of the NGO, Mennonite Central Committee in a Marginal
Coastal Saline Environment in Bangladesh,' in Noel P. Magor. 1992. FARMACTION a
Program to Assist You in Understanding the Complexity of Small Farm Systems and to
Devise Potentially New Plans that Utilise Innovative Farm Practices, Existing Practices and
Researcher-developed Technologies, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh and IRRI, Los Banos
Philippines (not released), Appendix B, 1-20.
85
See Chapter 2 for a detailed description of the major ecosystems; Chapter 3 for
identification of vulnerable farm families; and Chapter 4 for a description of existing and
potential farming systems.
86
Noel P Magor, Nizam Uddin Ahmed and Nazrul Islam Miah. 1989. 'Farmer
Participation in FSR: A Case Study from Sreepur,' paper presented at the 20th Asian Rice
Farming Systems Network Meeting held in Indonesia, Oct. 2-7, 1989, 2.
302
sugarcane, kitchen garden vegetable variety screening and fodder
screening. Research extended beyond the commodity focus of rice but was
still bound within component agronomic experimentation. It was decided in
1989 to explore a reorientation of emphasis. A farming systems model
approach, as developed in Indonesia, offered the possibility of integrating
multidisciplinary research and strengthening the role of the farm family in
the development of system recommendations.
87
It was a means of crossing
the hurdle of component focused research (eg. crop variety, screening,
poultry ration development, polyculture fish mix in mini ponds).
The Indonesian farm model approach
Initially target areas were identified according to the following criteria:
Critical areas in terms of food shortage and government designation;
large areas having similar soils and climate;
feasibility of intensifying cropping patterns and farming systems
based on prior evidence; and
availability of markets and infrastructure.
88
The target area comprised one agroclimatic region or a distinct soil
association.
89 T
he major areas were upland (not mountainous), lowland rice
(irrigated, partially irrigated and rainfed), swampy, tidal and mangrove.
90
To
this point, the method parallels other Asian countries that implemented
systems research. For example in Bangladesh the major ecosystems were
rainfed lowland, irrigated, coastal saline, deepwater, upland favourable and
so forth. However, in addition to component research an important addition
was in the method of design and testing of farming systems. A succession
87
Magor. 1989. 'Farmer Participation in FSR: A Case Study from Sreepur,' 2; Inu
G. Ismail and others. 1986. 'Methodology, Plans and Progress of the Crops/Livestock
Systems Research in Batumarta, South Sumatra,' in Proceedings International Farming
Systems Workshop, Sukarami (West Sumatra) Indonesia, 10-13 Dec. 1985, 97-111.
88
Inu G. Ismail, Uka Kusnadi and Herman Supriadi. 1986. Annual Report for
1985/86 Crop-Livestock Systems Research Batumarta, Indonesia, Agency for Agricultural
Research and Development, International Development Research Centre (IDRC), 11.
89
Ismail. 1986. Crop-Livestock Systems Research Batumarta, Indonesia, 11.
90
303
of interventions were chosen that enabled a more complete understanding
of both existing and potential systems. For example in the Batumanta site in
South Sumatra the succession was:
i) farmers' system without livestock;
ii) farmers' system with livestock;
iii) gradual improvement in farmers' systems with animals; and
iv) introduced farming systems model.
91
With the site being part of a transmigration area, farmers received specific
parcels of land. There was an entitlement of five hectares that comprised a
homeyard of 0.25 ha, an adjacent area of 0.75 ha for fruit and vegetables,
a two hectare parcel located near but separated from the home lot for food
and perennial crops and a remaining two hectares, further away, which was
a portion of a rubber plantation.
92
It was on this basis that farm plans were
drawn up for testing. The rationale given was:
To implement and evaluate a farming systems model for use of all the
farmers' land based on previous experiences and ex-ante analysis of
alternative combinations of agricultural enterprises. It is expected that
the model tested will help identify problems and possibilities for
intervention and development of the land, labour and capital
resources available to farmers in the target area.
93
There were several key factors that emerged from the Indonesian
approach. There was a link to national plans for a distinct agroecological
zone that was part of a transmigration programme. It did not take place in
isolation from national objectives. The modelling provided a means of
exploring all potential and existing technologies. The ex-ante analysis
estimated potential income and production increases, which could then be
verified through testing. The labour and cash flow at the farm level were
factors taken into consideration in the development of the system. Finally
91
Ismail. 1986. 'Methodology, Plans ... of the Crops/Livestock Systems,' 100.
92
Inu G. Ismail, Uka Kusnadi and Herman Supriadi. 1987. Annual Report for
1986/87 Crop-Livestock Systems Research, Batumarta, Indonesia, Agency for Agricultural
Research and Development International Development Research Centre (IDRC), 4.
93
304
component research, like fodder or rice varietal screening or poultry feed
mix evaluation, was seen within the context of the whole-farm system.
An apparent shift in research focus
For BRRI at Sreepur, the shift to a model focus necessitated a greater
emphasis on farmer selection. The client group was small farmers, who
managed about or less than one hectare and were actively engaged in
agriculture. Off-farm employment was a supplement to income. A short list
of 30 families was made for each of two villages, followed by the selection
of nine small farm families for each. The process of selection took about
one month.
94
The choice of combination of enterprises at first appeared daunting.
BRRI followed an approach of farmer and scientist dialogue, desk analysis
and scientist - scientist dialogue. The farmers' priorities which emerged
were as follows:
goats (there was a problem death from castration);
vegetable cultivation;
fruit gardens with papaya or banana;
sugarcane;
winter rice with irrigation; and
chickens (disease was a major risk).
95
Earlier research had only concentrated on sugarcane variety and
intercropping and winter vegetables. Papaya or banana cultivation were not
even contemplated, and yet closer observation revealed that some farmers
in the area had recently commenced their cultivation. Over time the
potential of guava also became apparent.
As in Indonesia, an ex-ante analysis was completed for existing
farming systems with low cash outlay; a partial intervention with a similar
cash outlay; and a full intervention with a larger cash outlay. Information
94
Magor. 1989. Farmer Participation in FSR: A Case Study from Sreepur 3.
95
Magor. 1989. Farmer Participation in FSR: A Case Study from Sreepur 3.
305
sources were the initial monitoring and crop research at the site from 1986-
88, data from the Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute and the Savar
Development Centre for goat rearing, the Bangladesh Agriculture Research
Institute for vegetable and fruit cultivation and the Sugar Cane Research
and Training Institute for sugarcane.
This new approach produced a real shift in research focus. The
questions being asked changed. With farmer priorities brought to the fore,
scientists were forced to adopt a new attitude. The technical speciality of
each participating scientist had to fit within priorities of the farm families.
Pet research topics, like intercropping of sugarcane could not dominate the
allocation of scarce resources. Crop scientists had to seek help from
livestock scientists and vice versa. Other institutions became involved in an
informal capacity. Other shifts were attention to cash flow and labour
allocation.
The model intervention approach was modified for Bangladesh. The
resource-base of Bangladeshi farmers varied according to landholding. The
targeting of a specific client group was critical. For the BRRI Rice Farming
Systems Division the identification of small and marginal farm families as a
focus of agriculture research was a new experience. Prior to the model
approach, case study farmers had included a doctor, a school teacher,
several medium and large farmers and a minimum of small farm families.
Tackling diversity was a dilemma. A standard intervention plan, as proposed
in Indonesia, was inappropriate. There had to be flexibility. A matrix of
intervention options was developed (figure 39).
96
Was the approach a success? As an attempt at integrating it did fall
short. The field crop, vegetable and goat components were completed but
interventions with papaya, guava and banana were not. Timeliness of
96
Magar. 1989. 'Farmer Participation in FSR: A Case Study from Sreepur,' 18.
306
communication between farm family members and scientists was erratic.
The very complexity of the farmers' systems was not matched by adequate
research support from BRRI RFSD. To that extent the method failed, but
through it lessons were learned. Building farm family participation was weak
and was indicative of a lack of skill on the part of BRRI scientists. The
project was managed from a distance and as a consequence potential local
linkages were missed. Proshika, operated within the study villages and yet
their involvement was not sought. Linkages to local suppliers for papaya
seedlings, banana suckers, guava seedlings, vegetable seed and goat
supplements were not developed directly with the farm families'
themselves. That brings into question the sustainability of any intervention
beyond the project. Given Proshika's commitment to each of the above
technologies, their involvement would have greatly enhanced the research.
Out of the project a greater appreciation of diversity emerged.
The Dilemma of 'The Whole-Farm Approach
The search for positive impact on marginal farm families resulted in a
shift, first from a single crop focus to multiple cropping and then to an
explorative phase of farming systems analysis. With the 'whole-farm
approach' a number of problems emerged that have not been effectively
addressed.
Scientific rigour and professional acceptance
With the shift a dilemma of 'scientific rigour' arose. Since each farm
has its own peculiar characteristics, replicated experiments on a whole-farm
basis are impossible. At this point scientists were observed to question
themselves. 'Is what I am doing, scientific?' At BRRI, FSR has been
Figure 39.
307
Matrix of interventions for farm families at the Sreepur Farming
Systems Research site, 1989-90.
Intervention level
Full
INTERVENTION
2 3 4 5 6
Homestead
X X X
goat with increase
in biomass feed
goat with biomass
X X X X X X
and concentrate
vegetables (homo) X X X X X X
vegetables (commercial)
X X X
composling X X X X X X
new stove X X X X X X
hand lubewell (195 ft)
Chala or upland
fruit : papaya X X
banana
guava X X
sugarcane intercropped
X X
with delta sag
BR20 + maize
X X
at 00:40:40
local rice + maize
at 40:20:20
Bvde or lowland
OSR BR20 followed by BAll
at 150:40:40
DSA local followed by BAll
811 40:20:20
DSR is direct seeded rice;
60:40:20 Is kg of N:P:K
Partial EXisting
308
dominated by agronomists, many of whom have experienced a professional
awkwardness in shifting away from split-plot and factorial experimental
designs. Chambers in Rural Development: Putting the Last First strongly
criticises the lack of imagination and inventiveness in rural research.
97
The
professions of agronomy, economics, veterinary science and so on are
bastions of a narrowly based knowledge to which the broadly based whole-
farm approach is, in essence, unacceptable. It is rare for a research paper
that gives farmer preference in technology and acceptability of a group of
technologies for valid labour and cash flow reasons to find its way into
scientific journals.
For adequate scientific rigour the development of appropriate
research tools is imperative. It could even be argued that the lack of rigour
has been a product of inadequate tools. Should FSR conform to the existing
biometric and econometric analytic tools or should the statistical schools be
allocating research resources to developing analytical tools that match the
field-level shift to systems analysis?
Dilution of focus
Will extending the research boundary dilute the sharp focus of
component research and thereby the desired overall outcome of enhancing
the livelihood of marginal farm families? The answer is affirmative, unless a
real effort is given to identify the most critical research problems regardless
of discipline bias.
Division of research and extension
A third dilemma arises from the arbitrary division of knowledge
processes into research and extension. Is the 'whole-farm approach' an
97
Robert Chambers. 1983. Rural Development: Putting the Last First (London:
Longman), 177.
309
extension activity or is it applied research? A more pertinent question might
be: 'Are research and extension institutions relevant entities or part of an
antiquated system for handling knowledge?' A very real knowledge gap and
thereby research and development opportunity exists at the interface of
research and extension. Surely it is a division that becomes more and more
arbitrary as knowledge flow is two way and farmers become more active
participants in the development of technology.
Linkages to local networks and organisations for sustainability
Support for minor enterprises is more or less non existent through
state agencies. For example, fish pond culture is restricted by access to fish
fry. The restriction is heightened for marginal farm families, who have less
access to resources outside their immediate vicinity than the more wealthy.
As R&D matches the complexity of options for marginal farm families, the
development of local networks becomes more critical. BRAC's policy of
institutional enabling as demonstrated in chapter 5 is a way of ensuring the
sustainability of minor enterprises. Some of the options that could
significantly benefit families in Sreepur were intensive poultry and goat
rearing, papaya, guava and banana cultivation, intensive vegetable growing
and bamboo cultivation. Local networks were undeveloped for each
technology. In contrast the network for sugarcane and gur processing was
well developed.
Volume of data
The detail arising from whole-farm analysis can swamp the limited
resources of field-level personnel and confuse policy makers. For
Bangladesh the voluminous reports of more than 20 farming systems sites
have been translated into 122 system and component recommendations. In
the filtering process, at the national level, it appears only the information on
310
transferable technologies will be available.
98
It is more than likely that the
detailed description of existing socio-economic conditions and production
practices will remain hidden in the archives of each research institution.
The Development of Computer Software and Empowerment
The whole-farm approach, although promising much, can be defeated
by its own complexity. The time factor in handling multiple options is a
major constraint in handling greater complexity. All time expended on
processing data is time away from direct participation with farm families.
The computer revolution has yet to impinge significantly on small
farm family development. Some of the strongest advocates of client-specific
research with strong farm family participation are wary of possible barriers
that may arise through computers. For example the scientific expertise
needed for linear programming or the optimising of farmer decisions shifts
the research to the office and more senior personnel. A socio-economist
with a Masters Degree, with a study on linear programming, may be one of
the few persons capable of utilising such a tool. In this situation, the use of
a computer has shifted the control of knowledge and resulting power to a
few. It has also removed the scientist from much field work. Similarly, crop
simulation models, that utilise the basic biological growth processes derived
from crop physiology, shift the experiment to the computer room. It may be
validly argued that such a commitment now will increase biological research
efficiency in the long-term. However, the above examples of a socio-
economist skilled in linear programme modelling and biological crop
simulation have tended to cloud the potential of developing software for
empowering personnel at the field level, and through that process
98
R.N. Mallick. 1990. 'Production Systems Planning Based on Appropriate
Technology of National Agriculture Research Systems,' discussion paper presented at
Production Systems Planning on Upazila AEZ Updating and Risk Management, May 1990,
BARe, Dhaka. Photocopied.
311
enhancing the livelihood of small and marginal farm families directly. The
result has been that possible advocates for developing software for complex
small-farm systems may take the position of being sceptical or, more
seriously, openly antagonistic.
Is empowering software possible?
FARMACTION, a software package developed by the author, is a
R&D tool that is capable of enhancing research on the complexity of farm
family survival systems. In Chapter 4, it was used to integrate a knowledge-
base for vulnerable farm families for five major ecosystems in Bangladesh.
Existing and potential farm systems were described and possible research
and development issues arising for each site were discussed.
FARMACTION, however, is a Model T Ford in terms of what is potentially
possible in the development of empowering software.
FARMACTION
FARMACTION evolved within the praxis of farming systems research
at BRRI. The early FSR approach of expanding the research mandate to
include component experiments on non-rice crops, vegetables, poultry,
goats, fish, fruit trees and so forth was inadequate. A whole-farm approach
expanded the options in the component research, but with it arose the
problem of handling multiple options for farmers. The development of farm
plans encompassing eight to ten diverse activities, all utilising labour and
generating an output that maybe for sale, home consumption or both, was
formidable for a field-level researcher. At best researchers have been able to
handle single interventions along with their partial budgets. The initial
models for Indonesia were completed longhand with a calculator
99
and the
99
Personal communication from Jerry Mcintosh, Systems Research Specialist who
worked in the FSR program in Indonesia during the development of the model concept.
312
first plans for Sreepur were completed using the software spreadsheet
Lotus 123. Modification of plans, through greater clarity of research issues,
an essential R&D capability, was lacking.
FARMACTION locates technologies within the total life of the farm
family by providing a panoptic view of all activities both economic and non-
economic of the family. The objective in developing FARMACTION was the
provision of an empowering tool to enable persons who work directly with
farm families in agricultural development, to better understand their client
group and to move forward in participation with those families in developing
action research and intervention programmes that promote increased
income and productivity.
What a tool like FARMACTION offers is a simple way of grasping the
complexity at the farm level in an ongoing process. The reduced demand for
continuous monitoring gives field-level researchers more time for personal
exchange with farm families and for considering the critical issues arising at
the whole-farm level.
100
Neglected enterprises such as agroforestry in the
form of a simple hedgerow, or three to five coconut trees, or a seasonal
vegetable garden may be evaluated along with a dominant crop enterprise.
Of the five major problems contributing to technology application
gaps, identified by Merrill-Sands and referred to earlier in this chapter,
FARMACTION addresses four. Firstly, the socio-economic unit is determined
by the users. For example in the coastal saline site of Char Matua seasonal
migration was an important part of the survival system of marginal farm
families. It is possible to account for that on a month by month basis for the
100
Continuous monitoring of all activities, like production, labour, consumption,
nutrition and expenditure, has been advocated by Curry as a means of developing an
integrated understanding of whole-farm systems. I suggest its use is Quite limited and is so
demanding as to take good researchers away from regular interaction with village families.
Bruce Curry. 1990. 'Looking Beyond Rapid Rural Appraisal and Farming Systems Research
Methods,' in Environmental Aspects of Agricultural Development in Bangladesh, ed.
Saleemul Huq, A. AtiQ Rahman and Gordon R. Conway (Dhaka: University Press), 188.
313
vegetable cultivation, it is apparent that women must be the focus of such
an activity as the male head is away in another district. Secondly, the
multiple production and consumption goals of the family can be understood
interactively with the family and simply quantified with FARMACTION. The
farm plans developed for each site in chapter 4, although far from complete,
had been developed additively. The plans included major and minor
economic activities, non-farm income by male and female members, credit
for consumption and production at informal rates and so on. No activity was
too minor, but as opposed to continuous monitoring could be built in steps
depending on the resources of the field level personnel. Points three and
four by Merrill-Sands draw attention to the lack of understanding of social
organisation in multi-enterprised systems. FARMACTION gives an
understanding of the whole system. All labour, adult male and female and
child has value. However, the interpretations available from FARMACTION
are not static. Its greatest use is in the arena of, 'what if?' For example, in a
deepwater ecosystem, what happens to labour demand in May and June if
deepwater rice is transplanted immediately after bora rice? Because prices
can be updated in an individual enterprise, earlier survey work can be used
in current plans and multiple interventions can be viewed at different price
scenarios.
Software and empowerment
The empowering capability of tools like FARMACTION is a stimulus to
both research and development. A policy maker need no longer think within
the narrow confines of single commodities but can, for a given ecosystem,
have at his or her disposal a profile of the farm systems of specific client
groups. The potential impact of a new commodity research finding can be
viewed within a whole-farm basis through utilising existing information that
has been adjusted to a FARMACTION format. At the field-level the findings
314
of other research - development institutions, like the Jute Research Institute
and the Agriculture Research Institute, can be incorporated within potential
plans or models. Similarly the Extension Service personnel can have more
immediate access to research findings and provide a more critical input into
both their development and relevance. The knowledge gaps that have
traditionally existed between Research and Extension, between Research
Institutions and between junior and senior researchers within an institution
are effectively reduced. Decision making effectively moves to the field.
Software and rigour
How can software like FARMACTION enhance rigour? It is not a
statistical tool; it does not optimise mathematically. However, and for
marginal farm families, more importantly, selection of best options can be
achieved through interaction between farm families and field-level
personnel. A farmer like Kalam has the potential to become a decision
maker in the choice of technological options and in setting potential goals.
As mentioned by Merrill-Sands,101 the technology application gaps
concerned interpretation at the whole-farm level and farmer to community
level. Whole-farm monitoring and whole-farm interventions, rather than
overcoming the whole-farm-Ievel constraint, inevitably consume resources
and at the same time reduce the rigour of research on individual enterprises.
With FARMACTION whole-farm monitoring is replaced by the monitoring of
specific enterprises across farms, along with traditional statistical rigour. A
detailed inventory of cropping patterns, livestock, agro-forestry, non-farm
income, aquaculture and so forth is analysed statistically for enterprise
combinations across farmer groups and eco-gradients. In chapter 4, this
process was used for determining profitable enterprise combinations for
101
Merrill-Sands. 1986. The Technology Applications Gap, 5-7.
315
process was used for determining profitable enterprise combinations for
each site. The rigours of individual enterprise definition and whole-farm
enterprise combinations can then be utilised with a tool like FARMACTION
for viewing whole-farm questions of labour and cash and for interactive
whole-farm planning. Detailed rigour is maintained and whole-farm synthesis
incorporated.
Conclusion
The evolution of R&D has resulted in a physical shift from the
research station to the village and the inclusion of farm families and
extension personnel in the knowledge or technology development process.
The R&D system has made a definite move towards greater support for
marginal farm families. There has been a growing recognition of the
complexity and diversity of both their farming operations and overall family
survival strategies. The explorative phase of FSR has complemented the
more traditional research approach. It has not been without its critics. It
could be claimed that the impact in the short-term has been less than
anticipated.
102
The length of time taken to recognise the need for and to
develop tools, like diagnostic surveys, RRA and agro-ecosystems analysis,
has contributed to the less than expected impact. The efficiency gains in
whole-farm participatory research through tools like FARMACTION are still
to be recognised. The professional training of personnel, who are active in
FSR, has not facilitated the ability to integrate or operate within a multi-
disciplinary team or take part in farm family participatory research. FSR has
necessitated a relearning in processes for effective technology development.
FSR has challenged the structure of R&D institutions and the process of
102
US A.ID. 1989. 'A Review of A.ID. Experience: Farming Systems Research
and Extension Projects- 1975-1987: A.ID. Evaluation Highlights no. 4, Center for
Development Information and Evaluation, US A.ID., Washington D.C. 20523, 1.
316
developing an R&D agenda. R&D has traditionally been commodity-based
and isolated from local networks and organisations. It is for these reasons I
have called FSR an exploratory phase. From the learning experience, what
areas of concern and recommendations have emerged?
The existing structure of knowledge and research has failed to deal
with what we now understand about the enterprise activities of vulnerable
farm families. From an understanding of both existing and potential farming
systems for marginal farm families (chapter 4), it is apparent that there are
major omissions in research focus. For example the idea of building an
income-base from the homestead on the whole has been neglected. Also
the discussion on the sources and nature of technology options (chapter 5)
has shown that the definition of technology is too narrow. I have introduced
the concept of an enterprise matrix, in which the knowledge innovation has
technical, social and organisational components, each of which must be
addressed. In general, even with the continual evolution of R&D and
specifically under the FSR approach, the targeting of vulnerable farm
families is more a case of lip-service than real adjustment to programme
method (chapter 6). Taking each of these points together, there is a need
for major change in R&D. The suggestions cover the quest for balance and
integration, overcoming the arbitrary division of extension and research, a
commitment to regionalisation, acknowledging the essence of linkages
between international research centres, like IRRI, and national centres, and
the recognition and development of local networks and organisations. These
themes will be taken up in the final chapter. Before doing so, it is necessary
to explore the rather neglected issue of institutions, both government and
non-government. It is the focal point of the next chapter.
CHAPTER 7
TAILORING INSTITUTIONS FOR MARGINAL FARM FAMILIES
Introduction
Griffin in the early seventies voiced concern that failures in rural
development will lie 'not so much in inappropriate technology as in
inappropriate institutions and poor policy'.
1
... policy in underdeveloped countries ... must ... be concerned
with creating new institutions and reforming existing ones.
2
Uphoff has recently expressed a similar thought:
... the process of institutionalisation is an essential aspect of the
development process.
3
However, as case studies will show, the creation by the state of effective
institutions / organisations
4
for the rural poor has been most difficult:
It is much more difficult to tailor institutions than to tailor technology
so as to serve for the poor in a society characterised by extreme
inequality.
5
A central reason that it has been so difficult to tailor institutions for the poor
has been a basic flaw in development theory that sees the state as the
1
Keith Griffin. 1979. The Political Economy of Agrarian Change: An Essay on the
Green Revolution, 2d ed. (London: The Macmillan Press Ltd), 259.
2
Keith Griffin. 'Underdevelopment in Theory,' in The Political Economy of
Development and Underdevelopment, ed. Charles K. Wilbur (New York: Random House
Business Division), 23.
3
Norman Uphoff. 1993. 'Grassroots Organisations and NGOs in Rural Development:
Opportunities with Diminishing States and Expanding Markets,' World Development 21, no.
4,615.
4
Uphoff. 1993. 'Grassroots Organisations and NGOs in Rural Development,' 614.
Uphoff distinguishes institutions and organisations. 'Institutions, whether organisations or
not, are complexes of norms and behaviours that persist over time by serving collectively
valued purposes, while organisations, whether institutions or not, are structures of
recognised and accepted roles.'
5
Yujiro Hayami. 1983. 'Growth and Equity - Is There a Trade-Off?' in 18th
International Conference of Agricultural Economists, Jakarta, 1982 Growth and Equity in
Agricultural Development; Proceedings, ed. Allen Maunder and Kazushi Ohkawa (Oxford:
International Association of Agricultural Economists), 114.
317
318
predominant provider of economic activity for the vulnerable. It is a position
that is especially problematic is a strongly hierarchical rural society like that
in Bangladesh. A monopoly role in service delivery, which has been one of
the direct outcomes of such theory, has actually disempowered the rural
poor and further entrenched the politically and economically powerful.
However, there has been a lack of alternatives and it is this issue that I
wish to focus on now. Throughout this chapter I am arguing for plurality in
institutions / organisations for the vulnerable. In the building of the
structures that empower there are three potential actors, namely the state
but in an enabling role, non-governmental organisations (NGOS)
6
and private
business. I will concentrate on the first two as to this point in time the
involvement of private business has been negligible. I also include the
Grameen Bank, which is a specialised financial institution that was
established by government ordinance in 1983.
7
By choosing examples from
state service agencies and NGOs I am bringing to the fore arguments on the
role of the state and the issue of organisational plurality in the provision of
services for vulnerable families.
Until recently the state has dominated as the accepted service
provider for rural development. Parastatals have been surrounded by an
aura of serving the poor, which has been accompanied by a sense that
breaking them up would in some way severely impede development for the
poor. However, that role is under question. In the seventies and early
eighties the dominance of neo-Fabian rhetoric, which saw ... 'the
6
'NGOs in Bangladesh, as in other countries, are a diverse entity operating under
different paradigms. There are national as well international NGOs. There are NGOs which
operate only in one sector of the economy. The programmes of other NGOs encompass
multi-sectoral activities. Some NGOs have focussed their attention on "consciousness
raising" aspect of grassroots mobilisation. The others are mainly engaged in promoting
income generating activities for the poor.' Binayak Sen. 1989. 'NGOs in Bangladesh
Agriculture: An Exploratory Study,' in UNDP. 1989. Bangladesh Agriculture Sector Review:
Bangladesh Agriculture Performance and Policies - Compendium Volume V Institutions, 235.
7
Mahabub Hossain. 1988. Credit for the Alleviation of Rural Poverty: the Grameen
Bank in Bangladesh, IFPRI in collaboration with BIDS, Research Report no. 65, 9.
319
government ... as the principle instrument for action against poverty,
8
reinforced a determination to achieve effective state service provision to all
socio-economic groups through more and more donor support. However,
the limitations of resources and the lack of appreciation of the frustrating
consequence of an hierarchical society have dampened state impact at the
village level. Recent debate from India acknowledges the problem. Shah, in
his discussion on redesigning relations between the state and institutions of
development, systematically attacks each monolith within the Indian
structure of rural development; land reform, subsidies, the Food
Corporation, the agriculture research system, state involvement in
cooperatives and so on. He calls for
... a 'paradigm shift' in our entire outlook about the equation
between state and society.
9
Shifting from the microcosm of academic research to the realm of farmers
we see a farmers' movement which has challenged the heavily
bureaucratised rural economy of India and called for Iiberalisation. 'The main
theme is that the state should get out of the economy ... '
10
and a call for
redesigning the equation between the state and society.
11
A similar cry
comes from Swaminathan in an address on the population and
environmental crisis:
Today education has to be provided by the government; health has to
provided by the government; water resources have to be husbanded
by the government; population programme has to come from the
government. These are mere examples illustrative of the fact that
8
Robert Chambers. 1989. The State and Rural Development: Ideologies and an
Agenda for the 1990s,' IDS Discussion Paper no. 269, 2.
9
T. Shah. 1993. 'Agriculture and Rural Development in the 1990s and Beyond:
Redesigning Relations between State and Institutions of Development,' Economic and
Political Weekly 28: no.39, A85.
10
Go. 1993. 'Farmers' Movement: Fighting for Liberalisation,' Economic and
Political Weekly 28, no. 50, 2708.
11
V. Kurien, Tushar Shah and Daniel Bromley. 1992. 'Agriculture and Rural
Development in the 1990s and Beyond: Redesigning the Chemistry Between State and
Institutions of Development,' Journal of Rural Development 11, no. 4, 393-430.
320
today there is a total dependence on the government whether in
terms of policy initiatives or resource allocation. Thus, the initiatives
and resources which the community itself used to provide have
completely dried up or reduced considerably.
12
Within Bangladesh, Wood argues that parastatals have become so corrupted
as to antagonise the poor.
13
There is an ongoing argument between those who believe the state
must be the principal instrument in the struggle against poverty and those
who favour a market-driven modernisation as the best means of alleviating
poverty.
14
In brief, adherents of the first position believe the government
should do more; those favouring markets hold that it should do less.
Regardless of the debates, policy shifts through donor pressure have
tended to de-emphasise the state as the overall implementor of
development:
The scope of market driven activities is increasing partly because of
deregulation policies and partly by default, as state institutions in
LDCs (Less Developed Countries) cannot manage as broad a range of
functions as was thought previously.
15
There has been both a policy shift and a non-performance factor in the
decline of the provision of state services for marginal farm families.
I mentioned NGOs as another player in the structuring of services for
marginal farm families. NGOs have tended to support the lead role of the
state. Within this position, NGOs are seen to be a temporary phenomenon
with an effective state eventually assuming responsibility for delivering
12
M.S. Swaminathan. 1992. 'Population and Environment, Challenges to be Met:
in Ecology, Development and Population Problem: Perspectives from India, China and
Australia, ed. Kuttan Mahadevan, Chi-Hsien Tuan and Balakishan Nair (India: B.R. Publishing
Corporation), 11.
13
Geof D. Wood. 1991. 'Agrarian Entrepreneurialism in Bangladesh,' The Indian
Journal of Labour Economics 34, no. 1, 16-17.
14
Chambers. 1989. 'The State and Rural Development: Ideologies ...'
15
The phrase' ... cannot manage as broad a range of functions as was thought
previously ... ' carries with it the connotation of a management ceiling in LDC capability.
The suggestion is that there was a lack of capability. I would rather argue that the
development direction of excessive state monopolies in economic activities may have in fact
been an inappropriate model irrespective of state capability.
321
services presently provided by NGOs. Empowerment to demand services
becomes an essential programme activity. Statements by NGOs such as the
Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS) reflect this position:
RDRS continues to see government as the primary agency of
development with the rural poor in the long-term, and indirect
capacity - building assistance and 'model creation' remains a RDRS
goal.
16
A further extension of this stand is the push for the more effective NGOs to
contract for state services. Does this amount to little more than a subsidised
short-term delivery service with avoidance of parastatal restructuring? If so
it is no more than welfare.
17
Also there are suggestions of NGOs forming
closer collaboration at the upazila level:
NGOs could strengthen government programmes by organising
groups, training them and linking them to the government extension
and other services, in agriculture, fisheries, livestock and forestry.
18
The role of development organisations that are an alternative to state
services has been a source of tension. Duplication and with that a
questioning of the efficient use of scarce resources has often been the
charge.
How far does the success of NGOs in achieving success in certain
activities actually undermine the government's own legitimacy?
19
or
... it is important to work with the state and help improve state
services rather than setting up an alternative in competition with
them.
20
16
Andy Batkin. 1992. 'NGOs: The Case of RDRS in Bangladesh,' IDS Bulletin 23,
Issue 4, 58.
17
Bosse Kramsjo and Geof Wood with Foreword by Faruque Ahmed. 1992.
Breaking the Chains: Collective Action for Social Justice Among the Rural Poor in
Bangladesh (Dhaka: University Press Limited), 33.
18 UNDP. 1989. Main Report: Bangladesh Agriculture Sector Review: Bangladesh
Agriculture Performance and Policies, sponsored by UNDP BGD/87/023, 111.
19 David J. Lewis. 1993. 'NGO-Government Interaction in Bangladesh: Overview,' in
Non-Governmental Organisations and the State in Asia: Rethinking Roles in Sustainable
Agricultural Development, ed. John Farrington and David Lewis with S. Satish and Aurea
Miclat-Teves (London: Routledge Press), 55.
322
Some proponents of state-led services have been antagonistic to NGO
participation in economic activities. For example, Rahman and Alam see
plurality in providing credit for the poor, as threatening the national
cooperative movement:
Experiences suggest that such multi-agency experimentation to deal
with the landless and rural poor in the name of rural development
creates unfair competition among them. This has threatened the
cooperatives as a nation-wide organisation dealing with rural
development.
21
The authors then proceed to call for another national organisation to attend
the needs of the rural poor. Is this anything more than a call for yet more
bureaucracy?
In what follows, I have chosen case studies that clarify key principles
for building effectiveness for marginal farm families in a society
characterised by highly skewed power relations. In chapter 5 I introduced
the concept of the envelope of activities around a technology that is
necessary for its adoption by vulnerable families. The management of
capital is essential to the sustainability of any such matrix. For this reason
several of the case studies centre on the provision of credit services. Case
studies from either the Training and Visit system of the Department of
Agriculture Extension or the irrigation services of the Bangladesh Water
Development Board would not have provided the opportunity of raising the
question of capital management.
Initially I am looking for evidence within the state-led agencies of
positive performance in reaching the target group. The Bangladesh Rural
Development Board has been the prime agency for rural development. In
20
Alan Thomas. 1992. 'Non Governmental Organisations and the Limits to
Empowerment,' in Development Policy and Public Action, ed. M. Wuyts, M. Mcintosh and
T. Hewitt (London: Oxford University Press in Association with the Open University), 128.
21
M. Lutfor Rahman and M. Ferdous Alam. 1986. 'Financing the Rural Poor in
Bangladesh: Experiences of Some Government and Non Government Organisations,'
Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Economic 9, no. 2, 25.
323
addition there has been the Rural Poor Programme (RPP) for landless men
and women and an experimental programme, the Small Farmer Development
Programme (SFDP) that has focused on more marginal farm families. In both
the RPP and the SFDP there was a conscious effort to target membership.
Given that scarcity of capital is regarded as a major constraint to new
economic activities one further programme will be discussed under state-led
initiatives - the Special Agriculture Credit Programme (SACP).
If, within these programmes, there is convincing evidence of success
in reaching marginal farm families then the state-led process warrants
further attention and it weakens my argument for organisational plurality.
Furthermore, there is legitimacy for the state both to resist the donors'
pressure for deregulation and to continue to determine means of increasing
the effectiveness of the parastatals, particularly BRDB. However, if the state
cannot reach marginal farm families, where do we go next?
The debate leads into an exploration of the effectiveness of the
innovative credit programmes of the Grameen Bank and the BRAC bank in
reaching vulnerable families. Both are institutions that have targeted
programmes and equally important are completely independent of local state
administration. Their independence, which does not exist for parastatals,
raises the question of the consequences of having a plurality of
development institutions. As will be shown, BRAC is an institution that has
opted to create a long-term presence through the formation of the BRAC
bank. BRAC assumes plurality at the local level is legitimate.
Earlier I stated that NGOs have tended to support the lead role of
state-led services. Both the treadle-pump technology of RDRS and the BRAC
poultry model (discussed in Chapter 5) have been successful examples of
technology targeted to a vulnerable group. I explore both examples further
in regard to the role of the state. Where do these programmes find their
niche; in a state-led service, or within the market, or within both? Is there
324
an eventual place for private business in empowering marginal farm
families? The important question of plurality arises. I will discuss the earlier
question raised concerning NGOs contracting for state services and building
bridges with the local level administration.
It is here I pause. In Chapter 3, marginal farm families, who were
vulnerable to loss of land, were identified. It is now appropriate to ask if
there are institutions and organisations in place that interact with this
group? It is my contention that a serious vacuum exists. I illustrate that
vacuum by looking at the client groups of three organisations within one
upazila in North-East Bangladesh. There is the local NGO, HEED, the farmer
cooperative groups of BRDB and the contact farmer programme of the
Department of Agricultural Extension.
22
It also highlights the importance of
targeting and the principle of exclusion. Elahi and others recognise the
problem of access and have developed a proposal for the formation of a
Small Farmer Development Bank.
23
I suggest that in the light of the
strengths and weaknesses found in the case studies there are serious
shortcomings in the proposal.
That leads into a final section in which I address the question, where
to, for vulnerable farm families? The discussion shifts to identifying the key
principles for creating effective, sustainable institutions / organisations for
reaching marginal farm families. I then move on to apply these principles to
revamping BRDB and to any new organisation that may emerge for marginal
farm families.
22
'Contact farmers are practising farmers who are selected by the villagers with the
assistance of the Block Supervisor. The Block Supervisor uses them as contact persons who
are ready to learn, tryout, adopt improved agricultural practices ... and spread this
information among farmers they represent.' DAE. 1985. Agricultural Extension Manual (The
Training and Visit System), Department of Agricultural Extension, Ministry of Agriculture,
Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Khamar Bari, Farm Gate, Dhaka, 27.
23
Khandakar Qudrat-I Elahi, M.A. Hakim and M. Fazlul Haq. 1990. Removing the
Constraints on Small Farmer Development in Bangladesh, BARC, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Photocopied.
325
Case Studies from State-led Services
Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB)
The two-tiered cooperative strategy, known initially as the Comilla
Cooperative system, and subsequently the Integrated Rural Development
Programme (IRDP) and finally the Bangladesh Rural Development Board
(BRDB) has been the cornerstone of state-managed rural development since
the early seventies.
24
... a cooperative system was developed consisting of small village
credit cooperatives run by villagers, and a central cooperative at the
thana level, which was responsible for promoting new agricultural
technology and providing the necessary agricultural supplies,
extension training, credit, and the supervision of record keeping.
25
According to Akhter Hameed Khan, the architect of the Comilla programme:
The peasant producers ... were the real agriculturalists. . . . We
chose cooperative groupings as the instrument of teaching them
modern practices and management. .. [and] also [to] protect the
peasant members from the prevailing system of money lending and
trading ...
26
The principal rationale for the Comilla programme was the economic uplift
of small farmers.
27
From the single thana within Comilla District, the
approach emerged as the national programme in 1970 and dominated the
national development agenda for more than two decades.
24
Robert D. Stevens. 1976. 'Comilla Rural Development Programs to 1971,' in
Rural Development in Bangladesh and Pakistan, ed. Robert D. Stevens, Hamza Alavi and
Peter J. Bertocci (Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press), 95-128; Steve Jones. 1979. 'An
Evaluation of Rural Development Programmes in Bangladesh,' The Journal of Social Studies
6,51-92.
25
Stevens. 1976. 'Comilla Rural Development Programs to 1971,' 100.
26
Akter Hameed Khan. 1973. The Comilla Projects: A Personal Account (Mimeo),
BARD, Kotwali, Comilia, 11-16; quoted in Shakeeb Adnan Khan. 1989. The State and
Village Society: The Political Economy of Agricultural Development in Bangladesh (Dhaka:
University Press), 24; Within the First Five Year Plan the cooperatives were seen as a
vehicle for developing new leadership and challenging traditional vested interests. See B.K.
Jahangir. 1979. Differentiation, Polarisation and Confrontation in Rural Bangladesh (Dhaka:
Centre for Social Studies), 53.
27
Khan, 1989. The State and Village Society ... in Bangladesh; Stefan de Vylder.
1982. Agriculture in Chains: Bangladesh: A Case Study in Contradiction and Constraints
(London: Zed Press), 141.
326
Initially, the 'primary village community' focus of the first cooperative
tier was perceived to offset the domination of union level councils by local
elite.
28
A programme operating within the village was the goal. According to
Bertocci:
... the Comilla experiment's ... focus on traditional social groupings
in the project area ... has the strategic advantage of building on
indigenous forms of social organisation, working with groupings
familiar to the peasant, and does not attempt to create wholly new
(and uncomfortable) entities.
29
The 'attempt to pour new wine into old bottles'
30
was initially lauded as a
breakthrough in rural uplift.
However, the breakthrough was not to be. During the seventies,
there was a wave of criticism as the shortfalls in the approach became
apparent. Benefits had been usurped by the more powerful
31
, who had
taken control of the management of the cooperatives.
32
Khan himself
concluded:
The lesson of the Comilla experiment is that it is impossible to
prevent the big farmers from dominating cooperatives if they are
allowed to enter them.
33
Through the Comilla cooperative and its rapid expansion to a poorly
supervised national programme, the difficulty of penetrating traditional
power structures to reach small farmers, became a known reality.34
28
Peter J. Bertocci. 1976. 'Social Organisation and Agricultural Development in
Bangladesh: in Rural Development in Bangladesh and Pakistan, ed. Robert D. Stevens,
Hamza Alavi and Peter J. Bertocci (Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press), 165.
29
Bertocci. 1976. 'Social Organisation in Bangladesh; 166.
30
Bertocci. 1976. 'Social Organisation in Bangladesh; 166.
31 S
wadesh Bose. 1974. 'The Comilia Co-operative Approach and the Prospects for
Broad-based Green Revolution in Bangladesh,' World Development 2, no. 8, 28.
32
Atiur Rahman. 1986. Peasants and Classes: A Study in Differentiation in
Bangladesh (Dhaka: University Press), 218-225.
33 A
zizur Rahman Khan. 1979. 'The Comilla Model and the Integrated Rural
Development Programme of Bangladesh: An Experiment in "Cooperative Capitalism": World
Development 7, no. 1, 414.
34
De Vylder. 1982. Agriculture in Chains: Bangladesh, 140-153.
327
Membership, as of June 1987, stood at 64,201 societies with
2,383,796 members.
35
However, a review of BROB cooperatives classified
them on the basis of repayment of loans and other criteria.
36
There were
four grades from A to 0, with Grade 0 being virtually defunct.
37
Forty-five
per cent of the UCCAS
38
and 55 per cent of the primary cooperatives were
moribund.
Adequate participation of landless men and women and marginal farm
families was a serious shortcoming in BROB cooperatives. To address this
issue there were progamme shifts in two directions; the Rural Poor
Programme (RPP) and an experimental project, the Small Farmer
Development Programme (SFOP).
The Rural Poor Programme
The RPP emerged within BROB from 1977 onwards and represented
the GoB's main direct effort at addressing the problems of rural poverty.
39
Landless groups for men and women were organised primarily for credit.
Plans for loans were submitted to the TCCA for approval with normal two-
tier rules applying for registration, savings and shares.
40
Wood in a study of
35
A.M.M. Shawkat Ali. 1990. Agriculture and Credit in Bangladesh (Dhaka: PIB
Press), 72.
36
Other criteria for scoring were: share and saving deposit, enrolling new members
(farmer-household and landless), regular weekly meetings, attendance at training classes,
practice of better methods of cultivation, efficient management and account keeping,
holding an annual general meeting, and participation in rural education and cooperative
training.
37
Clarence Maloney and A.B. Sharfuddin Ahmed. 1988. Rural Savings and Credit in
Bangladesh (Dhaka: University Press Limited), 119; For a more complete detailing of scoring
see Mahmudul Alam and Nabi Hossain. 1986. 'Socio-Economic Implications of an IRD
(Integrated Rural Development) Project in Bangladesh: A Case Study of Noakhali Integrated
Rural Development Project (NIRDP): Some Micro-Level Evidence,' BIDS, Research Report no.
55, 122-123.
38
The UCCA or TCCA was the Upazi/a Central Cooperative Association or Thana
Cooperative Association. It represented the second tier of the cooperative model.
39
40
328
government approaches towards the rural poor completed ten summary
case studies of BSS/M(B)SS groupS.
41
Obviously there is the issue of corruption involving the UCCA, the
Union Council and the Upazila administration.
In some cases the roles of mobilising or initiating the formation of
groups overlaps with the oppressive/exploitative roles. The UCCA
structure is deeply integrated into these relationships. The members
are presented with little choice but to rely upon the traditional
brokers.
42
The case studies by Wood were the only material found which assessed
both the membership and the performance of the landless groups that had
been formed within the two-tier cooperative system of BRDB.
The Small Farmer Development Programme
The Small Farmer Development Programme (SFDP) was an
experimental programme initiated in 1976 in cooperation with FAO:
The objective of the project is to organise the small farmers and
landless labourers in the villages for their economic and social
upliftment.
43
In the early phase from 1976-1980 there were pilot projects in
Mymensingh, Comilla and Bogra districts with supervision from the
Bangladesh Agriculture University, the Bangladesh Academy for Rural
Development (BARD) and the Bogra Rural Development Academy
41
Geof D. Wood. 1984. A Study of Government Approaches Towards the Rural
Poor in Bangladesh. The study was undertaken as part of the preparation for an employment
sector programmes to be funded by the Nordic Donors. Its initial focus was on the operation
of the BRDB-Rural Poor Programme, 34-48; similarly reported in Wood. 1994. Bangladesh:
Whose Ideas, Whose Interests? 408-421. BSS is the Bittaheen Samabaya Samities or
assetless cooperative for men and M(B)SS is the Mohila Bittaheen Samabaya Samities or
assetless cooperative for women.
42
Wood. 1984. Government Approaches Towards the Rural Poor, 47.
43
Ajmal H. Ahmad and others. 1982. 'Delivery System in Support of Small Farmers
in the Context of Rural Development,' CIRDAP Study Series Centre on Integrated Rural
Development for Asia and the Pacific, Kotbari, Comilla, Bangladesh Report no. 17, 11.
329
respectively.
44
The project had emerged out of the Asian Survey of Agrarian
Reforms and Rural Development (ASARRD), which was a study organised to
identify constraints facing small and marginal farmers. The target groups of
the project were small farmers defined as those owning cultivatable land
between 0.2 and 0.6 ha and landless labourers defined as those owning 0.0
to 0.2 ha cultivatable land.
45
With SFDP's strong link with BRDB, its emergence as a distinct
development activity was confused from the beginning. The ambiguity is
reflected in the annual workshops. An inaugural address by the Director of
BARD at the 1979 workshop stated:
In 1960 BARD's efforts were started from the study of the problems
of small farmers and non-farm poor artisans and workers. In 1976
when we started this new action programme which called for a
further sub-division of the small farmers below one or two acres we
were eager to see what was wrong with our previous efforts.
46
The Director called for the absorption of the new groups in the SFDP
initiative by the Comilla system. He stated that ultimately the responsibilities
of the Action Research Fellows,
47
the target group organisers, should be
carried out by members of BRDB. There is no indication of the need for the
formation of a separate institution. All institutional support:
... should be obtained within the local institutional framework
provided by the Thana level federations of the existing village
44
Shankar Kumar Raha. 1981. 'Field Action Project (Mymensingh Sub-project) for
Small Farmers and Landless Labourers: A Review of the Distribution of Benefits,' The
Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Economics 4, no. 1, 61.
45
Rural Development and Cooperative Division of the Ministry of Local Government,
Rural Development and Cooperatives, Government of Bangladesh. 1991. 'Report on the
Project Achievement of the Small Farmers and Landless Labourers Project BGD/81 /012 and
BGD/86/C03. Terminal Tripartite Review Meeting, Sept. 28, 1991: Dhaka, Bangladesh, 2.
46
A. Aziz Khan. 1979. 'Inaugural Address by Mr. A. Aziz Khan, Director BARD: in
Small Farmers and Landless Labourers' Development Project: Proceedings of the Workshop,
Held at Camilla, June 1979, ed. Fazlul Bari, Zahirul Alam and Zainul Abedin, BARD, Comilla,
9.
47
The Action Research Fellows were the grassroots persons with responsibility for
formation of village groups.
330
organisation rather than further complicating the issue by alternative
ideas.
48
Other sources also indicate that there was a lack of clarity of the place of
SFOP. In determining the organisational position of SFOP, the government
upazila administrative officer (UNO) was proposed as the chairman of the
local implementation committee.
49
It was reported that the institutional
framework should be within the overall national framework of BROB, but
independent of management control by the TCCA-KSS structures.
50
In
contrast to the case studies by Wood for the BSS and M(B)SS cooperatives
with the BROB, within the documents for the SFOP no attention was given
to corruption or to the influence or control of the power group.
51
However,
in a 1991 evaluation, after 15 years of the SFOP project in its various forms
one finds:
The project management should strive for preventing infiltration of
non-target group members in the group.
52
It is very apparent in the brief review of the BROB and the two
subsequent programmes of RPP and SFOP, that the main state-led initiative
in rural areas had serious problems. Even with the shift to targeting, there
was a continued dependence on traditional power brokers and infiltration of
non-target members. Collusion by local state officials with the local elite not
48
Aziz Khan. 1979. 'Inaugural Address,' 10.
49
Wood. 1994. Bangladesh: Whose Ideas, Whose Interests? 15
.
50
Ajmal Ahmad. 1982. 'Delivery System in Support of Small Farmers ...,' 79.
51
Rural Development and Cooperative Division of the Ministry of Local Government,
Rural Development and Cooperatives, Government of Bangladesh. 1991. An Evaluation of
Small Farmers and Landless Labourers Development Project; Report of the Evaluation Team,
June, 1991 (Comilla: BARD); BARD. 1991. Small Farmers and Landless Labourers'
Development Project Proceedings of the Workshop held at Comilla, Aug. 5-8, 1990; Fazlul
Bari. 1987. Small Efforts by Small Farmers: Attempt Towards Participatory Growth of
Grass-root Organisations (Comilla: BARD); Ajmal Ahmad. 1982. 'Delivery System in Support
of Small Farmers .. .' ; Fazlul Bari, Zahirul Alam and Zainul Abedin ed.1979. Small Farmers
and Landless Labourers' Development Project: Proceedings of the Workshop, Held at
Comilla, June 1979 (Comilla: BARD); Fazlul Bari, Zahirul Alam and Zainul Abedin ed. 1978.
Small Farmers and Landless Labourers' Development Project Proceedings of the Workshop
held at Comilla, May 1978 (Comilla: BARD).
52
Rural Development and Cooperative Division. 1991. Evaluation of Small Farmers
and Landless Labourers Development Project, 36.
331
only limited the access of more marginal farm families and the landless but
effectively tightened the control of the elite over the marginal.
How has the under-achievement of these state-led programmes been
addressed in reviews? The Agriculture Sector Review 1989 recommended
exclusive membership of the UCCA-KSS cooperatives and that medium and
large farmers (owning over 1.0 ha) be excluded.
53
Is this realistic? Such a
move would result in the politically powerful, who have enjoyed patronage
for many years, being removed from membership. It is unlikely that this will
happen, but rather that the groups will become dysfunctional. The likely
outcome is the continued ineffectiveness in state-service delivery for small
and marginal farm families.
I now move onto the Special Agriculture Credit Programme (SACP).
Has it fared any better?
Special Agriculture Credit Programme (SACP)
Scarcity of capital for the landless and small and marginal farm
families has been regarded as a major constraint to new economic
initiatives. Chapter 3 showed that high debt levels characterised those
marginal farm families who were prone to losing their land. The
incorporation of a credit component to development has been crucial in
state and NGO programme strategies.
54
53
UNDP. 1989. Main Report: Bangladesh Agriculture Sector Review, 104.
54
J. Allister McGregor. 1988. 'Credit and the Rural Poor: the Changing Policy
Environment in Bangladesh,' Public Administration and Development 8, 467-482; J. Allister
McGregor. 1989. 'Towards a Better Understanding of Credit in Rural Development. The
Case of Bangladesh: The Patron State: Journal of International Development 1, no. 4
(Oct.), 467-486; Mahabub Hossain. 1988. Credit for the Alleviation of Rural Poverty: The
Grameen Bank in Bangladesh International Food Policy Research Institute Research Report
no. 65; UNDP. 1989. Bangladesh Agriculture Sector Review Main Report, 66-68; M. Abul
Quasem and Mahabub Hossain. 1985. Impact of Agricultural Policies and Programmes on
Small Farms in Bangladesh, FAO, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 24-28; Maloney. 1988. Rural Savings
and Credit in Bangladesh, 209-220. This study cites 16 NGO credit programmes.
332
Credit interventions have been perceived as a means of breaking
down the informal credit/debt stranglehold, and of providing
resources for investment in productive technology.
55
I will discuss the NGO and the Grameen Bank programmes later in the
chapter.
Attempts to create access to credit for the vulnerable through state
services, however, have not been successful. For example, in the Special
Agriculture Credit Programme (SACP) from 1975/76 to 1983/84, the
amount of institutional agricultural credit, at constant prices, increased from
467 to 3772 million taka.
56
SACP was designed to make credit more readily
available. It contrasted to the earlier credit programme in which credit was
advanced against the collateral-security of land:
SACP provides for disbursement of short-term crop loans against
hypothecation of crops and hence theoretically all farmers have
access to credit under this programme.
57
However, most of the benefits went to farmers owning from 1.2 to
3.6 ha.
58
As I have shown in chapter 3, the vulnerable cultivated from 0.3
to 0.7 ha, of which 12 to 58 per cent was shared-in. The immediate group
above the vulnerable, who were maintaining themselves or slightly
increasing their landholding were cultivating 0.5 to 1.0 ha. Thus Quasem's
study shows that larger farmers dominated credit activities. They were also
major defaulters. In 1981 about 78 per cent of loans of medium and larger
farmers remained overdue.
59
The bias in the SACP loans away from the
marginal may be attributed to:
55
McGregor. 1988. 'Credit and the Rural Poor: Changing Policy Environment,' 467.
56
Quasem. 1985. Impact of Agricultural Policies on Small Farms, 24.
57
58
59
Quasem. 1985. Impact of Agricultural Policies on Small Farms, 27. A more
recent review of the Bangladesh Krishi Bank gives a similar finding. Mahmudul Alam and
Narayan Chandra Nath. 1989. Loan Recovery, Productivity Impact and Deposit Mobilisation
Aspects of the Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB), BIDS, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 73-80.
Photocopied.
333
... handing the lending process over to be mediated by local
government officials and politicians.
60
Once again we see the problem arising from the role of local government
officials and politicians as brokers.
What is, however, surprising is the reaction of the so-called 'experts'
to the failure of the credit and cooperative programmes to reach the
intended beneficiaries. In a major agriculture sector review conducted by
the United Nations it was acknowledged that normal banking channels could
not be expected to reach the poor, and that therefore:
We should live with the fact that a disproportionate amount of such
credit will continue to go to the relatively well-off.
61
I find this statement at best puzzling. Does it reflect an inherent belief that
the goals of economic development and reaching the poor are in tension
and cannot be achieved together?
I conclude that state-led services have failed to provide an adequate
brokerage for landless and marginal farm families that is independent of the
traditional power structures. It is an inherent weakness in any rural
development approach within an hierarchical society that advocates state
service monopoly. There is absurdity in the handing over of any brokerage
on behalf of the rural poor to the dominant class. In addition, within these
groups the state has failed to produce functioning cooperatives or to
establish credit discipline. I do not find convincing evidence of success in
reaching marginal farm families. There have been cooperatives that have
been successful but to continue subsidising the half that are nearly defunct,
through more services is unacceptable. I now move on to explore the
60
McGregor. 1988. 'Credit and the Rural Poor: Changing Policy Environment,' 469.
61
UNDP. 1989. Bangladesh Agriculture Sector Review Main Report, 67.
334
Grameen Bank and the BRAC bank, both organisations which have provided
services for the rural poor that offer a real alternative to state-led services.
Innovations in Credit Delivery
The obvious failure of the state to effectively deliver credit to the
vulnerable through either the BRDB or the banks, has led to extensive
experimentation, from which emerged the specialised financial institution for
the rural poor, the Grameen Bank, and the NGO innovation, the BRAC bank.
Two innovations, the Grameen Bank and the BRAC bank will be described
briefly.
The Grameen Bank
The Grameen Bank is a credit institution set up to provide loans to
rural households that own less than 0.2 ha of land.
62
Its structure reflected
the philosophy that:
... if financial resources were made available to the poor at
reasonable terms and conditions, they could generate productive self-
employment without external assistance.
63
By its very definition of target group, marginal and small farm families were
excluded. However, there are principles within its philosophy and operations
that may be applicable to vulnerable farmers.
Before the action research project of Professor Yunis in a village near
Chittagong University in 1976, the landless, particularly women, were
considered a high credit risk. At that time, credit from institutional sources
was only available against the collateral of land, hence the landless were
excluded. In Bangladesh banking culture, the extension of credit to the
landless for economic activity without tangible collateral was an
62
Hossain. 1988. Credit for the Alleviation of Rural Poverty: Grameen Bank, 12.
63
Mahabub Hossain. 1993. 'The Grameen Bank: Its Origin, Organisation and
Management Style,' in The Grameen Bank: Poverty Relief in Bangladesh, ed. Abu .N.M.
Wahid (Boulder, USA: Westview Press), 9.
335
innovation.
64
By 1983 the project was transformed by government
ordinance into a specialised financial institution for the rural poor.
65
The
bank expanded not only into a vacuum in institutional credit for the poor but
also into an environment in which loan recovery by banks was unacceptably
low.
66
The Grameen Bank has been a most innovative credit institution. By
1992 it was operating 974 branches, covering 28,879 villages and serving
1,271,461 members, of whom 93 per cent were women. The cumulative
total loans amounted to Tk 16,119 million and savings had reached Tk
1,124 million. The loan recovery rate was consistent at 98 per cent.
67
Case studies have highlighted the impact on individual Iives.
68
Popular
press releases and a desire to replicate the principles attest success.
69
Moreover, analytical studies have shown a positive impact on nutrition,
70
a
stimulation of the rural economy through the emergence of effective
forward and backward Iinkages
71
and an alteration in patron-client
64
Mahabub Hossain. 1985. Credit for the Rural Poor: the Grameen Bank in
Bangladesh, BIDS, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Research Monograph no. 4, 5.
65
Hossain. 1985. Credit for the Rural Poor: the Grameen Bank, 6.
66
Jacob Varon. 1994. Successful Rural Finance Institutions, World Bank Discussion
Papers no. 150, 46.
67
Abu N.M. Wahid. 1994. 'The Grameen Bank and Poverty Alleviation in
Bangladesh: Theory, Evidence and Limitations,' The American Journal of Economics and
Sociology 53, no. 1 (Jan.), 1-15.
68
Muhammad Yunis. ed., Syed Manzooral Islam and Arifa Rahman trans. 1987.
Jorimon and Others: Faces of Poverty 2d ed. (Dhaka: University Press Limited); Jayanta
Kumar Ray. 1987. To Chase a Miracle: A Study of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh
(Dhaka: University Press Limited).
69
Pamela Bone. 1994. 'Success Comes to Arctic Women,' in Accent ed. Sybil
Nolan, The Age Wednesday December 7, 1994, Melbourne, Australia, 24; Arshad Mahmud.
1989. 'Grameen Bank Bangladesh: a Workable Solution,' The Geographical Magazine 61
(Oct.), 14-16; Atiur Rahman. 1993. 'The General Replicability of the Grameen Bank Model,'
in The Grameen Bank: Poverty Relief in Bangladesh, ed. Abu .N.M. Wahid (Boulder USA:
Westview Press), 209-222.
70
Atiur Rahman. 1989. 'Impact of Grameen Bank on the Nutritional Status of the
Rural Poor,' BIDS, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Research Report no. 108; Atiur Rahman, Abu N. M.
Wahid and Faizul Islam. 1993. 'Impact of the Grameen Bank on the Nutritional Status of the
Rural Poor,' in The Grameen Bank: Poverty Relief in Bangladesh, ed. Abu N.M. Wahid
(Boulder USA: Westview Press), 97-126.
71
Atiur Rahman. 1986. Demand and Marketing Aspects of Grameen Bank: A Closer
Look (Dhaka: University Press Limited), 83.
336
relationships.
72
Indicators of social empowerment are evidenced in
substantial increases in levels of agricultural wages, a curtailment in the role
of patrons as judges in village-courts due to greater settlement of disputes
among themselves, and a shift in voting away from conforming with the
wishes of patrons.
The reasons for the success of the Grameen Bank are generally
agreed upon.
73
The bank was exclusive and effective in its targeting of
households, who owned less than 0.2 ha. Banking was taken to the poor
but not to each individual dwelling. Transaction costs per loan were
minimised through lending to individuals within groups of five. A principle of
peer monitoring, coupled with joint liability for loan repayment, was
established to vet loans and to ensure small regular payments. Loans were
for economic activities with which the client was familiar. Capital
accumulation was through individual savings of Tk 1 per week and a group
fund into which was deposited 5 per cent of the initial principal. All loans
were openly discussed in the weekly centre-meetings in the village.
Professor Yunis maintained:
Confidentiality breeds lies. Lies are not as easily manipulated in
public. All loan requests are discussed openly in public and all
enterprises closely scrutinised by all present.
74
An additional factor for success at the grassroots level has been the
minimalist approach. The programme has been simple and focused as
72
Atiur Rahman and Abu N.M. Wahid. 1992. 'The Grameen Bank and the Changing
Patron-Client Relationship in Bangladesh,' Journal of Contemporary Asia 22, no. 3, 303-21.
73
Hossain. 1985. Credit for the Rural Poor: the Grameen Bank; Hossain. 1988.
Credit for the Alleviation of Rural Poverty: The Grameen Bank; Hossain. 1993. 'The
Grameen Bank: Its Origin, Organisation and Management Style'; Norman Macisaac and Abu
N.M. Wahid. 1993. 'The Grameen Bank: Its Institutional Lessons for Rural Financing,' in The
Grameen Bank: Poverty Relief in Bangladesh, ed. Abu .N.M. Wahid (Boulder USA: Westview
Press), 191-207; M. Mahabub-ul Islam, Abu N.M. Wahid and Zahed H. Khan. 1993. 'The
Grameen Bank: Peer Monitoring in a Dual Credit Market,' in The Grameen Bank: Poverty
Relief in Bangladesh, ed. Abu N.M. Wahid (Boulder USA: Westview Press), 23-32.
74
Gerald Sherman. 1989. 'Micro-enterprise lending: the Grameen Bank-Lakota Fund
experience,' Social Policy 20 (Fall), 66.
opposed to integrated programmes that have necessitated complex
management and monitoring procedures,
75

337
In its organisational structure, power is highly decentralised. The
branch office is the lowest unit and it takes responsibility for profit. About
10 to 15 branches are supervised by an area office, which is also located in
a small town. A zone office at the District level has responsibility for
accounts and managing funds and supervising of the social development
programmes. The head office, located in Dhaka, maintains communication
with the Bangladesh government, is responsible for staff training and for
research and development of potential innovations. Staff training involves
minimal time in Dhaka and maximum in the field, with a rigorous schedule
covering time in at least 15 centres,
76
The financial viability of the Bank has been closely scrutinised. The
Bank has had access to low-cost credit through IFAD at 2-3 per cent per
annum instead of the real cost of 8.5 per cent. The subsidy on operating
costs stood at 39 per cent in 1986.
77
Yaron in a review of four successful
rural financial institutions across Asia developed a subsidy dependence
index (SOl) for assessing viability.
The SOl allows for a sensitivity analysis that measures the percentage
increase in the average, on-lending interest rate required to
compensate for complete and immediate subsidy elimination,
78

For the Grameen Bank, the SOl in 1989 was 130 per cent or requiring a
lending rate increase from 12.0 to 27.6 per cent. Choudhry and Phare
79

in
75
Macisaac. 1993. 'Grameen Bank: Institutional Lessons for Rural Financing,' 196.
76
Macisaac. 1993. 'Grameen Bank: Institutional Lessons for Rural Financing,' 196;
Hossain. 1993. 'Grameen Bank: Origin, Organisation and Management Style,' 9-21.
77
Mahabub Hossain. 1993. 'Operating Costs of the Grameen Bank,' in The
Grameen Bank: Poverty Relief in Bangladesh, ed. Abu N.M. Wahid (Boulder USA: Westview
Press), 277-79; Hossain. 1988. Credit for the Alleviation of Rural Poverty: The Grameen
Bank, 75.
78
Jacob Yaron. 1994. 'Successful Rural Finance Institutions,' Finance and
Development 31 (Mar.), 33.
79

Saud A. Chourdry and Laura C. Phare. 1993. 'Paraproject or Megaproject as
Instrument of Durable Change: Answers from Financial Viability Analysis of the Grameen
338
their viability analysis suggested viability would occur over time as the new
branches matured. Through the use of commercial credit sources, viability
was only delayed to eight years, an extra three years compared to
subsidised credit. Branch maturity, expansion and training are factors that
require careful costing in such analysis.
The Grameen Bank has been rooted in experimentation and 'learning
by doing.
'80
Here it may be compared to the Comilla model. The Grameen
Bank recognised, as the Comilla model did not, the class reality within the
village. The 'one village, one integrated cooperative' failed to grasp the
political and economic culture of the village.
The Grameen Bank is now facing a most demanding period in shifting
beyond the low capital activities that are more individualistic to higher level
joint enterprises. Operation of mills, irrigation systems and so forth are
capital intensive and more exacting in management and require participation
beyond the individual or a single group. In recognition of the shift, the
Grameen Bank formed an independent company, called the Grameen Krishi
Foundation, in 1991.
81
The ambition is for the groups to be able to secure
capital assets and become far more active participants in the rural economy.
A first has been the securing of deep-tubewells from the government after
privatisation. The Grameen Bank procured 624 DTWs for winter irrigation of
paddy. In the first two years of operation the bank incurred considerable
losses.
82
A new period of action research is imperative. Within that will be
Bank,' in The Grameen Bank: Poverty Relief in Bangladesh, ed. Abu N.M. Wahid (Boulder
USA: Westview Press), 281-296.
80
Rahman. 1993. 'The General Replicability of the Grameen Bank Model,' 210.
81
Grameen Krishi Foundation. 1991. Memorandum and Articles of Association,
Grameen Bank, Mirpur 2, Dhaka, 1216.
82
M. Abul Quasem. 1993. 'The Performance of DTWs Operated by the Grameen
Krishi Foundation for the 1990-91 Bora Season: an Exploratory Analysis.' Attachment to
letter fram Professor Yunis to Noel P. Magor dated Feb. 12, 1994, reference
GKF/DO/4(21 )/94-345, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
339
the need for assessing both the management strengths of the bank
83
and
the process for developing the capability of the groups.
The Grameen Bank has been the first real alternative in rural
development for very marginal families. Before the Grameen Bank credit for
the very poor was considered extremely risky, a position that has been
thoroughly discredited. I will add further remarks after examining the BRAC
bank.
The Rural Credit Project (RCP) or the BRAC Bank
84
The emergence of the BRAC Bank, initially the Rural Credit Project,
represents a most significant step in the role of NGOs in targeted
programmes for the vulnerable. BRAC targeted those, who owned less than
0.2 hectares of land and survived by selling manual labour.
85
The objective
is:
... the establishment of a self-supporting credit institution without
BRAC's subsidised support.
86
BRAC's entry into credit activities may be considered reluctant. From
1979-84 two parallel programmes, in different upazilas, were conducted
that represented different philosophical positions. The Outreach Programme
was development without credit and focused on mobilisation of people's
own savings and of local resources that were available through state
services. The cornerstone of their activities was consciousness raising
through the functional education classes that led to class action for social
empowerment. There was no economic assistance. The parallel Rural Credit
and Training Programme incorporated the additional external input of credit.
83
Rahman. 1993. 'The General Replicability of the Grameen Bank Model: 215.
84
The description of the emergence of the Rural Credit Programme and its modus
operandi draws on two main sources. Lovell. 1992. Breaking the Cycle of Poverty: The
BRAC Strategy, chapter 4 and BRAC. 1991. BRAC Report 1990.
85
Aditee Nag Chowdhury. 1989. Let Grassroots Speak: People's Participation Self-
help Groups and NGO's in Bangladesh (Dhaka: The University Press Ltd.), 67-83.
86 BRAC. 1991 . BRAC Report 1990, 16.
340
Eventually the two programmes were merged as the Rural Development
Programme (RDP) with credit as an integral component of the empowerment
process.
87
The RDP maintained the social development activity with group
formation, functional education for conscietisation, a credit component and
strong institutional intermediation. Functional education was the initial
activity. For a new group to receive credit there was a waiting period of one
year. Individual group membership was more than 50 members. Loans were
made to the village organisation, which were then dispersed to individuals.
There were no individual passbooks. The two-tier system of loan receipt and
dispersal at the village organisation (VO) level group was reminiscent of the
BRDB cooperative procedure. Interest rate procedures were quite complex.
In the late eighties a major overhaul was necessary. The loan
disbursement procedure had allowed touts
88
to infiltrate. The VO committee
that received the loan was in fact acting as a broker, with individual
committee members being able to take advantage of their position. It was
similar to the problem experienced in the two-tier system of BRDB.
89
As a
result some 10,000 members were expelled, some only temporarily, due to
loan arrears.
In the revised system, loans were made to individuals directly. Village
organisations were subdivided into small groups of 5-7 members. Peer
monitoring and weekly repayments were introduced. Loan interest rates
87
Wood. 1994. Bangladesh: Whose Ideas, Whose Interests? 490-515. As a parallel
to the Outreach Programme there is the recent effort of Gono Shahajo Sangstha (GSS). The
emphasis of GSS has been' ... the necessity for the poor to be prepared to act without
support from external sources: 494. Income generation and credit activities were avoided.
However, there has been strong local pressure from the beneficiaries for the inclusion of
both economic activities and credit.
88
A tout was a person who acted in an exploitive way as a go-between. For an
individual to receive a loan of Tk 1000 the person may have to forfeit Tk 100 or more.
Around a corrupt person, who holds power, one may find a network of touts. A tout may
fall within the target group but have allegiances to the political elite.
89
For examples see UNDP. 1989. Bangladesh Agriculture Sector Review:
Institutions, 18-25.
341
were simplified and the initial deposit to individual savings accounts (5 per
cent), village organisation (4 per cent) and insurance (1 per cent) was made
at the time of issuing the loan. Through the programme overhaul, loan
recovery increased from 92 to 98 per cent. Meetings were restructured with
functional education for empowerment remaining an integral part. The
revamped system bears strong similarities to the Grameen Bank system of
loan management outlined earlier.
With the overhaul completed a procedure was set in place for the
establishment of the self-sustaining BRAC Bank:
The hitherto subsidised BRAC development activities [were being]
converted to a 'commercially viable' operation, paid in large part by
the villagers themselves.
90
The first stage in the formation of the BRAC Bank has been the formation of
the Rural Credit Programme (RCP). At a later date, when the exact formal
structure has been finalised, the RCP will become the BRAC Bank. The RCP
... establishes its branches by buying from RDP its 'mature' area
offices and their developed village organisations.
91
An area office has a membership of 6,000 to 7,000 members from 100
vas, and a loan and savings portfolio, from which sufficient income is
generated at 16 per cent interest rate, to cover the cost of operations.
Mature vas were at least four years old. At the end of 1992, it was
estimated RCP would have fifty branches, or a total of 5,000 vos with a
potential borrowing pool of 250 to 275,000 persons.
In its entity as RCP, about two-thirds of the membership were
women, with agriculture loans (for crop production) constituting only two
per cent. Earlier, agriculture loans were 12 per cent. The Bank is a long-
90
Ian Smillie. 1992. 'Extending Operations of Third World NGOs: the Donor
Challenge,' NORD-SUD aktuell: themen 1. Quartal, 73.
91
342
term commercial entity for the poor; it is not, as suggested by Smillie, a
half-way house.
92
Marginal farm families who were identified as vulnerable to loss of
land did not fall within the target group definition for either the Grameen
Bank or the BRAC bank. However, both have successfully established
themselves as independent of traditional brokers and provided exclusive
membership for the most at risk, particularly women. What are the Grameen
Bank and BRAC doing that the state-led BROB is not? It is not the small size
of the Grameen Bank and the BRAC bank. The respective sizes, as given
earlier, and this is a rough comparison, were 1,271,461 members for the
Grameen Bank in 1992, 250 to 275,000 members for the relatively new
BRAC Bank in 1992 and 2,383,796 members for BRDB in 1987. The order
of size is comparable. Hence it cannot be argued that a shortcoming of
NGOs is that they cover a small percentage of the target population in
specific locations.
93
It does not lie exclusively in targeting. Both the RPP and
the SFDP, which were targeted programmes, showed evidence of the
vulnerable falling within the power of the elite. I suggest that a most critical
factor was the separation in the running of the Grameen Bank and the BRAC
bank from the control of the local political and state administration.
Targeting alone was insufficient. The BRDB cooperatives, the RPP and the
experimental SFDP were all entangled within the net of the local political
leadership. This leads on to an important concept that is a prerequisite for
effectiveness in an hierarchical society like Bangladesh. The presence of the
Grameen Bank and the BRAC bank and their success is indicative of the
need to support plurality in development. The separation from the local
power structure is essential.
92
Smillie. 1992. 'Extending Operations of Third World NGOs,' 73.
93
343
There are other important points concerning the success of these two
institutions that I will draw out in discussion later in this chapter as I
address the vacuum that exists for marginal farm families. However, before
doing so, I want to examine further two technological innovations by NGOs
that I discussed in chapter 5. It concerns their future niche; is it with the
state or as part of a business network?
Linkages in Innovative Technology Delivery Systems
In chapter 5 I used the examples of the treadle pump that was
developed by RDRS and poultry model that was developed by BRAC to
illustrate the importance of building an activity web around an innovation.
The acceptance of an innovation is not just dependent on fit within the
complex system of enterprises of the target family. Both the treadle pump
and the BRAC poultry model entail complex linkages outside the activities of
the family. Do the support linkages come from the state, the market or
both?
The Treadle Pump and the Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRSI
The impact of the treadle pump within the RDRS extension
programme was quite significant. Vulnerable farm families were major
beneficiaries. The innovation did not stop with the development of the pump
and its use by RDRS clientele, but extended to marketing.
A distinguishing feature of the spread of the treadle pump ... has
been the role of private businessmen both in production and
marketing. Private business has ... proved to be a vital link in the
chain of technology dissemination.
94
RDRS initially established a limited number of private workshops in
the North-West region. However, demand was not satisfied and competition
in quality and price did not exist. RDRS then approached an NGO,
94
344
International Development Enterprises (IDE), a group which promoted small
business enterprise.
Its [IDE] objective was to identify appropriate technologies to raise
productivity and income on small farms, and to market these on a
large scale throughout Bangladesh.
95
By linking into small business workshops for manufacture, treadle-pump
usage was pushed beyond the RDRS project area, resulting in continual
expansion, competition and sustainability. By the late eighties the number of
workshops had increased to more than 20 and spread aoss 12 districts.
96
In addition, through IDE, a network of 134 dealers were active in 76
upazilas.
97
The development and spread of the treadle pump had been a success
not only in its appropriateness but also in its linkage to private business for
production and marketing.
This example has been taken from the study by Orr. In a major study
on NGOs and the State, Lewis used the study of the treadle pump to draw
conclusions concerning the effectiveness of the State.
98
It is Lewis'
interpretation that is of interest here. According to Lewis:
... government procedures have not been up to the task of
promoting its replication.
99
The statement was based on a tendering problem that arose in 1989 in
response to drought. The Government announced that 100,000 small and
marginal farmers and sharecroppers were to receive free delivery and
installation of treadle pumps.100 At that time, 1988/89, the capacity for
95
96
97
98
David J. Lewis. 1993. 'Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service- The Treadle Pump:
Manual Irrigation for Small Farmers in Bangladesh,' in Non-Governmental Organisations and
the State in Asia: Rethinking Roles in Sustainable Agricultural Development, ed. John
Farrington and David Lewis with S. Satish and Aurea Miclat-Teves (London: Routledge
Press), 83-85.
99
Lewis. 1993. 'Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service- The Treadle Pump,' 83.
100
Lewis. 1993. 'Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service- The Treadle Pump,' 85.
345
treadle pump production was 65,000 per annum. Production was not
satisfying demand. An additional demand by a Government of Bangladesh
(GoB) tender for 100,000 pumps was being made. The tender process came
unstuck when the tender target could not be met. As a result, Lewis
questioned the ability of the State to promote the replication of the
technology. I believe Lewis errs in his use of the word 'replication'. A
programme that is a tender is a one-off and not a form of replication. What
replication was being sought? Was it a one-off pump in the hands of a
marginal farm family that was supplied through the State? Was it the
establishment of State managed workshops? Was it a State distribution
system that was targeted and free of patronage? In his interpretation of
events, I see Lewis's failure to appreciate the linkage that had been made
into the market. In his evaluation Lewis was operating within a theory of
development that linked all services to the state.
In my view, the treadle pump stands as an example of building a
sustainable production - marketing base in private business that supports
the livelihoods of marginal farm families. It then becomes an example of
utilising the market to benefit the resource-poor. The availability of the
treadle pump from competing suppliers had been placed outside the
patronage of the Upazila administration. The linkages had empowered the
vulnerable through the creation of plurality at the village level. To purchase
a pump the villager simply approached a dealer. A comparison with the
traditional access to an irrigation pump illustrates the shift in relationships.
Traditionally, access to a shallow-tubewell, a low-lift pump or a deep-
tubewell, required patronage of managers within the village in addition to a
union and even an upazila level official.
In chapter 5, I showed that the success in the development of the
treadle-pump technology, its dissemination, and the sustainability of its
production was a consequence of considering the enterprise matrix of the
346
technology. A further point here is that the matrx embraced the market for
sustainability and not a state service and in so doing created greater
plurality at the local level.
An Organisational Intervention: the BRAC Poultry Model
The BRAC poultry model provides a useful example of the complex
linkages between institutions that may be necessary for the vulnerable to
gain access to profitable technology. BRAC had effectively built the market
for poultry around vulnerable women and facilitated their access to both
chicks and vaccine through government channels.
In the UNDP review of agriculture performance in Bangladesh, it is
espoused as an example of potential collaboration between state delivery
services and targeted NGO programmes:
... NGOs could play an intermediary role between government
institutions and client groups by eliciting demand from the landless
for government development services (eg. livestock vaccination,
improved breeding stock) and then mediating that demand with the
government supply of such services. A model of this already exists,
as in the case of the BRAC poultry programme for women. In this
way, NGOs can playa crucial role in negotiating the bureaucratic
maze on behalf of the rural poor and in pulling existing government
services and resources within their reach.
101
Building bridges for the vulnerable to demand government services
has within it the seeds of empowerment. However, it subjects the client
group to the inconsistency in service delivery that has all too often been the
characteristic of government services. For example, a demand for vaccine
from the Directorate of Livestock Services (DoL) had been established but it
would appear that the procedure for securing the vaccine was not
honoured. Mustafa et al.,
102
identified the supply of vaccine from the DoL
101
UNDP. 1989. Main Report: Bangladesh Agriculture Sector Review, 109-110.
102
Shams Mustafa, Sanzidur Rahman and Ghulam Sattar. 1993. 'Bangladesh Rural
Advancement Committee (BRAC) - Backyard Poultry and Landless Irrigators Programmes,' in
Non-Government Organisations and the State in Asia: Rethinking Roles in Sustainable
Agriculture Development, ed. John F. Farrington, and others (London: Routledge Press), 80.
347
as a critical weak link. The DoL, in order to reduce its costs, indicated that
it wanted to withdraw the vaccine from the local sub-centres and make it
available at the Upazila level. From availability within 1-2 kilometres to the
more daunting administrative centre within 5-10 kilometres may prove a
disincentive in travel time and costs to female vaccinators. A linkage was
established that appeared sustainable, but then the withdrawal of
government services placed the whole poultry programme in jeopardy.
The BRAC poultry model illustrates again that an organisation that is
independent of upazila authority and hence control can effectively reach a
very vulnerable group. The UNDP suggestion that the BRAC poultry model
provides a very good example of NGOs as bridges between state services
and the vulnerable is indeed questionable. Is the bridge temporary or long-
term? If it is temporary, which agency assumes responsibility for the service
after BRAC withdraws its support? Does it revert to the BRDB landless
cooperatives which have already been shown to fall under the control of
traditional power-brokers? These are unanswered questions.
The underlying theme in this chapter is the tailoring of organisations /
institutions for marginal farm families. Rent-seeking by brokers was a
recurrent problem for the state-led services. Both the treadle pump and the
BRAC poultry model have in reality empowered the vulnerable by providing
access to technology and consequently additional income sources that did
not fall with the grasp of the traditional brokers. That was only possible
because social access was a parameter for the enterprise matrix. Social
access was both inclusive and exclusive, in that the vulnerable were
included and the power-brokers were excluded. By directing the
sustainability of the technology away from the state and towards the
market, a measure of long-term empowerment has been achieved. It can
also be concluded that each technological innovative opportunity has within
348
it the potential of strengthening the economic independence of the
vulnerable if sustainable social access is given due consideration. That
consideration must entail the encouragement of plurality.
Where is the Direct Interface for Small and Marginal Farm Families?
I need to step back now and ask the question, 'Which agencies are
working with small and marginal farm families?' There has been a decided
lack of institutional support for farm families who are at risk of losing their
land. As illustrated by the case of BRDB it was lacking. The experimental
Small Farmer Development Programme (SFDP) fell, unintentionally, under
the control of the politically powerful.
103
Ninety-three per cent of the
Grameen Bank's clients are women from landless households, and under the
emerging BRAC Bank two-thirds of participants are women, with only two
per cent of loans being made for agriculture.
The gap is further illustrated from a survey conducted in Kamalganj
Upazila in 1990. Within the upazila, the BRDB had been operating since
1978, the NGO HEED since 1976 and the Department of Agriculture
Extension (DAE) had an ongoing contact farmer programme for technology
transfer. The HEED Participatory Development Programme (PDP) groups
were predominantly from the landless.
104
For KSS (Krishi Shamobai Samity
or Farmers' Cooperatives) groups, small and medium farmers dominated and
for the DAE contact farmers there was an even greater predominance of
large holdings (figure 40). Almost 50 per cent of DAE contact farmers
owned more than 1.0 ha. The vulnerable families, who have a Rice
103
Wood. 1984. Government Approaches Towards the Rural Poor in Bangladesh,
15. The UNO (Upazila Nirboshi Officer) was to become the local Chairman for the
programme, which placed the SFDP (Small Farmer Development Programme) at the local
level under the control of the politically powerful.
104
HEED. 1991. HEED (participatory Development Programme) PDP Evaluation
Document No.1 Summary Findings and Recommendations, HEED, Plot 19, Block A, Section
11, Mirpur, Dhaka. Photocopied.
349
Provision Ability of 3-5 months, were under-represented in both KSS and
DAE clients. Surplus farmers in the DAE contact farmer programme were
over-represented at 60 per cent. In comparison surplus farmers were 20 per
cent of the total population (figure 41).
In addition, within the HEED PDP groups, agricultural activities have
been limited to vegetable and fruit production for consumption and have not
included field crops.
105
For HEED there had been a small farmer group credit
programme based on the Grameen Bank system from 1982-87. The pilot
scheme effectively targeted small and marginal farm families with an RPA 3-
8 months (mean holding 0.4 hal .
106
However, the small farmer programme
was phased out after 1987, in preference for the participatory development
programme (PDP) that concentrated on persons with the main earner being
employed in wage labour for at least 90 days each year.
107
The wage labour
test had excluded many small and marginal farm families, for whom
agriculture activities dominated. It is quite clear that the vulnerable group of
marginal farm families, with a RPA of 3-5 months, existed within an
institutional vacuum.
The vacuum has not gone unnoticed. I now move on to review a
recent proposal regarding small farmer vulnerability and suggest reasons for
its possible success or failure.
105
HEED. 1991. HEED PDP Evaluation Document, 40.
106
Noel P. Magor. 1984. Potential in Rainfed Rice Production in North-East
Bangladesh, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh. Bulletin no.69, 60.
107
HEED. 1991. 'Programme Objective Worksheet; Kamalganj, Community
Organisation,' HEED Bangladesh: Kamalganj Project Health Services, Participatory
Development FY 1993-95 Plans and Budget, HEED, Plot 19, Block A, Section 11, Mirpur,
Dhaka, 2. Photocopied.
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A Small Farmer Development Bank
The recent proposal 'Removing the Constraints on Small Farmer
Development in Bangladesh' recommended an action programme with the
eventual emergence of a Small Farmer Development Bank (SFDB).
108
It
defined small farmers as owning from 0.02 to 1.00 hectares.
The causes of small farmer vulnerability identified by Elahi were:
limited access to land, the problem of tenancy, limited access to irrigation,
implements and credit, poor literacy, health and nutrition and lack of
organisation. Lack of organisation, and with this an unwillingness to
approach programme management (for example a bank), has resulted in
access to services being made indirectly through toutS.
109
The proposal parallels a similar approach taken in India in recognition
of the same difficulty of access faced by small farmers.
110
A Small Farmer
Development Agency (SFDA) had been established in India. The Indian
project was unsuccessful. Problems cited were institutional deficiencies, a
lack of appropriate know-how, insufficient inputs and a shortage of credit.
However, a major inadequacy in the SFDA according to Huda was the
failure:
.. to take into account the particular dysfunctions of bureaucratic
operations and the role of status and power in a class-ridden
traditional society.
111
The proposed Small Farmer Development Bank does parallel BRDB
and is similar to both the experiment within Bangladesh (SFDP) and the one
in India (SFDA). The principal reason given for a separate institution is
urgency of need.
108
Elahi. 1990. Removing Constraints on Small Farmer Development in Bangladesh.
109
Khandakar Qudrat-I Elahi, Madan Mohan Dey and M.A. Hakim. 1992. 'Reducing
Small Farmer Vulnerability in Bangladesh: An Action Programme: in Reducing Small Farmer
in Bangladesh: Proceedings of the BRRI Workshop, Dhaka Bangladesh, May 30-31, 1992,
62.
110
A.T.M. Shamsul Huda. 1983. The Small Farmer and the Problem of Access
(Dhaka: BARC), 74-97.
111
Huda. 1983. The Small Farmer and the Problem of Access, 79.
353
The small farm credit programme is too urgent and too important to
be made a credit project for existing institutions tied by the inertia of
constraints.
112
Is it likely that the proposed Small Farmer Development Bank (SFDB)
as a credit provider will succeed where the experimental SFDP in
Bangladesh and SFDA in India have failed? I do not think it will achieve its
desired outcome. Structurally the Small Farmer Development Bank has a
fundamental flaw. It has correctly identified the importance of targeting; a
strategy based on the successful experiences of the Grameen Bank and
some NGOs.
113
However, no attention is given to the recurring problem of
the local elite acting as brokers and thereby gaining control of the project
resources. No principle of exclusion is in place. Project management is also
extremely top heavy. From the onset of the project a National Project
Management Authority (NPMA), with representatives of sixteen member
groups, has been proposed; the NPMA would comprise the concerned
minister, numerous secretaries, heads of research and of extension
institutions and managing directors of banks and of the Grameen Bank. It
appears that the Local Project Management Authority (LPMA) constituted
only the Local Project Management officer and two project officers. The
proposal recommends that all concerned local government bodies
participate. However, I would suggest that experience shows that the
presence of all local bodies in decision making leads to both inertia and the
infiltration of non-target members. Although not mentioned, it is almost
certain that at the first meeting the local government bodies will be
seconded as members of the LPMA. Bureaucratically vested interests,
depending on the perception of the funds, will manoeuvre themselves to
maximise advantage. The JAGO's (Junior Administration and Group
Organisers), who would be responsible for organising small farm families
112
Elahi. 1992. 'Small Farmer Vulnerability in Bangladesh: Action Programme,' 68.
113
Elahi. 1992. 'Small Farmer Vulnerability in Bangladesh: Action Programme,' 65
354
may be able to operate, but the inertia formed by the above authorities will
cause many a time lag and with that, eventual failure.
In addition, the proposed activities of the JAGOs are rather general.
For example:
(JAGO's) will ... help the small farmers with purchasing of inputs
and marketing of their farm produce.
114
What does this mean for a very junior officer who is new to the village and
may at best possess a bicycle? How will specialised activities like
commercial vegetable growing and marketing or fish culture and irrigation
be supported? The gap has rightly been identified, but the solution neither
excludes potential vested interests, nor ensures that vulnerable farm
families will receive timely access to credit.
Where to. for Vulnerable Farm Families?
In the 'where to', there are themes that have surfaced from the
examples and the overall body of experience of programmes with vulnerable
households. The foundation principle is empowerment. Always within the
BRAe initiatives, functional education classes for conscietisation have been
the cornerstone. The principles of targeting and plurality emerge as essential
pillars. Other tenets are capital formation and credit discipline, institutional
enabling, continual innovation, and entrepreneurialism. I will also discuss
the notion of collective verses individual action. I have illustrated the
themes in figure 42.
Eight Principles for Effectiveness and Sustainability
Empowerment
'Empowerment' describes both a process and the learned
competences which accompany that process....
114
Elahi. 1992. 'Small Farmer Vulnerability in Bangladesh: Action Programme,' 73.
355
The image of the 'empowered' individual, then is one who has moved
from a situation of being a powerless pawn in a system that is alien
to [him/her] to one of being aware of [her/his] position in the social
and political structure of which [he/she] is a part, alongside having
the skills to question that system.
115
The process as practised in Bangladesh is a group process leading to group
action. Functional education is the enabling tool that helps people focus on
issues like wages, conditions of share-tenancy, money lending, availability
of khas land/ponds, institutional loans, graft in the legal system and so
on.
116
It is developing the ability, almost always through solidarity in group
action, to renegotiate structural relationships, in for example wages,
towards greater fairness. This is the outworking of the empowering
process.
Empowerment has been a central tenet of organisations considered
successful in working with the vulnerable. For Proshika it is found within
the name:
. . .Proshika is a contraction of three concepts: proshikshan
(training), shiksa (development education), and kaj (work). Proshika
Manobik Unnayan Kendra is then translated as Proshika, Centre for
Human Development.
117
Similarly for BRAC:
BRAC believes that changes in the conditions of the rural poor can
only be brought about by developing the capability of the poor and
empowering them. Programmes for macro-economic growth cannot
solve the problems of the poor. The target groups have to become
conscious of the basic cause of their poverty, and only then will they
be able to unite and take part in programmes of their socio-economic
uplift.
118
115
116
117
Geof Wood. 1992. 'Part I: Introduction,' in Breaking the Chains: Collective
Action for Social Justice Among the Rural Poor in Bangladesh, Bosse Kramsjo and Geof
Wood with a Foreword by Farique Ahmed (Dhaka: University Press), 29.
118
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357
The Grameen Bank instituted the 'Sixteen Decisions' programme. These
decisions are chanted as slogans and concern attitudes towards living. For
example decision twelve says:
We shall not inflict any injustice on anyone, neither shall we allow
anyone to do SO.
119
Encapsulated in empowerment is being proactive in changing existing
structural relationships. It enables individuals and groups to operate within
either a state-led rural development strategy or a market driven one. It is the
first tenet.
Targeting and Exclusion
It is worthwhile noting the positive impact of targeting. Target group
definitions as illustrated earlier by HEED, BRAC and the Grameen Bank have
been very effective in ensuring that resources flow to the landless. So
successful has it been that even vulnerable farm families have been
excluded. A major international study of strategies for small farmer
development, completed in the early seventies, found for successful
projects that the principle of exclusion was critical:
... if there is a high degree of disparity among landholdings, wealth
and power, a telescoping (narrowing) of project activities or focus on
a defined portion of the population is necessary to limit participation
to small farmers.
120
This dominant thought in the earlier study is confirmed by the comparison
of the outcomes of BRDB cooperatives and the programmes for the landless
by BRAC and Grameen Bank. However, it does not account for the failure of
the RPP or the SFDP. I would suggest that the principle of exclusion must
extend to decision makers in the project. It is no use targeting marginal farm
119
Hossain. 1988. Credit for the Alleviation of Rural Poverty: Grameen Bank, 28.
120
Elliott R. Morss and others. 1975. Strategies for Small Farmer Development: An
Empirical Study of Rural Development Projects - Executive Summary, Development
Alternatives, Inc. 1823 Jefferson Place, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036, 29.
358
families and then insisting that the traditional power-brokers, union
members or an upazila chairman, approve or disapprove an activity.
There is no great difficulty in targeting vulnerable farm families. Orr
and Magor note that
.. vulnerable households had 3-6 months Rice Provision Ability,
sharecropped one quarter of the area they cultivated, derived about
30-50 per cent of household income from agriculture and 25-50 per
cent from labour, had lost over one quarter of land owned through
distress sale and carried a high level of debt.
121
This suggests that the level of Rice Provision Ability, extent of day labour,
sharecropping and debt levels as possible parameters. To ensure that the
operational definition of vulnerability is both simple and precise, it should be
formed with active involvement of vulnerable farm families.
Actively Promoting Plurality
Rather than the state reluctantly recognising plurality I would
encourage it to be active in its promotion. In the words of Chambers 'the
best solution may be plural' .
122
NGOs in
. . their involvement may be better seen as a step in the direction

of organisational pluralism.
123
A conclusion by Farrington in the recent review of NGO activity across
three continents also supports a diminishing role for state bodies like BRDB:
.. government reforms will continue [and] ... government and
donors will look for alternative channels for implementing and funding
social and economic development work at the grassroots.
.. much more development initiatives will, somehow, have to be
self-managed and ultimately self-financed. This will require different
121
Alastair W. Orr and Noel P. Magor. 1994 'Targeting Vulnerable Farm
Households in Bangladesh: a Typology Using Cluster Analysis: BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh,
8. Photocopied.
122
Chambers. 1989. 'The State and Rural Development: Ideologies the 1990s,' 11.
123
Anthony Bebbington and John Farrington. 1993. 'Government, NGOs and
Agricultural Development: Perspectives on Changing Inter-Organisational Relationships,' The
Journal of Peasant Studies 29, no. 2, 205.
359
sorts of skill and different forms of local organisation, perhaps based
on clearly identified economic strategies.
124
NGO roles will change. Some will be closely linked to a state-led model of
development through bridging gaps between the poor and local
administration, mediation, empowering to demand services, development of
models for scaling-up by BRDB and so forth. Being aware of the capacity of
state-led services and policy shifts that affect the parastatal's functions will
be important for such NGOs to remain relevant and effective. Other NGOs
may become long-term entities that operate more strongly within the
market. The BRAC bank is a first example. Questions regarding long-term
sustainability, financial structure, level of subsidy and ownership are some
of the parameters for evaluation that will come to the fore for such NGOs.
Still others may become advocates with roles of mediating in policy.
The identified vacuum in services that exist for marginal farm families
means new organisations are essential. It is a need that both the state and
the major NGOs have missed. How might new organisations emerge?
Insight is provided in the essence of a perceptive comment by Shah:
... that a cooperative or a NGO or even a research institution can
revolutionise a local economy.
125
The Grameen Bank had its beginnings as an experiment at the Chittagong
University. The beginning may be a pilot scheme within an existing
institution, an experiment within BRDB or a university or a local
entrepreneur who sees an opportunity.
There are objections raised to multiple agencies in rural development.
The role of alternative development organisations to state services has been
a source of tension. Some suggest that it amounts to duplication and an
inefficient use of scarce resources. In the realm of credit, McGregor
124
John Farrington, Anthony Bebbington with Kate Wellard and David J. Lewis.
1993. Reluctant Partners? Non-Governmental Organisations, The State and Sustainable
Agricultural Development (London: Routledge), 193.
125
Shah. 1993. ' ... Rural Development in the 1990s and Beyond,' A82.
360
describes the setting up of an arrangement that is independent of the formal
banking system as an exit model for the poor.
126
In plurality there is an
exiting of state-led services. However, given time a more secure rural poor
may demand more government services.
I argue that by the provision of alternative economic niches, perhaps
a BRAC village credit organisation, or a Grameen Bank association, or an
RORS group, or a Proshika grassroots group or a self-formed association,
overall economic power within a union or an upazila is spread. In the
ensuing choice there is empowerment.
Can it be said that there is duplication of credit programmes when
under BROB cooperatives many of the poor were excluded? With similar
target groups, do the BRAC bank and the Grameen Bank represent
duplication and an inefficient use of resources? What happens if there are
three, four or five cooperative credit unions formed? In relation to credit
approaches Smillie says:
... surely by now, [there is] not one approach that hadn't been tried
somewhere else in the country before.
127
Perhaps it should be said: given present understanding it appears every
approach has been tried. The success of the Grameen Bank and BRAC
might have been blocked if in 1975 the accepted belief that 'the poor are
not credit worthy' was left unchallenged. It cannot be assumed, as Smillie
does, that there is a greater good in merging NGOs, both North and South,
into a 'larger pot. '
128
What is needed is discussion on procedures that
ensures that innovations are moving forward rather than being relearned. In
fact this is happening. In a workshop on 'Future Strategies and Vision of
126
McGregor. 1988. 'Credit and the Rural Poor: Changing Policy Environment,' 477
127
128
361
NGOs in Bangladesh' in 1988 a working group on rural credit was
established to facilitate joint discussion on policy.
129
In the credit arena, the comparative study by Yaron across
Bangladesh, Thailand and Indonesia showed higher subsidies within the
Grameen Bank than the other three institutions reviewed.
130
The
introduction of a Sustainability Development Index for credit programmes
within Bangladesh may accelerate tight management. The inclusion of BRDB
and the Bangladesh Krishi Bank within such a study may add further
legitimacy to the emergence of long-term non-state banking services for the
poor.
The competition in services that are economic in nature, is critical to
maintaining ongoing innovation. BRDB stagnated and failed to respond to
its shortcomings partly because it was a monolith. Blair claims that rural
elites have taken advantage of every opportunity in local government.
131
In
Blair's statement alone is a call for multiple agencies. Wood, also, questions
whether NGOs will become embedded in local patronage networks
particularly if their role is seen as intermediaries between state services and
society.
132
Any role as a broker has the potential of patronage. Plurality
weakens the power of the broker.
In addition, 'the duplication' provides the opportunity for more
leadership to be developed and the potential for more innovations in the
future. In the short-term, the competition provides choice for donors which
maintains pressure for performance. In the long-run recipients are given
129
ADAB. 1988. 'Future Strategies and Vision of NGOs in Bangladesh: A
Workshop Report held Feb. 28, 1988,' ADAB, Hse. 1/3, Block F, Lalmatia, Dhaka 1207,
21. Photocopied.
130
J. Varon. 1994. Successful Rural Finance Institutions. Finance and Development
31 (March),33.
131
Harry W. Blair. 1989. 'Research Findings,' in Can Rural Development Be
Financed From Below? Local Resource Mobilisation in Bangladesh, ed. Harry W. Blair
(Dhaka: University Press Ltd.), 233.
132
362
choice, which will be the true indicator of the emergence of viable
empowerment.
Institutional Enabling
Encapsulated within the institutional intermediation as developed by
BRAC is technical expertise, management capability and action research.
The BRAC view of technology is that of an enterprise matrix in which each
aspect is given due consideration. BRAC has developed specialist
interventions in five economic sub-sectors, namely poultry (as illustrated
earlier), livestock, fishing and fisheries, sericulture and irrigation. BRAC has
recognised that I in the infrastructure - starved Bangladesh context,
institutional intermediation.. .
'133
is essential. A similar principle was
followed by RDRS with the treadle pump.
Within the enterprise matrix, there is an institutional enabling that
moves ongoing knowledge development into the hands of vulnerable
households. It enables such households to access technological options that
may be complex or not part of the state service delivery system. The
examples cited here were the BRAC poultry model and the treadle pump by
RDRS. Neither technology was matched with a state service capability. The
potential systems that were identified in Chapter 4 will not be realised
without institutional intermediation. The Singh vegetable system has
tremendous income potential through local and export markets. However,
without a linkage to technical expertise, management capability and action
research it may be an opportunity missed.
Continual Innovation
Innovation is an ongoing need both in technology development and in
the building of efficient sustainable institutions. It is not possible for any
133
363
agency (state, NGO or grass-roots organisation) to remain static. The very
momentum of pauperisation will overwhelm any 'successful' project unless
there is continual innovation. Even BRAC or the Grameen Bank must
continue to innovate and change to survive. The statement by Smillie that
BRAC is already known, competent and well supported. It is under
no obligation to do more or to do better.
134
fails to recognise that relevance in the seventies and eighties does not
guarantee performance in the nineties and beyond. In fact, BRAC is still not
a sustainable institution. Only in its enactment in 1990 of the RCP or the
BRAC Bank, has a statement been made to the effect that it is a permanent
entity. It is only in the beginning of a new phase, which has the potential to
dwarf all success of the past.
I have already mentioned that financial sustainability of any
organisation in the long-term must be addressed. Another area concerns the
notion of collective versus individual action.
Collective versus individual action
Individual activity has tended to dominate economic activities but is a
decidedly weak position for negotiating a wage rate or similar issue.
Proponents of collective over individual activities appear to operate from an
ideological position of what is 'acceptable development'.
For example, a criticism levelled at the credit activities of the
Grameen Bank and BRAC has been that many of the loans are individual
rather than collective.
. . . as far as group members are concerned they prefer the high
profitability of individual schemes over the less profitable collective
schemes. But BRAC's objective is that collective schemes should be
given greater emphasis since it is through collective schemes that the
landless acquire power through unity.
135
134
Smillie. 1992. Extending Operations of Third World NGOs,' 77.
135
Chowdhury. 1989. Let Grassroots Speak: People's Participation, 84.
364
This is further illustrated :
The problem of individual loans creating selfishness is not a particular
attack against the Grameen Bank Project among the target
population. It is an inherent structural component of a capitalistic
society.
136
Certain NGOs like Nijera Kori
137
or GSS
138
have seen small credit
programmes as detracting from collective mobilisation that challenges wider
economic, political and social realities. The group process is seen as an
integral or core activity in development. Similarly Proshika recognises
... the need for conscietisation to create appropriate Income
Generating Activity forms which would not just lead to
individualism.
139
In the debate on the long-term efficacy of collective versus individual
activity, an avenue that warrants exploring is, 'Why has individual credit
been so successful and moves towards the collective resisted? and 'How
can the reasons for its success be built on for empowerment?'
An anthropologist, Maloney, states:
.. the Bangladeshi can be said to be an individualist in the sense
that he is pragmatic and opportunistic in his behaviour. . .. The
Bengali is an individual in the sense that he behaves atomistically to
maximise opportunity through social relations, learns to find his own
way in life and does not depend much on either institutions or
ideologies.
140
He further sees the individualistic personality type as having
.. evolved in scattered households on frontier land distant from the
central civilisations of India.
141
The frontier nature of institutions and the process of establishing economic
activity is apparent in the new coastal areas. It is a pattern that has been
repeated as families have sought new land over the last centuries.
136
1
138
137
139
140
Maloney. 1991. Behaviour and Poverty in Bangladesh, 51.
141
365
For marginal farm families, individual activities may be the best
starting point. In addition to the above, a further reason is an essential
characteristic of most persons with a land-based livelihood:
It seems inherent in the contemporary human condition for most rural
people to seek a secure and independent land-based livelihood where
resources are controlled and commanded by the family and where
returns are directly linked to efforts.
142
Some theorists, who are looking for mass movements and solidarity
of large numbers of landless with' ... the main aim of changing the rural
power structure by enabling the conscietised rural section to emerge as a
new social force .. .'
143
may be expressing their own desire rather than
that of the landless. The forum of like-minded NGOs has advocated the
formation of federated structures of landless organisations at the union and
upazila levels.
144
The expectation of the target group strategy of ' ... an
upazila-based forum of the landless population
'
145
may be the most distant
desire of the members themselves.
However, change may be taking place. Maloney notes the' ...
spontaneous formation of savings and loans groups.... ',
146
especially
since the early eighties. It applies particularly to ' ... homogeneous groups
where trust is personal
'147
and mutual advantage is perceived. Examples
here can be seen in Grade A BRDB cooperatives
148
and Proshika's
successful efforts in ' ... the development of people's organisations which
are federations of groups with their own leaders' .
149
For collective action to
be successful, perhaps it needs to be built from an initial individual basis. If
142
Chambers. 1989. 'The State and Rural Development: Ideologies: 12.
143
144
ADAB. 1988. Future Strategies and Vision of NGOs in Bangladesh, 12.
145
Chowdhury. 1989. Let Grassroots Speak: People's Participation, 212
146
147
148
Maloney. 1988. Rural Savings and Credit in Bangladesh, 119.
149
Kramsjo. 1992. Breaking the Chains, 32. A significant number of case studies
have been given illustrating mobilisation and class action. Examples include securing khas
(government land) land rights, legal wages, actions against corrupt officials and so on.
366
this argument holds then BRAC and Grameen Bank have both established a
solid foundation for growth that may extend into the collective.
A model for successful collective action and enterprise activity is still
to emerge. Experimentation must continue. Rather than a singular structure
implemented by a state service or a monopoly of elite NGOs, there may be
multiple approaches repeated over and over again at the grassroots level.
Entrepreneurialism
The premise behind the Grameen Bank was that given the availability
of capital the poor will find economic opportunities. At the micro-level the
expansion of the non-formal sector through credit from Grameen Bank and
BRAC and other organisations has been most striking. A study of demand
and marketing aspects of credit from the Grameen Bank led to the
conclusion:
... it can safely be said that it [credit] is becoming a significant
factor in the areas where it is operating and is beginning to create
enough of forward and backward linkages thereby ... giving impetus
to the overall growth of the rural economy in general.
150
Maloney sees individualistic Bengali behaviour as a positive trait in economic
development for enhancing entrepreneurship.
What is happening is that the changing modern society is allowing
new channelling of opportunistic individualism, causing release of
latent qualities of entrepreneurship as never before in the history of
East Bengal.
151
The success of enterprises springing from Grameen Bank and BRAC may be
positively building on a cultural trait.
150
Rahman. 1986. Demand and Marketing Aspects of Grameen Bank (Dhaka:
University Press Ltd.), 83.
151
Clarence Maloney. 1991. Behaviour and Poverty in Bangladesh, 3d ed. (Dhaka:
University Press Ltd.), 58.
367
Credit Discipline and Capital Accumulation
Credit discipline has come through very strongly in the case studies.
The main precepts are peer monitoring, small mutually accountable groups
within the cooperative, regular repayments and public scrutiny of all loans.
Years of trial and error have resulted in these precepts being established as
essentials.
Capital accumulation has been a successful activity in all targeted
programmmes. It has touched a traditional value within society. There are
many proverbs that illustrate the symbolic value of money and savings.
152
Maloney and Ahmed showed:
... a high level of effort by most household heads to support their
families and enhance their assets.
153
An early experimental programme by BRAC showed that without external
capital input, $75,000 was mobilised in savings in a five year period by
some 45,000 villagers from 462 villages. It was part of the Outreach
Programme by BRAC designed' ... to test the limits of what the landless
could accomplish using only their own resources or local resources that
could be tapped through existing channels. '
154
The system of five per cent of credit becoming savings and a minimal
contribution weekly has proved very successful in NGOs and the Grameen
Bank activities with the economically poorest. Table 35 illustrates the
savings of a number of agencies.
Capital formation is a long-term essential for sustainable rural
development. At an individual level the savings appear minuscule, but at the
group level it opens up the opportunity for the vulnerable to exercise more
economic clout. With it arises the issue that I raised earlier of collective
endeavour.
152
153
154
369
Revamping BRDB is more than allowing life for a state monolith; it is the
agency charged by GoB to devise rural institutional strategies for the 1990s
and beyond.
157
The Bangladesh Agricultural Sector Review leaves the problems
facing small farmers squarely with the BRDB. Simply:
The BRDB-KSS membership should be restricted to the small farmers
owning or operating below one hectare.
158
How could a group of senior experts, who have just completed a major
review of the agriculture sector, make such an inept suggestion? It is taking
the principle of targeting that has been successfully developed by groups,
like the Grameen Bank and BRAC, and recommending that the same can be
achieved by BRDB. Does it display political naivety or does it represent a
consultancy bankrupt of ideas and 'clutching at straws'? Elahi et aI., the
proponents of the Small Farmer Development Bank, have rightly stated:
The existence of BRDB cooperatives will be threatened if medium and
large farmers are excluded. This is because they already control the
KSS-UCCA channel and they will utilise their political influence to
prevent any such restructuring.
159
I am not suggesting that all is lost with BRDB. It can be recognised as one
starting point. However, to immediately introduce a principle of exclusion
that effectively removes most controlling members would effectively
shutdown even the well-functioning cooperatives.
160
It is worth acknowledging the well-functioning cooperatives. There
has been some success, with 30 per cent of UCCAs and 25 per cent of
157
158
159
Elahi. 1992. 'Small Farmer Vulnerability in Bangladesh: Action Programme: 68.
160
Wood argues along the line that farmers below 1.0 hectare will be the first to
lose their land in the present shifts in landholding and that the exclusion would then
effectively shut down BRDB KSS groups. However, in this study (Chapter 3) farm families
with a RPA of 6-8 months were incremental gainers of land, and the mean landholding of
this group was less than 1.0 hectares. Wood. 1994. Bangladesh: Whose Ideas, Whose
Interests? 433.
370
primary cooperatives being classified as grade A and considered to be
functioning wel1.
161
It is proposed that the guideline for credit discipline as
proven by Grameen Bank and BRAC and numerous NGO's be immediately
applied to BRDB KSS groups.
For overall credit discipline in rural areas, a prevalence of double
standards must be challenged. Why is it that a credit programme for the
poor is only looked at due to the 98 per cent loan recovery and yet donor
money and government money continues to be provided through the banks
and BROB to the dominantly medium and large farmers, who historically
have a high default rate? There is an underlying premise that if development
through the medium and large farmers is halted in any way there will be
both inadequate trickle-down to the poor and political instability. The same
standards expected of the most vulnerable must be applied equally to
medium and large farmers.
Wood looks at the future of BRDB constructively by advocating a
small donor to work with it in an experimental way.
162
Experimentation was
very much part of the vision of the founder, Akhter Hameed Khan.
New organisation that fill the present vacuum facing marginal farm
families will be of far greater significance.
New Organisations
The need for new organisations is twofold. Firstly, BRDB alone is an
inadequate vehicle for confronting marginal farm family vulnerability.
Structurally it does not fulfil the principle of targeting. That principle, as
defined here, insists on the exclusion of local political leadership in decision
making. Also to satisfy the principle of plurality, BROB cannot stand alone;
it must be one of a number of organisations. A second factor for new
161
162
371
initiatives lies in the target groups of key organisations like BRAC and the
Grameen Bank. Despite 17.5 per cent of families with land being found
vulnerable to loss of land (Chapter 3), such groups are not within the target
group of either BRAC or the Grameen Bank.
I would suggest that any new organisations follow a similar path to
that of the Grameen Bank in its formative years; not as a national
programme but on a small scale. In the long-term it is anticipated that
several large self-funding business organisations will emerge. Adherence to
the eight principles that were drawn from the experiences of agencies like
BRAC, RDRS, Proshika and the Grameen Bank is fundamental.
Empowerment of vulnerable farm families must not be limited to low
input technology. The examples in Chapter 5 of the ownership of irrigation
technology by the landless are most significant. If the landless can own
irrigation technology, what other technologies are open to their ownership?
Already the Grameen Bank, BRAC, and Proshika have demonstrated the
capability of taking control of resources, in rice mills, poultry rearing,
common property agroforestry and ground water for irrigation.
Strengthening the food self-sufficiency base, coupled with capital
accumulation opens the opportunity to project ownership beyond the
village. As mentioned, the Grameen Bank has registered a company the
Grameen Krishi Foundation for this very purpose.
163
Processing, marketing
and export may form part of the expansion. We may see the emergence of
joint activity and a combining of resources of the landless and vulnerable
farm families. However, credit discipline and capital accumulation are sine
qua non.
If the vulnerable are to benefit from expansion, NGO expertise in
business and specific technologies is essential. Here we see the outworking
163
Grameen Krishi Foundation. 1991. Memorandum and Articles of Association.
372
of the principle of institutional enabling that has been so well demonstrated
by BRAC. For organisations to move in this directions the link to the market
place will grow. That linkage will place pressure on economic sustainability
not only for the specific activity, for example irrigation, but also for the
management expertise. The nature of an NGO and a business will overlap
more.
Conclusion
The vulnerability of marginal farm families has limited their access to
state-led services. I, therefore, commence the debate by challenging the
accepted view that the state must be the main service provider for rural
development. Recent critiques across South Asia have strongly opposed the
dominance of parastatals. The case studies for BRDB and the subsequent
targeted Rural Poor Programme and Small Farmer Development Programme
illustrate the problems faced by state services in reaching the vulnerable.
Patronage was unavoidable. The example of the Special Agriculture Credit
Programme again demonstrated the problems of using local government
officials and politicians as brokers in development activities. I conclude that
a single service delivery system in an hierarchical society can only further
disempower the vulnerable. I cannot express strongly enough that targeting,
without exclusion at the decision making level, will fail in its objective of
economic uplift of marginal farm families and the landless.
I then moved on to review both the development of a manufacturing-
base for the RDRS treadle pump and the targeted BRAC poultry model. The
credit programmes of the Grameen Bank and the BRAC bank were further
examples of non-state services effectively reaching a vulnerable group
within the village.
I have not used the NGO and Grameen Bank examples to show up
the failure of state initiatives but rather to bring out the eight principles for
373
sustainable development organisations. The treadle-pump manufacturers
operated within the market with agencies like RDRS forming the linkage to
the client. The BRAC poultry programme developed a market infrastructure
around vulnerable women and drew in state-provided vaccine and chicks.
Institutional enabling assured the technologies were economically viable for
the client. The positive impact of both the Grameen Bank and the BRAC
bank suggest the possibility of a long-term plurality in credit for the
vulnerable.
Having used NGOs as examples of non-state services, I am in no way
implying that NGOs are the answer for the vulnerable. NGOs were the only
organisations that were involved in extensive experimentation directed at
improving the welfare of vulnerable households. In contrast parastatals have
appeared unresponsive to their own shortcomings in addressing the needs
of vulnerable families. NGOs do have a significant role to play in the future,
but not as a bridge for weak government programmes.
164
I find it
unfortunate that the sense of charity predominates in the image of an NGO.
For many the NGO link is strongly associated with welfare. Uphoff uses
terms like collective action sector, self-help and service organisations that
are non-profit organisations.
165
Wood creates a mysterious institutional
triangle of state, market and community. He equates community with
people's own spontaneous effort and the NGO sector.
166
And yet economic
development entails being viable within the market. If we take the eight
principles or learned wisdom, there is no reason why an NGO cannot
operate as a client-focused, profit-making business. Within the profit-making
can exist the potential for growth, diversification to new economic activities
164
Bebbington. 1993. 'Governments, NGOs and Agricultural Development,' 200.
165
166
374
and sustainability. The BRAC Bank is the first NGO in Bangladesh to move
in this direction.
While empowerment is generally associated with access to existing
resources, for example better wage rates, its greatest impact maybe from
taking advantage of new technology. I have illustrated the opportunity of
advances in new technology in figures 43 and 44. Each technological
innovation is a production-income gap (figure 43) that is potentially available
to vulnerable farm families and the landless. Some of these technologies
may be:
Green Revolution rice technology;
Jadabh Singh vegetable system;
the BRAC poultry model;
farming systems site specific recommendations;
organic gardening;
export of high value vegetables;
agro forestry; and
fish pond culture and so on.
The distribution of benefits is more dependent on the institution than the
nature of the technology. The capability of the landless to take advantage
has become more and more possible through groups like RDRS, BRAC,
Proshika and the Grameen Bank. Such groups are performing a critical
empowering role (figure 44). The effectiveness of these institutions is
actually leading to a power shift in relation to surplus farmers.
If the capital vacuum, knowledge vacuum and weak linkages can be
aggressively addressed by a number of NGOs, operating as business entities
for the vulnerable, it is quite possible that future wealth generated through
technological advance can be controlled more by the present powerless.
Technology
potential
375
Figure 43. Each technological innovation develops a production-income
gap that is potentially available for the landless and marginal
farm families depending on the presence of a targeted
institution.
Production
I
. J
I
I
I
I
~ __J
,
.- 1-
I
I
I _____
I
r - - - J
,.... - - - - - - -,
I
- - - __ I
-----
Time
Actual Production
376
Figure 44. A shift in capability of the landless to take advantage of
innovative technology due to the presence of a targeted
institutional intervention. However, marginal farm families lack
such institutional targeting.
10 - C b'l' ,
apa I Ity rating
5
landless
targeted institutional
delivery. capital formation
+-- and marketing;
eg BRAC, Grameen Bank
No targeted
.- institution;
inactive IRDP,
banking difficulty
and market bias,
vulnerable farm family
with RPA 3-5 months
surplus farmer
CHAPTER 8
UNLOCKING THE WEALTH OF MARGINAL FARM FAMILIES
Introduction
Bangladesh is in an unnecessary state of economic crisis. In the
opening chapter I voiced my self-doubt that came from a sense of
frustration at the less than desired outcome in rural development. I have
tried to show in this thesis that things can be different. Within the shifts in
the control of land towards small and marginal farm families, the options in
technology and the organisational innovations that enable greater economic
participation by very marginal families, there are hopeful but fragile
indicators that the key ingredients for real empowerment of marginal
families are present and potentially available. It is my intention now to chart
that different course by building on the positive threads that have emerged
and safeguarding against the more obvious factors contributing to paralysis.
The interpretation of social change in rural areas is the starting point.
The evidence I have presented locates the most vulnerable farm families as
part of a continuum of marginal and small families that ranges from those
extremely vulnerable to loss of land to those demonstrating a resilience who
have made incremental increases in landholding over the present generation.
That position stands in opposition to the polarisation thesis. In charting the
way ahead I look at two scenarios for small and marginal farm families. In
one the resilience is restrained through rural stagnation but in the other the
potential of small and marginal farm families is unlocked. In many respects
the latter is an uncharted course as to date development theory has not
even acknowledged the existence of this latent potential. However, I see a
developmental synergy in the strengths that vulnerable families display, the
377
378
approach to technology development and the organisations for which the
vulnerable are central. For realising that synergy I will look at redefining
technology and the accompanying restructuring of R&D, the necessary
supporting state policy and new directions for NGOs. I emphasise the role
of NGOs, with public policy support, in fostering their own independence of
the state and promoting pluralism. At the same time, I argue that they have
come to a crossroads; to serve vulnerable farm families they will have to
make major changes to their approach to development.
The structure of this chapter is built around each of the components
that together will create the necessary synergy to not only reduce marginal
farm family vulnerability but activate the engine for rural growth.
A Fragile Resilience
The argument of rural polarisation, with the large landowners
dispossessing the more marginal farm families has been found wanting in
the present study. A re-analysis of five major village studies from
Bangladesh and India has also shown that polarisation has not been taking
place. Much theory regarding class differentiation in rural societies has
come from studies of shifts in landholding. Landholding as a single measure
coupled with the associated measure of differentiation, the Lorenz curve,
has been an inadequate measure. The recommendations flowing from the
use of these measures in rural social analysis have tended to focus on land
reform as the major means of addressing rural poverty. Social mobility is far
more complex. Cluster analysis as an analytical tool has been able to
distinguish the different social trajectories of families with similar land
endowments at the time of inheritance. It has revealed that vulnerable
families have not been idle in seeking to stabilise or improve their economic
position. There has been a balancing act with non-farm income, which is
379
more readily available in more developed regions, often providing the critical
cash flow.
It has been important to dispute the polarisation thesis as it is an
essential underpinning of the argument that modernisation leads to
dispossession of small and marginal farm families and to the emergence of a
group of commercial cultivators with ever increasing landholdings. Those
who see modernisation leading to dispossession argue that improvements to
agricultural production are like a two-edged sword: on the one hand they
result in increased food production but on the other hand they lead to
increased dispossession.
If polarisation is not taking place, what is happening? Firstly I must
state that landlessness is increasing. Of the total rural population, 10-12 per
cent of families in the present generation are being rapidly dispossessed. It
is a dispossession which arises from a lack of economic opportunity either
achieved from higher productivity or from non-farm supplementary income.
It is also due to the lack of buffers which would permit vulnerable families
to withstand stochastic shocks. Vulnerability to loss of land was higher in
the remote deepwater ecosystem of Sariatpur due to the 1987 and 1988
floods and the crash in jute prices. By contrast vulnerability was less in the
peri-urban villages of Sitakundu due to the regular availability of non-farm
employment. Vulnerable farm families were self-sufficient in rice for only 3-
5 months in the year. They were characterised by high debt levels, a high
proportion of shared-in land and a high level of distress sales of land.
Secondly, small and marginal farm families have been overall gainers
of land; not medium and large landowners. Cluster analysis identified a very
significant group of active small and marginal farm families, about 30 per
cent of all rural families, who had enlarged their landholdings by 27 per
cent. However, the families were food deficit and only met two-thirds of
their rice requirements from their own production. Medium farmers appear
380
to be an important link in the movement of control of land from outside the
village to within the village. The growth in landholding of medium farmers,
cluster 1m, was most noted in more remote locations like the coastal
frontier zone. However, in more developed regions their numbers diminished
and active marginal and small farm families were stronger accumulators of
land.
The study identified four distinct clusters of families amongst small
and marginal farm families. In brief these were families with high
vulnerability to loss of land (cluster 1
v
); stable marginal farm families with
regular labour income (cluster 3
v
); active small and marginal farm families
with incremental increases in landholding (cluster 5
v
); and small and
marginal farm families with a balance of farm and service income (cluster
4
m
). The composition is fluid.
Figure 45 represents two possible scenarios for small and marginal
farm families. Of the composite, roughly 20 percent in the present
generation have moved rapidly towards landlessness. Time t1 represents
the history of the present generation. At time t
2
the proportion of
vulnerable farm families may be higher or lower depending on the extent of
economic growth, the increase in non-farm options, the relative strength of
credit and savings programmes and the effectiveness of state disaster
management and associated safety nets like Food for Work, Open Market
Selling programme for rice and gruel kitchens in the event of natural
disasters. With all these factors constant, the continued pressure of
population growth itself increases vulnerability.
The direction I have stated for reducing vulnerability is a statement of
the obvious. What is new? It is in focus and structure. The engine for
agricultural growth in Bangladesh lies with small and marginal farm families
and not with the emergence of a commercial elite of medium and large
landowners. Even if the elite control a major portion of land at present the
directional shift in landholdings is the flag of a gradual ongoing structural
shift. The pressure for that shift is survival itself. That engine can stall or
provide a steady necessary momentum.
A question arises here. Why have I excluded medium and large
landholders (predominantly cluster 1
m
) , ) as part of that engine of growth. I
answer firstly wi th another question. Why has the significance of this group
diminished as an area has become more developed? As a group, cluster 1,
families were more prominent in the coastal frontier region and the more
recently accessible upland area of Sreepur, but less so i n the more
developed area of Sitakundu. I would suggest, but cannot verify, that many
families within this group are looking t o move out of agriculture. Land is
held as an investment. Also many within this group have been ill-disciplined
in credit (chapter 7) and may have been part of the traditional middlemen in
agricultural production. Of course some are actual farmers and will persist,
but others will leave agriculture as alternative economic activities emerge. In
contrast amongst the marginal is a discipline, necessitated by the very need
t o survive.
Technology Devel oment t as an Enabler
Chambers in 1977 in an essay on challenges for rural research and
development stated:
The potential of technology for creating the preconditions for agrarian
reform is largely unexplored but it might in some environments
provide that crucial element in a breakthrough to redistribution which
has almost always in South Asia been prevented by a lack of political
will.
1

1
Robert Chambers. 1977. 'Challenges for Rural Research and Development,' in
Green Revolution? Technolonv and Chanae in Rice-qrowina Areas of Tamil Nadu and Sri
Lanka, ed. B.H. Farmer (London: Macmillan Press), 403.
Macmillan
381
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It is a statement I endorse and I know i t is the hope that many scientists in
diverse disciplines hold. The large body of literature on the agrarian question
and technological determinism, some of which I have touched on in this
thesis, does suggest that there is work t o be done in enabling such an
outcome. For technology t o be an enabler and t o link it wi th that known
resilience amongst small and maarm families there is a need for major
change in R&D. The starting point is a definition of technology that
encompasses technical, social and organisational domains. The suggested
changes then cover the quest for balance and integration, overcoming the
arbitrary division of extension and research, a commitment t o
regionalisation, acknowledging the essence of linkages between
international research centres, like IRRI, and national centres, and the
recognition and development of local networks and organisations.
Technology as an Enterprise Matrix or Activity Web
Conventionally the definition of a technology 'optionr is restricted t o
its physical components, either biochemical or mechanical. Examples are a
new rice variety, a fertiliser package, pond polyculture or a shallow-
tubewell. Innovation, unless it is extremely simple, is by itself insufficient. A
new rice variety in a rainfed environment that can be spread by farmer t o
farmer seed exchange is an example of the simplest of technologies. In
general, however, a technology developed in isolation is unlikely t o achieve
its full potential; i t needs to be embedded in an organisational system t o
become viable and sustainable. In exploring the nature of technology in
chapter 5 1
383
It is a statement I endorse and I know it is the hope that many scientists in
diverse disciplines hold. The large body of literature on the agrarian question
and technological determinism, some of which I have touched on in this
thesis, does suggest that there is work to be done in enabling such an
outcome. For technology to be an enabler and to link it with that known
resilience amongst small and marginal farm families there is a need for major
change in R&D. The starting point is a definition of technology that
encompasses technical, social and organisational domains. The suggested
changes then cover the quest for balance and integration, overcoming the
arbitrary division of extension and research, a commitment to
regionalisation, acknowledging the essence of linkages between
international research centres, like IRRI, and national centres, and the
recognition and development of local networks and organisations.
Technology as an Enterprise Matrix or Activity Web
Conventionally the definition of a technology 'option' is restricted to
its physical components, either biochemical or mechanical. Examples are a
new rice variety, a fertiliser package, pond polyculture or a shallow-
tubewell. Innovation, unless it is extremely simple, is by itself insufficient. A
new rice variety in a rainfed environment that can be spread by farmer to
farmer seed exchange is an example of the simplest of technologies. In
general, however, a technology developed in isolation is unlikely to achieve
its full potential; it needs to be embedded in an organisational system to
become viable and sustainable. In exploring the nature of technology in
chapter 5 I introduced the concept of an enterprise matrix or activity web.
Any technology has a technical, organisational and social domain. The
failure to recognise the necessary organisational envelope around a new
innovation is one factor that has stifled the potential impact of many
innovations in agricultural development. It is particularly pertinent to minor
enterprises. The activity webs for the treadle pump by RDRS and the poultry
model for vulnerable women by BRAC that were described in chapters 5
and 7 are illustrative of a more complete understanding of the breadth of a
technology intervention which is necessary. BRAC, Proshika, RDRS and the
Grameen Bank used the irrigated rice technology t o benefit a very
vulnerable gr oup of marginal and landless households. The reason that
these organisations were successful in the application of technology was
that each organisation considered the total enterprise matrix including
attention t o social access. In contrast the Jadabh Singh vegetable system is
an innovation lying dormant precisely because i t lacks an organisational
web.
Immediately within this new definition, disciplines are brought
together, questions on organisational structures emerge and the
development of technology is no longer strictly within the mandate of a
research institution. The organisational success of groups like BRAC in
reaching vulnerable families becomes important t o the researcher working
on a new poultry feed. The need for restructuring R&D naturally flows from
a definition that includes technical, social and organisational factors in
technology development.
Balance and Integration
The arguments of Anderson on rice research policy, the caution of
Pingali on farmer part icipation for complex issues, the reluctance of Tripp t o
embrace institutional issues within the R&D

384
enterprises.The activity webs for the treadle pump by RDRS and the poultry
model for vulnerable women by BRACthat were describedin chapters 5
and 7 are illustrative of a more complete understanding of the breadth of a
technology intervention which is necessary. BRAC, Proshika, RDRS and the
Grameen Bank used the irrigated rice technology to benefit a very
vulnerable group of marginal and landless households.The reason that
these organisations were successful in the applicationof technology was
that each organisation considered the total enterprise matrix including
attentionto social access. In contrast the Jadabh Singh vegetable system is
an innovation lying dormant precisely because it lacks an organisational
web.
Immediately within this new definition, disciplinesare brought
together, questionson organisationalstructuresemerge and the
development of technologyis no longer strictly within the mandateof a
research institution.The organisational success of groups like BRAC in
reaching vulnerable families becomes important to the researcher working
on a new poultry feed. The need for restructuring R&D naturally flows from
a definition that includes technical, social and organisational factors in
technology development.
Balanceand Integration
The arguments of Andersonon rice research policy, the caution of
Pingali on farmer participation for complex issues, the reluctance of Tripp to
embrace institutional issues within the R&D process or the perceptionof
FSR as a panacea for reducing farm family vulnerability, all have a common
denominator. Each is essentially reductionist: reasons for a particular
outcome or approach have been reduced to a simple dominant cause..
Peck identifies this problem as a problem of the age of reason and the
process of scientific enquiry:
Anything of any significance is overdetermined.
For any single thing of importance there are multiple reasons.
Because we assume there is a reason for everything, we go looking
for it, when we should be looking for them.2

Anderson had identified the problems of centralisation of research in
Bangladesh and the quick-fix mentality to rural poverty, but failed t o
appreciate the skill of BRRl scientists in handling the complex rice research
agenda. In Anderson's opinion a major contributor t o rural poverty was
attributable t o a rice research agenda, supposedly controlled by foreign
interests. He looked for a dominant reason t o support his overall supposition
of technological determinism. It was important t o demonstrate the
inadequacy of Anderson's argument on the lack of eco-specificity and t o
show that in fact BRRl had a balanced rice research agenda that
incorporated a cropping systems approach for handling ecosystem diversity
and multiple cropping. Very focused research did produce breakthroughs in
rice production in all seasons, particularly the boro season. It was not the
case of an inadequate technology leading t o an inadequate outcome. The
agenda for rice research alone is not sufficient for marginal farm families.
The real reason for a less than desired impact lay not in a lack of eco-
specificity but in a set of interrelated factors that are embraced within a
broader definition of technology as an enterprise matrix. In other words by
considering the organisational and social aspects of the GR technology
benefits can be directed towards marginal farm families. By not considering
this factor Anderson has become lost in technological determinism.
The reductionist approach cannot handle integration at the biological
level or incorporate the social context, in the form of institutional linkages,
in which a farm family interacts wi th technological innovations. Integration
at the biological level was tackled wi th the whole-farm approach by BRRl at
M. Scott Peck. 1996. In Search of Stones: A Pilnrimaae of Faith, Reason and
Discovery (Sydney: Simon and Schuster), .
385
Anything of any significance is overdetermined.
For any single thing of importance there are multiple reasons.
Because we assume there is a reason for everything, we go looking
for it, when we should be looking for them.
2
Anderson had identified the problems of centralisation of research in
Bangladesh and the quick-fix mentality to rural poverty, but failed to
appreciate the skill of BRRI scientists in handling the complex rice research
agenda. In Anderson's opinion a major contributor to rural poverty was
attributable to a rice research agenda, supposedly controlled by foreign
interests. He looked for a dominant reason to support his overall supposition
of technological determinism. It was important to demonstrate the
inadequacy of Anderson's argument on the lack of eco-specificity and to
show that in fact BRRI had a balanced rice research agenda that
incorporated a cropping systems approach for handling ecosystem diversity
and multiple cropping. Very focused research did produce breakthroughs in
rice production in all seasons, particularly the boro season. It was not the
case of an inadequate technology leading to an inadequate outcome. The
agenda for rice research alone is not sufficient for marginal farm families.
The real reason for a less than desired impact lay not in a lack of eco-
specificity but in a set of interrelated factors that are embraced within a
broader definition of technology as an enterprise matrix. In other words by
considering the organisational and social aspects of the GR technology
benefits can be directed towards marginal farm families. By not considering
this factor Anderson has become lost in technological determinism.
The reductionist approach cannot handle integration at the biological
level or incorporate the social context, in the form of institutional linkages,
in which a farm family interacts with technological innovations. Integration
at the biological level was tackled with the whole-farm approach by BRRI at
2
M. Scott Peck. 1996. In Search of Stones: A Pilgrimage of Faith, Reason and
Discovery (Sydney: Simon and Schuster), 9.
Sreepur. FARMACTION was designed t o facilitate integration. Integration
moves in the opposite direction t o the simplification of systems in
reductionist research. Murakami in Lessons from Nature: A Guide t o
Ecoloaical Aariculture i n the Tr o~i cs sees increasing diversity and
complexity as the path t o sustainable agr i ~ul t ur e. ~ Similarly Chambers was
quoted earlier as saying that families wi th limited resources pursue
sustainable livelihoods through increasing diversity and complexity.
Agricultural involution, a term coined by Geetz to account for the lack of
development in Javanese agriculture4, can be viewed not as an indication of
backwardness but rather as a long-term survival strategy. As population
increases agricultural involution or the diversity of enterprises can be
expected t o increase rather than decrease. The argument here is t o
recognise that diversity and complexity are integral t o survival and therefore
must be embraced within the approach of R&D.
On the one hand focused rice research gave significant advances; on
the other hand, as shown in the farm plans in chapter 4, minor enterprises
offer considerable potential. Balancing the need for focused component
research wi th exploring the advantages in integration of enterprises is
important in exploiting technological options for reducing vulnerability.
The Great Knowledge Divide of Research and Extension
It is time t o seriously question the division of knowledge into research
and extension. This traditional division, in reality, ensures both the
elimination of the farm family as participants and the subordination of
extension t o research. All are equally worthy players in the generation of
sustainable technologies.
Shimpei Murakami. 1991. Lessons from Nature: A Guide t o Ecolonical Anriculture
i n the Tr o~i cs, Proshika, GPO Box 31 49, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
C. Geertz. 1963. Anricultural Involution: The Processes of Ecolonical Change
386
Sreepur. FARMACTION was designed to facilitate integration. Integration
moves in the opposite direction to the simplification of systems in
reductionist research. Murakami in Lessons from Nature: A Guide to
Ecological Agriculture in the Tropics sees increasing diversity and
complexity as the path to sustainable agriculture.
3
Similarly Chambers was
quoted earlier as saying that families with limited resources pursue
sustainable livelihoods through increasing diversity and complexity.
Agricultural involution, a term coined by Geetz to account for the lack of
development in Javanese agriculture
4
, can be viewed not as an indication of
backwardness but rather as a long-term survival strategy. As population
increases agricultural involution or the diversity of enterprises can be
expected to increase rather than decrease. The argument here is to
recognise that diversity and complexity are integral to survival and therefore
must be embraced within the approach of R&D.
On the one hand focused rice research gave significant advances; on
the other hand, as shown in the farm plans in chapter 4, minor enterprises
offer considerable potential. Balancing the need for focused component
research with exploring the advantages in integration of enterprises is
important in exploiting technological options for reducing vulnerability.
The Great Knowledge Divide of Research and Extension
It is time to seriously question the division of knowledge into research
and extension. This traditional division, in reality, ensures both the
elimination of the farm family as participants and the subordination of
extension to research. All are equally worthy players in the generation of
sustainable technologies.
3
Shimpei Murakami. 1991. Lessons from Nature: A Guide to Ecological Agriculture
in the Tropics, Proshika, GPO Box 3149, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
4
C. Geertz. 1963. Agricultural Involution: The Processes of Ecological Change in
Indonesia (California: University of California Press), 80.
...the most dominant model of research and promotion activities is
the central model.5
Extension is an essential linchpin in the central model of agricultural
technology development. Within this model the farm family is in a passive
and weak position. There is a one-way fl ow of knowledge. The presumed
lack of knowledge power of the farm family is reflected in the terminology
which is used:
Major emphasis in the system is on the transfer of knowledge and
te
chnology from research centres t o farmer^.^
Farmers are seen as technology adoptersm7
The issues surrounding technology gaps as put forward by Merrill-
Sands were predominantly located in the gap between research and
extension. Extension has operated as the go-between for the knowledge
controllers, the research institutions, and the recipients of technology, the
farmers. The Training and Visit system wi th its one-way fl ow of knowledge
from extension personnel has treated farm families as passive receivers of
knowledge.
The lack of integration of research and extension was a key
constraint identified across twelve FSRIE project^.^ The Agricultural
Services Support Project (ASSP) was developed t o implement reform in the
agricultural extension service. However, a mid-term report actually reflects
a distinct lack of understanding of the extensive on-farm research of the
major research institutions in Bangladesh during the 1980s. It was as if the
Stephen Biggs. 1989. 'A Multiple Souce of lnnovation Model of Agricultural
Research and Technology Promotion,' OD1 Aaricultural Administration (Research and
Extension) Network. Discussion Paper no. 6, 2.
Biggs. 1989. 'Multiple Source of lnnovation Model of Agricultural Research,' 2.
Biggs. 1989. 'Multiple Source of lnnovation Model of Agricultural Research,' 3.
US A.I.D. 1989. 'FSRIE Projects 1975-1 987,' 5.
Mrinal K. Chowdhury and Elon H. Gilbert. 1996. 'Reforming Agricultural Extension
in Bangladesh: Blending Greater Participation and Sustainability with Institutional
Strengthening,' OD1
387
.
the central model.
5
Extension is an essential linchpin in the central model of agricultural
technology development. Within this model the farm family is in a passive
and weak position. There is a one-way flow of knowledge. The presumed
lack of knowledge power of the farm family is reflected in the terminology
which is used:
Major emphasis in the system is on the transfer of knowledge and
technology from research centres to farmers.
6
Farmers are seen as technology adopters,
7
The issues surrounding technology gaps as put forward by Merrill-
Sands were predominantly located in the gap between research and
extension. Extension has operated as the go-between for the knowledge
controllers, the research institutions, and the recipients of technology, the
farmers. The Training and Visit system with its one-way flow of knowledge
from extension personnel has treated farm families as passive receivers of
knowledge.
The lack of integration of research and extension was a key
constraint identified across twelve FSR/E projects.
8
The Agricultural
Services Support Project (ASSP) was developed to implement reform in the
agricultural extension service.
9
However, a mid-term report actually reflects
a distinct lack of understanding of the extensive on-farm research of the
major research institutions in Bangladesh during the 1980s. It was as if the
5
Stephen Biggs. 1989. 'A Multiple Source of Innovation Model of Agricultural
Research and Technology Promotion,' ODI Agricultural Administration (Research and
Extension) Network. Discussion Paper no. 6, 2.
6
Biggs. 1989. 'Multiple Source of Innovation Model of Agricultural Research,' 2.
7
8
US A.I.D. 1989. 'FSR/E Projects 1975-1987,' 5.
9
Mrinal K. Chowdhury and Elon H. Gilbert. 1996. 'Reforming Agricultural Extension
in Bangladesh: Blending Greater Participation and Sustainability with Institutional
Strengthening,'ODI Agricultural Research and Extension Network Network Paper no. 61
(Jan.).
DAE was unaware of this experience. The BRRl on-farm research, some of
which is reported here, was only a small part of the total national on-farm
effort.10 BARI, BJRI, SRTI, FRI, BLRI, the Bangladesh Agricultural University
and BWDB all participated in farming systems research.ll Lack of awareness
is reflected in statements like:
The linkages wi th the research system remain weak.
. . . [there is] the absence of effective backstopping from research.12
I suggest that these criticisms reflect a lack of awareness of the formal and
informal mechanisms of communication. However, the very fragmentation
of research into several autonomous institutions may be a major contributor.
The gap in research and extension relates t o the next issue, the necessity
for decentralisation.
Regionalisation
If the need for target group participation in R&D as a legitimate
aspect of empowerment and consequently mobilisation is taken seriously i t
represents a clear rejection of the central model and an acceptance of the
multiple innovation model. Decentralisation becomes a cornerstone in a
multiple innovation model.
In chapter 6 1 suggested that the fragmentation of research into
numerous autonomous institutions was a major contributor to the gap
between research and extension. It is a fragmentation that is the antithesis
of the known integrated systems of small and marginal farm families. The
fragmentation multiplies where integration is most needed, at the point of
contact wi th rural families. At the rural level the DAE is structured but the
lo Nizam Uddin Ahmed (compiled). 1992. A Review of BRRI C r o ~ ~ i n a Svstems
Research 1974-1 988. Rice Farming Systems Division, BRRI, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Publication
no. 103.
l' M. A. Jabbar and M.Z. Abedin. 1989. 'Bangladesh: the Evolution and Significance
of On-farm and Farming Systems Research in the Bangladesh Agricultural Research
Institute,' OFCOR Case Studv no 3. ISNAR, The Hague, Netherlands.
Chowdhury. 1996. 'Reforming Agricultural Extension in Bangladesh . . .,'

388
DAE was unaware of this experience. The BRRI on-farm research, some of
which is reported here, was only a small part of the total national on-farm
effort.
10
BARI, BJRI, SRTI, FRI, BLRI, the Bangladesh Agricultural University
and BWDB all participated in farming systems research.
11
Lack of awareness
is reflected in statements like:
The linkages with the research system remain weak.
. . . [there is] the absence of effective backstopping from research.
12
I suggest that these criticisms reflect a lack of awareness of the formal and
informal mechanisms of communication. However, the very fragmentation
of research into several autonomous institutions may be a major contributor.
The gap in research and extension relates to the next issue, the necessity
for decentralisation.
Regionalisation
If the need for target group participation in R&D as a legitimate
aspect of empowerment and consequently mobilisation is taken seriously it
represents a clear rejection of the central model and an acceptance of the
multiple innovation model. Decentralisation becomes a cornerstone in a
multiple innovation model.
In chapter 61 suggested that the fragmentation of research into
numerous autonomous institutions was a major contributor to the gap
between research and extension. It is a fragmentation that is the antithesis
of the known integrated systems of small and marginal farm families. The
fragmentation multiplies where integration is most needed, at the point of
contact with rural families. At the rural level the DAE is structured but the
10
Nizam Uddin Ahmed (compiled). 1992. A Review of BRRI Cropping Systems
Research 1974-1988. Rice Farming Systems Division, BRRI, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Publication
no. 103.
11
M.A. Jabbar and M.Z. Abedin. 1989. 'Bangladesh: the Evolution and Significance
of On-farm and Farming Systems Research in the Bangladesh Agricultural Research
Institute,' OFCOR Case Study no 3. ISNAR, The Hague, Netherlands.
12
Chowdhury. 1996. 'Reforming Agricultural Extension in Bangladesh ...,' 23-24.
research institutes are an unrelated set of sub-stations and regional stations.
Generally the regional and sub-stations are poorly staffed, adding t o the
problems of communication at the local level. Poorly staffed regional and
sub-stations must be a thing of the past. In decentralisation I support both a
merging of research institutions and a rationalisation of research stations
and sub-stations. The desired outcome is a regional presence of 15-30
scientists plus support staff at each regional centre. There would be no
reduction in scientist numbers. Furthermore, in the present scientist mix the
number of social scientists in regional stations is far too low. Under the
expanded definition of technology development as an enterprise matrix
there is a very positive role for social scientists.
At the regional stations an idea worth exploring is the establishment
of a business unit that takes responsibility for facilitating the organisational
and social dimensions of any new innovation. By regional integration of
research institutions and a management committee that comprises regional
and district level extension personnel a more effective interaction wi th small
and marginal farm families will ensue. The business development unit can
assume responsibility for local networks and fund acquisition for regional
R&D.
By granting autonomy t o the regional research centres and the
District Extension Office, the role of the District Technical Committee is
strengthened. The placement of key ecosystems sites across the region,
that are managed by a team comprising research and extension personnel,
will facilitate research, extension and farm family participation. Management
of each site may rotate between the respective senior research and
extension personnel. Jute, livestock and fisheries personnel can be attached
t o ecosystem sites as is appropriate t o human resources. Within the national
grid three or four sites may incorporate jute R&D.

389
research institutes are an unrelated set of sub-stations and regional stations.
Generally the regional and sub-stations are poorly staffed, adding to the
problems of communication at the local level. Poorly staffed regional and
sub-stations must be a thing of the past. In decentralisation I support both a
merging of research institutions and a rationalisation of research stations
and sub-stations. The desired outcome is a regional presence of 15-30
scientists plus support staff at each regional centre. There would be no
reduction in scientist numbers. Furthermore, in the present scientist mix the
number of social scientists in regional stations is far too low. Under the
expanded definition of technology development as an enterprise matrix
there is a very positive role for social scientists.
At the regional stations an idea worth exploring is the establishment
of a business unit that takes responsibility for facilitating the organisational
and social dimensions of any new innovation. By regional integration of
research institutions and a management committee that comprises regional
and district level extension personnel a more effective interaction with small
and marginal farm families will ensue. The business development unit can
assume responsibility for local networks and fund acquisition for regional
R&D.
By granting autonomy to the regional research centres and the
District Extension Office, the role of the District Technical Committee is
strengthened. The placement of key ecosystems sites across the region,
that are managed by a team comprising research and extension personnel,
will facilitate research, extension and farm family participation. Management
of each site may rotate between the respective senior research and
extension personnel. Jute, livestock and fisheries personnel can be attached
to ecosystem sites as is appropriate to human resources. Within the national
grid three or four sites may incorporate jute R&D. Similarly, for livestock
and fisheries, R&D at a limited number of sites may be sufficient to be
representative. University personnel may contribute t o nearby sites that fit
within the ecosystems grid for R&D. An appropriately identified local non-
government organisation that is working wi th the identified target group
may be encouraged t o form a linkage wi th the site. It is felt involvement of
political groups is best avoided as all former experience indicates a high
level of manipulation and abuse.
The question of merging research and extension has not been raised.
Under a multiple innovation model and wi th a recognition of the gaps that
exist due t o the division of research and extension, i t is difficult not t o
suggest such a merger. However, i t is a more appropriate question after the
restructuring under ASSP.
The lnternational Centres and the National R&D System
The international centres fall under the umbrella of the Consultative
Group for lnternational Agricultural Research. The CGlAR came into
existence t o facilitate production and equity. Ravnborg indicates that
addressing equity has not been a major thrust in the Centres.13 In earlier
work in favourable environments i t was only addressed through technology
development. The CGlAR is in transition as i t seeks t o come t o grips more
wi t h issues of equity and sustainability. More recently, according t o
Ravborg, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has indicated that the
poor in the unfavourable environments have been neglected:
. . . if agricultural research wishes to contribute t o greater equity, an
effort must be made t o improve productivity in the areas that, from
an agro-ecological point of view, are more marginal.14
l3 Helle Munk Ravnborg. 1992. 'The CGlAR in Transition: Implications for the Poor,
Sustainability and the National Research Systems,' Aaricultural Administration (Research
and Extension) Network Network Paper no. 31 (June).
l4 Ravnborg. 1992. 'The CGlAR in Transition: Implications for the Poor,' 55;
Ravborg draws this conclusion from: Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Secretariat.
1988. Sustainable Aaricultural Production: lm~lication

390
representative. University personnel may contribute to nearby sites that fit
within the ecosystems grid for R&D. An appropriately identified local non-
government organisation that is working with the identified target group
may be encouraged to form a linkage with the site. It is felt involvement of
political groups is best avoided as all former experience indicates a high
level of manipulation and abuse.
The question of merging research and extension has not been raised.
Under a multiple innovation model and with a recognition of the gaps that
exist due to the division of research and extension, it is difficult not to
suggest such a merger. However, it is a more appropriate question after the
restructuring under ASSP.
The International Centres and the National R&D System
The international centres fall under the umbrella of the Consultative
Group for International Agricultural Research. The CGIAR came into
existence to facilitate production and equity. Ravnborg indicates that
addressing equity has not been a major thrust in the Centres.
13
In earlier
work in favourable environments it was only addressed through technology
development. The CGIAR is in transition as it seeks to come to grips more
with issues of equity and sustainability. More recently, according to
Ravborg, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has indicated that the
poor in the unfavourable environments have been neglected:
... if agricultural research wishes to contribute to greater equity, an
effort must be made to improve productivity in the areas that, from
an agro-ecological point of view, are more marginal.
14
13
Helle Munk Ravnborg. 1992. 'The CGIAR in Transition: Implications for the Poor,
Sustainability and the National Research Systems,' Agricultural Administration (Research
and Extension) Network Network Paper no. 31 (June).
14
Ravnborg. 1992. 'The CGIAR in Transition: Implications for the Poor,' 55;
Ravborg draws this conclusion from: Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Secretariat.
1988. Sustainable Agricultural Production: Implications for International Agricultural
Research, Rome: FAO, TAC Secretariat.
391
It is right that greater emphasis be given to the unfavourable
ecosystems, but by overlooking poverty in favourable environments the
CGIAR is able to operate as if the issue were purely one of suitable
technology within a given ecosystem. Ravnborg indicates that the outcome
of the debate on this issue is not final as ' ... the 1991 T AC review did .
"refute" the argument that poverty and inequity are agro-ecologically
determined ... '
15
by stating that' ... the population which is poor is fairly
uniform across agro-ecological zones .. .'
16
Ravnborg expresses doubt that
equity focus will strengthen in the immediate future.
With rice cultivation covering 85 per cent of cropped land within
Bangladesh it is appropriate that the International Rice Research Institute be
an example. The purpose here is not to analyse all facets of the workings of
IRRI but rather to deal with those pertaining to a focus on small and
The question of whether the ecosystem approach will consider
targeting of research to the poor is valid. At BRRI there have recently been
three collaborative research projects with IRRI that have had a systems
approach. These have been the IFAD funded 'Rainfed Project', the 'Rainfed
Lowland Consortia' and the 'Rice-Wheat Project'. The projects have been
recent and do represent a new level of joint endeavour. However, to date
the projects have yet to develop' ... a strong socio-economic focus to
complement technology development'
17
. In recent years there was a shift to
a client focus in the on-farm research of the Farming Systems Division at
BRRI18 but as the collaborative projects develop:
15
Ravnborg. 1992. 'The CGIAR in Transition: Implications for the Poor: 55.
16
Ravnborg. 1992. 'The CGIAR in Transition: Implications for the Poor: 56.
17
Noel P. Magor. 1992. 'End of Contract Report, Farming Systems Specialist,
1985-91: BRRI/IRRI Project Rice Research and Training Phase III, US A.I.D. Project No.
388-005103; CIDA Project No. 170/08004, IRRI, Los Banos, Philippines, 4. Photocopied.
18
Magor. 1992. 'End of Contract Report,' 3.
392
It should not be assumed that the client focus is a lasting shift in
research approach .... I am concerned that the platform of client
focus and the whole-farm emphasis may be lost unless the institute
seeks to rectify this shortfall in present approach.
19
The goal for IRRI is:
Improved well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers
and consumers, particularly those with low incomes.
20
In the goal statement there is an expression of priority for those with low
incomes. Low income families are the landless urban and rural population,
and small and marginal farm families. However, in reading the strategy
statement there is no indication of any focus that will ensure the low
income groups 'particularly' benefit from the increased rice production
efficiency and from research in more marginal environments. There is no
other indication of how low income groups will benefit. The document goes
on to say in discussion on efficiency and equity:
An international center has limited ability to address equity concerns
at the second level (ie., the distribution of benefits from initial
research investment choices). Much depends on public policies on
prices, agrarian structure, credit and education; on national research
and extension capabilities; and on the character of the local farms
and farmers. However, by basing research programs on better
knowledge of and contact with groups of target users and
beneficiaries, the results will be more closely tailored to their needs.
21
The statement appears reasonable but it negates consideration of
placing technology within an 'historically defined political, economic,
agroclimatic and institutional context' as advocated by Biggs.
22

There is a crucial reason why centres like IRRI should complement the
narrow reductionist research approach with a greater attention to the
political and economic context. The cultures of national research systems
19
Magar. 1992. 'End of Contract Report: 4.
20
IRRI. 1989. IRRI Toward 2000 and Beyond, IRRI, Los Banos, Philippines, 13.
21
IRRI. 1989. IRRI Toward 2000 and Beyond, 21.
22
393
through centre collaboration are influenced by the modus operandi of the
centres. There is a mutual interdependence. However, the very unequal
power conferred by resources has given the centres a dominant position.
Resources can be wasted by not heeding the political and economic
context. For example, the 'Prosperity through Rice Project' operated
through the elite dominated KSS groups, when in fact its target group were
given as small and marginal farmers.
23
A knowledge of the reality of BRDB
would have indicated the inappropriateness of such an organisation for the
programme vehicle. Preference would instead have been given to groups
like BRAC, Proshika or the Grameen Bank. The approach of IRRI with BRRI
in the Prosperity through Rice Project may be contrasted with that of
ICLARM (International Centre for Living Aquatic Resource Management)
with the Fisheries Research Institute (FRI) in Bangladesh in which poor
women, through a direct link with BRAC, were the focus of the technology
for fish pond culture.
24
By

ignoring the issue of institutional context, the

limited focus of IRRI had missed a significant opportunity and it thereby
denied the poor in its very effort to help them.
The culture of the international centres must change to make the
needs of small and marginal farm families a priority. Given the nature of the
goals of the centres, all personnel should be saturated with a focus on the
rural landless and small and marginal farm families. The conscietisation of all
scientific staff to rural landless, urban slums and small and marginal farm
23
M. Abul Quasem and others. 1989. 'Half-Yearly Project Report, Jan. - June
1989,' Prosperity Through Rice Project Phase II, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh, Aug. 1989.
24
M.V. Gupta. 1992. 'Aquaculture for Small Farmers: A Technology Development
and Dissemination Strategy,' in Reducing Small Farmer in Bangladesh: Proceedings of the
BRRI Workshop, Dhaka Bangladesh, May 30-31, 1992. 120-127; M.V. Gupta and others.
1992. Socioeconomic Impact and Farmers' Assessment of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis
niloticusl Culture in Bangladesh. ICLARM, Manila Philippines. Technical Report 35; M. V.
Gupta and M.S. Shah. 1992. NGO Linkages in Developing Aquaculture as a Sustainable
Farming Activity - A Case Study from Bangladesh. Paper presented at the Asian Farming
Systems Symposium - 1992, 'Sustainable Agriculture: Meeting the Challenge Today', Nov.
2-5, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Photocopied.
394
families is a prerequisite; a benefit will be the increase in the number of
players that may contribute fresh approaches.
Linkages to Local Networks and Organisations
Incorporating an institutional context into R&D has been resisted in
the past. It is worthwhile tracing the argument by Tripp and Woolley in The
Planning Stage of On Farm Research: Identifying Factors for
Experimentation.
25
Their argument is more or less representative of many
practitioners in Farming Systems Research.
26
In the diagnosis
... the fact that productivity could be improved is evidence of a
problem, which should be described in terms of a biological limiting
factor or inefficient resource use.
27
Examples of biological limiting factors are' ... nitrogen deficiency in maize,
drought stress in maize at ear filling and low plant population in beans
'28

and of inefficient resource use are' ... the use of basal potassium and
phosphorus with no evidence of response, [and] farmers leaving most of
their land idle during the minor rainy season' .
29

The process of problem definition with the listing of causes has been
developed to the exclusion of institutions and infrastructure. Such is the
classic position of experimentation development and it is here that the
approach errs.
Factors related to institutions and infrastructure are often mentioned
as problems but do not really qualify. Diagnosis in on-farm research
often reveals institutional inadequacies- poorly developed markets,
low crop prices, lack of extension or credit, bad roads, and so forth.
Such factors are undeniably important elements of the farmer's
25
R. Tripp and J. Woolley. 1989. The Planning Stage of On-farm Research:
Identifying Factors for Experimentation, Mexico, D.F. and Cali, Columbia: CYMMIT and
CIAT.
26
Robert Tripp. ed. 1991. Planned Change in Farming Systems: Progress in On-
farm Research (New York: John Wiley and Sons).
27
Tripp and Woolley. 1989. The Planning Stage of On-farm Research, 8.
28
Tripp and Woolley. 1989. The Planning Stage of On-farm Research, 22-23.
29
Tripp and Woolley. 1989. The Planning Stage of On-farm Research, 19.
395
environment and should be included in a description of the research
area, but they do not qualify as problems in the context of planning
an on-farm experimental program. [emphasis added]
30

The consequences of the narrow view can inevitably frustrate the
actual development of technology. For example, the next generation of
research challenges in irrigation, like rice-fish in the winter season, has an
organisational component. In ten years of collaborative research between
BRRI, IRRI and BWDB in the North Bangladesh Tubewell Project the question
of rice-fish did not arise.
31
And yet, in comparison, the NGO CARE
pioneered field research in rice-fish as their programmes encompassed
organisational and social factors. CARE's definition of technology was
within the broader framework of an enterprise matrix.
32
By addressing an
organisational issue, a new set of component experiments had emerged.
The case study for Sreepur emphasised a black-hole in the R&D
process: a lack of linkages to local networks and organisations. It is a
weakness repeated again and again in R&D. In the US A.I.D. review on
FSR/E:
FSR/E practitioners often have failed to address institutional
constraints to adoption of the technologies being developed.
33

The omission clearly contrasts with the poultry model developed by BRAC
(chapter 5). The development of the organisational network around the
target group ensured the successful adoption of the poultry technology.
30
Tripp and Woolley. 1989. The Planning Stage of On-farm Research, 19-20.
31
with IRRI.
32 Noel P. Magor. 1991. 'Trip Report no. 4: Mirzapur Apr. 30 - May 01, 1991,' in
Quarterly Report (Apr. - June) BRRI/IRRI Project Rice Research and Training Phase III, US
A.I.D. Project No. 388-005103; CIDA Project No. 170/08004, Attachment I, Appendix 3,
2.
33
US A.I.D. 1989. 'FSR/E Projects 1975-1987,' 5.
396
The final catalyst for reducing vulnerability and allowing the resilience
of small and marginal farm families to come to the fore is organisational and
structural. I draw attention first to the state which can set the structure and
policy in place, and then to NGOs in a proposed new role of acceptable and
sustainable plurality.
The Proactive State
Before beginning discussion on a proactive state, there is a policy
direction that must be resisted. Two findings concerning small and marginal
farm families are subject to abuse in the hands of policy makers and donors.
Firstly, it is now well accepted that small and marginal farm families use
more inputs per unit area and get higher yields per unit area. Secondly, this
study shows a group of active small and marginal farm families who are
incrementally increasing their landholdings. A policy adviser may deduce, if
these two statements are taken in isolation, that equity is not an issue and
that any programme for accelerated agricultural growth must surely benefit
small and marginal farm families.
34
Such a conclusion represents a partial
and distorted truth. The backdrop is that roughly 20 percent of small and
marginal farm families have experienced rapid loss of land in the present
generation. A further backdrop has been the domination of BROB
cooperatives, agricultural credit programmes, the OAE contact farmer
programme and BWOB irrigation schemes by the rural political and economic
elite. To opt for more of the same represents a passive acceptance of
34
UNDP. 1990. BGD/045/PD/PAC - Upazila Technology Generation and Transfer
Under the Accelerated Cereals Production Programme, UNDP, Hse. 60, Road 11 A,
Dhanmondi, GPO Box 224, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 5. Photocopied. A major criticism I had of
the programme was the misuse of the finding of higher production of small and marginal
farm families and with that a neglect of equity issues. See Noel P. Magor. 1990. 'Letter
(June 3, 1990) to Dr S.M.H. Zaman, Member Planning Commission, Dhaka, Appendix 2
Quarterly Report (Apr.-Jun., 1990) . In BRRI-IRRI. 1990. Quarterly Report (Apr .-- Jun.),
BRRI/IRRI Project Rice Research and Training Phase III, IRRI Dhaka Office, Bangladesh.
Attachment I. Photocopied.
continued slow growth and the continual dispossession of marginal farm
families.
397
The research findings in this study suggest the state does not have to
accept the scenario of slow growth and continual dispossession. There are
three areas in which the state can playa very important role. These are
essential maintenance programmes, facilitating the development of
infrastructure and proactive initiatives for small and marginal farm families.
In the latter is the promotion of pluralism, the revamping of BRDB and
facilitating a long-term position for NGOs. The active role of the state in
restructuring R&D to reflect the centrality of small and marginal farm
families has already been covered earlier in this chapter.
A Safety Net
At the maintenance level, the safety nets of Food for Work and Open
Market Selling programmes in times of disaster or exceptionally high
commodity prices must continue. This is the lowest level of welfare that
ensures survival of the poorest and reduces pressure for the sale of capital
assets of vulnerable farm families in times of extreme need. Environmental
disasters are a regular feature of the landscape of rural Bangladesh and
contingencies must be in place.
Rural Industrialisation and Infrastructure Development
The importance of non-farm income in providing stability for marginal
farm families was overwhelming. Income diversification outside the farm is a
reality. In addition, the study showed that stability of marginal farm families
was higher in more developed sites. Good infrastructure development
coupled with a sound policy for rural industrialisation are areas for state
attention that can have a direct flow onto increasing overall stability.
398
Pluralism
Perhaps the concept that I have found most difficult to come grips
with is that the state has limitations in addressing economic development
for small and marginal farm families. It is a limitation that development
writers tend to sidestep and appear to lack the courage to confront. At the
rural level the political leadership by its very nature represents the interests
of local power-brokers. The state sector is an extension of the rural rich.
Rahman in his study on 'Peasants and Classes' demonstrates the infiltration
of the rural power structure into each state service department.
35
Efforts at
targeting by the state in the formation of landless cooperatives within BRDB
and the experiment of the Small Farmer Development Programme were not
able to exclude the influence of the powerful as local brokers. It is for this
reason I suggested that the proposed Small Farmer Development Bank was
doomed to fail due to the presence of traditional power-brokers at the
decision making level in the upazila. State delivery monopolies actually
expand the power-base of the local elite. The state must accept that the
present rural power structure negates or limits the potential impact of many
of its development programmes.
The state must seek to legitimise alternative service delivery agencies
and promote competition amongst those agencies. Of course it can be
argued that those agencies do not exist and that competition in delivery is
paramount to duplication of limited resources. The alternative is the
acceptance of an ever expanding control of services by the rural powerful
and with that their ill-discipline and abuse of resources. Examples of
alternatives already exist: the network for the production and delivery of the
treadle pump and the BRAC poultry model for destitute women. The
35
Atiur Rahman. 1986. Peasants and Classes: A Study in Differentiation in
Bangladesh (Dhaka: University Press Limited), 196-251.
399
alternatives may be local, regional or national as in the case of the recently
formed BRAC bank.
Encouraging pluralism leads to the final area of discussion on the
future role of NGOs. However, before doing so it is also necessary to
consider the BROB which also plays a critical role.
Revamping BROB
The restructuring of R&O and the development of a business
department will facilitate a greater interaction between the regional research
centres, the OAE and the cooperatives of BROB. Twenty-five to 30 per cent
of UCCAs and primary cooperatives are grade A. There is the potential
within the UCCAs and primary cooperatives for the emergence of strong
grassroots organisations. A prerequisite is a strong emphasis on both high
levels of loan recovery and capital accumulation. With that is the necessity
to remove any unfair competitive advantages that may exist in the market-
place in access to subsidised fertiliser or irrigation pumps or inability to
secure commercial licences for fertiliser and so on.
NGOs at the Crossroads
The examples of NGOs in chapter 7 invariably focused on landless
and very marginal farm families to the neglect of small and marginal farm
families. However, this study clearly shows the vulnerability of this group.
At the present time NGOs are the only avenue open to the state that offers
a very real alternative to their monopoly of rural development. In the quest
for pluralism the state needs to encourage both the continuation of some
existing and the emergence of new organisations that focus on small and
marginal farm families. The eight points of perceived wisdom that have been
found as keys to success in organisations like BRAC and Proshika - of
empowerment, targeting, plurality, credit discipline, capital formation,
400
continual innovation, institutional enabling and entrepreneurialism - can be
the guiding principles for the new initiatives.
I mention that NGOs are at a crossroads. Hitherto the overall
philosophy has been one of complementing state services and empowering
the vulnerable to demand such services. Their role has been seen as short-
term. In more recent times the larger and more effective NGOs have entered
into joint ventures with the state in the provision of services. Their role has
been one of supporting a single service delivery philosophy. In the long-term
it may strengthen the hand of vulnerable families in demanding services but
it does not provide the essential pluralism. However, in the need for
pluralism NGOs need to take a long-view. BRAC has done this with the
formation of the BRAC bank, a long-term structure that competes with and
sharpens the activities of the Grameen Bank. The agencies that emerge for
small and marginal farm families will almost certainly be the forerunners to
agricultural business entities . It is quite possible that a number of
progressive grassroots indigenous organisations may emerge to contribute
to greater choice at the village level.
It is an unexplored area; but given the need for pluralism in
organisational opportunity at the village and upazila level, it is a direction
that must be recognised as legitimate.
The Whole is Greater Than its Parts
Can the resilience of small and marginal farm families be released?
The evidence in the success of agencies like BRAC and the Grameen Bank
in their activities with landless families, particularly women, suggests that it
can. The opportunity is in the whole: a shift in state policy to promote
plurality, a redefinition of technology and with that a restructuring of R&D,
and the creation of new organisations which have a focus on letting loose
the resilience of small and marginal farm families . With marginal and small
401
farm families at the centre and with the complementing structural shifts I
envisage a synergy that contributes to both a reduction in vulnerability and
more than expected agricultural growth. The whole is greater than its parts.
APPENDIX 1
MOBILITY MATRICES BY LANDHOLDING GROUP
Table 36. Mobility matrix showing shift from inheritance until present
(1990) in landholding group for eight sites across five
ecosystems, Bangladesh
Now (1990)
group landless marginal small medium large TOTAL
landless 366 85 24 26 3 504
At marginal 78 208 37 29 4 356 upward
inheritance small 10 37 46 28 2 123 21 .5%
medium 4 16 26 112 12 170
large 0 1 0 3 5 9
TOTAL 458 347 133 198 26 no change
63.4%
downward 15.1 %
402
403
(1990) in landholding group for Kamalganj site, Bangladesh
Now (1990)
landless 60 20 1 0 82
inheritance small 2 8 10 4 0 24 20.9%
medium 0 1 6 13 0 20
large 0 0 0 1 2
TOTAL 76 57 21 25 3 no change
61.5%
downward 17.6%
(1990) in landholding group for Sitakundu site, Bangladesh
Now (1990)
landless 82 6 4 4 0 96
medium 0 2 2 15 1 20
large 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 87 59 19 21 no change
79.1 %
downward 9.6%
404
(1991) in landholding group for Sreepur site, Bangladesh
Now (1991 )
landless 39 10 5 2 0 56
medium 1 1 1 20 3 29
large 0 0 0 0 2 2
64.5%
downward 7.6%
(1991) in landholding group for Char Matua, Bangladesh
Now (1991 )
landless 50 17 8 14 1 90
inheritance small 1 2 4 4 0 11 31 .2%
medium 0 2 4 19 1 26
large 0 0 1 0 2
54.5%
downward 14.2%
405
(1991) in landholding group for Mirzapur site, Bangladesh
Now (1991 )
landless 32 5 0 0 0 37
inheritance small 2 4 2 2 0 10 11 .2 %
medium 1 4 2 12 1 20
large 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 47 37 8 14 no change
65.4%
downward 23.4%
(1991) in landholding group for Sariatpur site, Bangladesh
Now (1991)
landless 54 10 2 2 0 68
medium 2 5 6 13 2 28
large 0 0 0 1 2 3
58.8%
downward 23.2 %
406
(1991) in landholding group for Thakurgaon site, Bangladesh
Now (1991 )
landless 34 14 1 2 1 52
medium 0 0 3 18 3 24
large 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 .0%
downward 12.4%
(1991) in landholding group for Boda site, Bangladesh
Now (1991 )
landless 15 3 3 1 1 23
medium 0 1 2 2 1 6
large 0 0 0 0 0 0
58.1 %
downward 12.9%
Table 45.
APPENDIX 2
LIST WITH REFERENCE SOURCES FOR ENTERPRISES
ANALYSED BY SITE AND ECOSYSTEM
Farm enterprises used in whole-farm plans for rainfed lowland
favourable rice ecosystem, Kamalganj site, Bangladesh
Name of Enterprise Enterrrise
code
Researcher Developed recommended two rice system 1064
Innovative farmer cauliflower + sweet pumpkin + bushbean 1020
practices + kholrabi + pushto
Existing practices
Non-farm
cauliflower + bush bean + pumpkin + radish
modon kochu (Colocasia sp.)
watermelon (Empire II and Glory)
existing two rice system
improved two rice system
1021
1015
1022
1060
1061
kitchen mixed vegetable garden 1028
local potato + bushbean with minor vegetables 1027
2 cows for ploughing 1025
chicken rearing - 6 pullets 1023
shaded fish pond 1024
ginger 1017
tomato 1018
off-farm work 1056
Credit existing dadan loan 1067
bank credit at 1 6 per cent 1 068
1 All enterprises used in FARMACTION are given a code identifier.
407
408
Table 46. Farm enterprises used in whole-farm plans for rainfed lowland
favourable rice ecosystem, Sitakundu site, Bangladesh
Name of Enterprise
Researcher Developed recommended two rice system
Innovative farmer country bean cultivation, 100 pits
practices
Existing practices
Non-farm
cattle fattening for small farmer
existing two rice system
improved two rice system
tomato, long fruit
watermelon (Glory and Tobi Taiwanese
varieties)
chilli, unknown variety
mushar;
keshar;
kala;
homestead coconut, 5 trees
pigeon pair
chickens, 3-4 hens
palong sag (Indian spinach)
off-farm work
Enterrrise
code
1065
1066
1043
1062
1063
1029
1031
1032
1034
1035
1036
1041
1039
1040
1033
1055
409
Table 47. Farm enterprises used in whole-farm plans for upland dissected
partially irrigated environment, Sreepur site, Bangladesh
Research and
Extension initiated
Existing
Name of Enterprise
banana cultivation
Enterrrise
code
1010
banana ratoon 1011
improved black bengal goat rearing 1 053
khaki campbell ducks (4 female and 1 male) 1054
sugarcane variety Misrimala
sugarcane variety Misrimala ratoon
direct seeded aus rice (variety Kalosaita)
rainfed two rice system on byde land (lowland)
irrigated bora rice on byde land
transplanted aman rice after irrigated bora rice
jackfruit 10 bearing and 3-4 seedlings
blackgram
ginger cultivation
turmeric cultivation
kochu mukhi (Colocasia) cultivation
eggplant (variety Singha)
ducks (1 male and 7 female)
poultry (2 hens and 5 pullets)
cattle ploughing pair
goat rearing (1 female and 3 castrated kids)
goat rearing (3 female and kids)
1001
1007
1006
1059
1057
1058
1008
1009
1071
1072
1073
1005
1002
1003
1004
1013
1012
All enterprises used in FARMACTION are given a code identifier.
410
Table 48. Farm and non farm enterprises available for whole-farm
planning for coastal saline ecosystem, Char Matua, Bangladesh
Name of Enterprise 1
Researcher rice: BR23, transplanted aman variety on Hatya Soil Series

code
2006
Developed
Extension
initiated
sweet potato: improved variety Tripti
Nilotica monoculture
vegetable around homestead
cauliflower
cabbage
tomato
/a/ sak
bitter gourd
radish Mino early
country bean Bata variety
egg plant
2008
2020
2021
2023
2022
2026
2024
2025
2027
2028
Existing Rice: dibbled aus variety Boilam (or Kerandal) 2001
broadcast aus variety Haidda 2002
transplanted aman variety Rajasail on Ramgoti Soil Series 2003
transplanted aman variety Kartiksail on Ramgoti Soil Series 2004
transplanted aman variety Kajasail on Hatya Soil Series 2005
chilli local variety 2009
sweet potato local variety 2007
mungbean 2010
cowpea 2011
keshari relayed 2012
blackgram relayed 2013
cattail reed (hoog/a) cultivation 2014
cattail reed (hoog/a) mat making 2015
local goat rearing 2016
breeding buck for goats 2017
dual purpose draft/milking cow (two cows and calf) 2018
traditional fish culture (trap and hold) 2019
1 Timing, input/output, labour and pricing data for enterprises prepared by MCC.
2 All enterprises used in FARMACTION are given a code identifier .
Table 49.
Researcher
Developed
Existing
Farm enterprises used in whole-farm plans deepwater
ecosystem, Mirzapur site, Bangladesh
Name of Enterprise
1
bora rice HYV short duration BR 14
transplanted deepwater rice
irrigated bora rice HYV existing variety IR8
irrigated bora rice variety Pajam
broadcast deepwater aman rice
broadcast deepwater aman rice following bora
mixed aus + aman rice
jute
wheat HYV not irrigated
wheat HYV irrigated DTW
wheat HYV manually irrigated
potato HYV irrigated
potato HYV manually irrigated
mustard local variety Tori 7
mustard HYV SS75 residual and rainfed
mustard HYV SS75 irrigated DTW
mustard HYV SS75 rower pump irrigated
khesari local variety
lentil local variety
lentil local variety supplementary manual irrigated
onion local variety
Enterpris
e code
3
3034
3008
3002
3006
3003
3005
3004
3001
3012
3017
3028
3016
3027
3019
3014
3015
3026
3018
3020
3029
3022
Credit
2
udhari borga advance for bora sharecropping 3031
udhari borga advance for jute sharecropping 3032
udhari borga advance for mustard sharecropping 3033
411
Database for individual enterprises from Deepwater Rice Project Phase II (BRRI-ULG
Consultants Ltd. (under assignment by ODA)). Original computerised data set in Lotus 123
format. I developed in format for FARMACTION.
2 Field information for udhari borga prepared by Alastair Orr.
3 All enterprises used in FARMACTION are given a code identifier .
Table 50.
Existing
Non-farm
Credit
412
Farm and non farm enterprises available for whole-farm
planning for deepwater ecosystem, Sariatpur site, Bangladesh
Name of Enterprise
irrigated boro rice
irrigated boro rice without plough
broadcast deepwater aman rice
broadcast deepwater aman rice following boro
mixed aus + aman rice
transplanted deepwater rice
broadcast aus
jute (boghl)
jute (SUtl)
jute (boghl) without plough
mesta
mesta without plough
mixed jute + aman
wheat (sonali)
mustard sada
mustard maghi
mustard sada without plough
khesari local variety
lentil local variety
kala;
kejur gur
non-farm work RPA 3-5 months
non-farm work RPA 6-8 months
dadan loan for irrigated boro rice
bank credit for irrigated boro rice at 16 per
cent
Enterrrise
code
3051
3052
3060
3059
3066
3062
3061
3063
3064
3078
3065
3079
3067
3055
3054
3053
3077
3057
3056
3058
3069
3074
3076
3075
3080
All enterprises used in FARMACTION are given a code identifier.
413
Table 51. Farm enterprises used in whole-farm plans for irrigated lowland
favourable, Thakurgaon and Boda sites, Bangladesh
Research and
Extension initiated
Existing
Name of Enterprise
mungbean (variety Mubarik)
deep tubewell aus rice (irrigated)
treadle pump bora rice (irrigated)
treadle pump aus rice (irrigated)
treadle pump aman rice (irrigated)
Kalikapur home vegetable system
direct seeded aus rice
rainfed local aman rice
rainfed modern aman rice
deep tubewell bora rice (irrigated)
deep tubewell aman rice (irrigated)
rainfed wheat
irrigated wheat
sugarcane
blackgram cultivation
local chilli production
local jute production
local kochu (Colocasia sp.)
local turmeric cultivation
sesame
potato cultivation
mustard local variety
Credit dadan loan (Thakurgaon) for aman rice
dadan loan (Boda) for aman rice
EntertiSe
code
4024
4022
4009
4025
4026
4021
4001
4010
4011
4012
4017
4002
4016
4003
4004
4005
4006
4007
4008
4013
4020
4023
4018
4019
414
Reference sources for Kamalganj farm planning data
Recommended two rice system (1064) Timing from database for impact study (Kamalganj
site) conducted by BRRI Rice Farming Systems Division and Economic
Division 1989-91 . Labour from M.R. Siddiqui and others. 1991 . 'Farming
Systems Research and Its Impact on Farm Families in Two Selected Sites
of Bangladesh,' paper presented at the Workshop on Impact of Farming
Systems Research, Dec. 9-13, 1991 at Kandey, Sri Lanka, tables 7, 9
and 10. Photocopied. Input as per BRRI recommendation and yield from
BRRI-DAE Multi-location Testing Programme.
Existing two rice system (1060) Timing from database for impact study conducted by BRRI
Rice Farming Systems Division and Economic Division 1989-91. Input,
output and labour from Siddiqui. 1991 . 'Farming Systems Research and
Its Impact on Farm Families,' tables 7, 9 and 10. Production level at low
adoption level.
Improved two rice system (1061) Timing from database for impact study conducted by
BRRI Rice Farming Systems Division and Economic Division 1989-91.
Input, output and labour from Siddiqui. 1991. 'Farming Systems Research
and Its Impact on Farm Families,' 34 and tables 7 and 9. Production level
at mean of low, medium and high adoption level.
Cauliflower + sweet pumpkin + bushbean + kholrabi + pushta (Jadabh Singh vegetable
system) (1020) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Cauliflower + bushbean + pumpkin + radish (modified Jadabh Singh system developed by
Kutu) (1021) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Madan kachu (Colocasia) (101 5) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Watermelon (Empire II and Glory) (1022) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Kitchen mixed vegetable garden (1028) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Local potato + bushbean with minor vegetables (1027) Timing, labour and input/output as
per case study.
Two cows for ploughing (1025) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Chicken rearing - 6 pullets, 1023 Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Shaded fish pond (1024) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Ginger (1017) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Tomato (1018) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Existing dadan loan (1067) Timing as per season for aman rice and input/output based on
Credit Survey.
Non-farm income (1056) From database for impact study (Kamalganj site) conducted by
Bank credit at 16 per cent (1068) Amount based on enterprise 1067.
415
Reference sources for Sitakundu farm planning data
Recommended two rice system (1065) Timing from database for impact study (Sitakundu
site) conducted by BRRI Rice Farming Systems Division and Economic
Division 1989-91. Labour from Siddiqui. 1991. 'Farming Systems
Research and Its Impact on Farm Families,' tables 7, 9 and 10. Input as
per BRRI recommendation and yield from BRRI-DAE Multi-location Testing
Programme.
Existing two rice system (1062) Timing from database for impact study conducted by BRRI
Rice Farming Systems Division and Economic Division 1989-91. Input,
output and labour from Siddiqui. 1991. 'Farming Systems Research and
Its Impact on Farm Families,' tables 7, 9 and 10. Production level at low
adoption level.
Improved two rice system (1063) Timing from database for impact study conducted by
BRRI Rice Farming Systems Division and Economic Division 1989-91 ..
Input, output and labour from Siddiqui. 1991. 'Farming Systems Research
and Its Impact on Farm Families,' 34 table 7 and 9. Production level at
mean of low, medium and high adoption level.
Country bean cultivation, 100 pits (1066) Timing, labour and input/output special study by
BRRI Rice Farming Systems Division 1991.
Cattle fattening for small farmer (1043) ) Timing, labour and input/output from field survey
1991.
Tomato, long fruit (1029) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Watermelon (Glory and Tobi Taiwanese varieties) (1031) Timing, labour and input/output as
per case studies.
Chilli, unknown variety (1032) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Mushar; (lentil) (1034) Timing, labour and input/output as per case studies.
Keshar; (grass pea or Lathyrus sativa) (1035) Timing, labour and input/output as per case
studies.
Kalai (blackgram) (1036) Timing, labour and input/output as per case studies.
Homestead coconut, 5 trees (1041) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Pigeon pair (1039) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Chickens, 3-4 hens (1040) Timing, labour and input/output as per case study.
Palong sag (Indian spinach) (1033) Timing, labour and input/output as per case studies.
Non-farm income (1055) From database for impact study (Sitakundu site) conducted by
416
Reference sources for Sreepur farm planning data
Sugarcane variety Misrimala (1001) Timing, labour and input/output as per case studies in
1989.
Ducks (1 male and 7 female) (1002) Timing, labour and input/output as per case studies in
1989.
Poultry (2 hens and 5 pullets) (1003) Timing, labour and input/output as per case studies in
1989.
Cattle (1004) Timing, labour and input/output as per case studies in 1989.
Eggplant variety Singhat (1005) Timing, labour and input/output as per case studies in
1989.
Direct seeded aus rice (Revised July 1993) (1006 ) Timing BRRI. 1988. 'Rice Farming
Systems Division, BRRI Internal Review,' BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh,
Appendix A4; and BRRI. 1986 'Rice Cropping Systems Division, BRRI
Internal Review,' figure 3; labour Md Rezaul Karim and S.M. Elias. 1986.
Economic Profitability of Major Crops in Bangladesh, Agricultural
Economics Division, BARI, Gazipur, 9; and input/output BRRI. 1988. 'Rice
Farming Systems Division, BRRI Internal Review,' Appendix A4 and table
23.
Sugarcane variety Misrimala ratoon (1007) Timing, labour and input/output as per case
studies in 1989.
Jackfruit (10 bearing and 3-4 seedlings) (1008) Timing, labour and input/output as per case
studies in 1 989.
Blackgram (1009) Timing as per survey 1991; labour Karim. 1986. Economic Profitability of
Major Crops in Bangladesh, 15; and input/output N.U. Ahmed, N.P.
Magor and N.I. Miah. 1989. 'Report on BRRl's FSR Site at Sreepur,'
paper presented in the National Workshop on Achievements of Farming
Systems Research in Bangladesh, BARC, Farm Gate, Sept. 11-13, 1989,
24 table 11.
Banana cultivation (1010) Timing based on field survey 1991 and Md Bazlur Rahman and
Md Harun-Ar-Rashid. 1989. Banana Production Manual, Tangail
Agricultural Development Project with BRDB and Deutsche Gesellschaft
Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, 13 (recommendations); 57
(labour); 18 (input/output).
Banana ratoon (1011) Timing based on field survey 1991; and recommendations as per
bulletin for 1010; labour as per 1010, 58; and input/output as per bulletin
for 1010, 53.
Goats 3 female and kids (1012) Timing, labour and input/output as per case studies in
1989.
Goats 1 female and 3 castrated goats (1013) Timing, labour and input/output as per case
studies in 1989.
Chickens 2 hens and 3 male and 1 female pullet (1014) Timing, labour and input/output as
per case studies in 1989.
417
Improved Black Bengal goat rearing (1053) Timing and labour based on case studies for
Sreepur; and feeding and production as per recommendations of Savar
Service Centre
Khaki Campbell ducks (1 male and 4 female) (1054) estimates based on Sreepur case
studies and expected output of following recommendations of Savar
Service Centre.
Irrigated bora rice on byde land (Revised July, 1993) (1057) Timing Ahmed. 1989. 'Report
on BRRl's FSR Site at Sreepur: table 13; labour and input/output IDA
Deep-tubewell II. 1990. Report of the 1988/89 Annual Monitoring
Survey, Project Working Paper no. 52, Mott Macdonald International
Limited under assignment by Overseas Development Administration
United Kingdom, Appendix table A4.5 for Dhaka District.
T.Aman following bora on byde land (Revised July 1993) (1058) Timing as per ex_code
1057; labour M.M. Hossain, M.E. Harun, A.U. Ahmed. and Toweed, S.M.
1981. Transplanted Aman Paddy Cultivation Practices Costs and Returns
in Thakurgaon Tubewell Project Area 1980-81, Division of Agricultural
Economics, BRRI in cooperation with BWDB and US A.I.D. Mission to
Bangladesh, Publication no 52, 16; and input/output Ahmed. 1989.
'Report on BRRl's FSR Site at Sreepur,' table 13 for inputs and table 12
for yields.
Rainfed two rice system (Revised July 1993) (1059) Timing BRRI. 1985.'Rice Cropping
Systems Division, BRRI Internal Review: table 40. and Elahi, N.E.,
Quddus, A., Akanda, R.U., Naseem, S.B., Khan, A.H., Karim, S.M.R.,
Bhuiyan, A.M., Alam, M., Faruque, A.K.M., Alam, S., and Magor, N.P.
1985. 'The Preproduction Phase - The Collaborative Experience of the
Directorate of Agriculture Extension and the Bangladesh Rice Research
Institute in Technology Verification, Refinement and Transfer,' in
Proceedings 16th Asian Rice Farming Systems Working Group Meeting
sponsored by BRRI and IRRI, Nov 9-13, 1985, Dhaka, Bangladesh, 372-
392. fig. 3; labour as for existing rainfed lowland two rice system for
Sitakundu (1062); and input/output Joynal Abedin, M.A. Quasem, S.M.
Rezaul Karim, M.A. Razzaque, A.K.M. Anwarul Haque and K. Azharul
Haq. 1987. 'Benchmark Survey Report on Rice, Production, Post Harvest
Technology and Bio-Mass Utilisation, Prosperity Through Rice Phase 2
Project BRRI,' in 1987 Annual Report Research Demonstration and
Training on Rice Production, Post Harvest Technology and Biomass
Utilisation-Phase 2, IRRI, Philippines. Appendix 5, table 8.
Ginger cultivation (1071) Timing from survey 1991; labour based on total labour estimates
from Rahman. 1989. Banana Production Manual, 62-63. (The amount of
labour for each operation was approximate as only total animal power and
labour available.); and input/output for seed rate Rezaul Karim. 1986.
Economic Profitability of Major Crops in Bangladesh, 26. and for yield
Rahman. 1989. Banana Production Manual, 62-63.
Turmeric cultivation (1072) Timing from survey 1991; labour as per 1071; and
input/output seed rate from 4007; and production Rahman. 1989. Banana
Production Manual, 62-63.
Kachu mukhi (Colocasia sp.) (1073) Timing from survey 1991; labour as per 1071; and
input/output seed rate from 4008; and production Rahman. 1989. Banana
Production Manual, 62-63.
418
Reference sources for Sariatpur farm planning data
Irrigated boro rice (3051) Timing field survey 1991; labour as per 3002; and input/output
field survey 1 991 .
Irrigated boro rice without plough (3052) Timing field survey 1991 ; labour as per 3002
excluding ploughing which done by contract; and input/output field
survey 1991.
Broadcast deepwater aman rice (3060) Timing field survey 1991; labour Ministry of
Agriculture and Forests. 1980. Economics of Broadcast Aman (Deepwater
Rice) Paddy Cultivation for Bangladesh: a Survey of the 1979-80 Crop
Season in Selected Areas of Bangladesh, Agro-economic Research
Section, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests; and input/output field survey
1991.
Broadcast deepwater aman rice following boro (3059) Timing field survey 1991 ; labour as
per 3060; and input/output field survey 1991.
Mixed aus + aman rice (3066) Timing field survey 1991; labour estimated from Ministry of
Agriculture and Forests. 1980. Economics of Broadcast Aman.
Transplanted deepwater rice (3062) Timing field survey 1991; labour as per 3008; and
input/output field survey 1991 .
Broadcast aus (3061) Timing field survey 1991; labour best estimate as per 3060; and
input/output field survey 1 991 .
Jute (boght) (3063) Timing f ield survey 1991; labour BJRI. 1990. Annual Report for 1989,
BJRI (Agriculture) Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, 1207, 228; and
input/output field survey 1991 .
Jute (suf,1 (3064) Timing field survey 1991; labour as per 3063; and input/output field
survey 1991 .
Jute (bogh/1 without plough (3078) as per 3063; labour excluding ploughing which done by
contract .
Mesta (Hibiscus sabdariffa) (3065) Timing field survey 1991; labour BJRI. 1990. Annual
Report for 1989, 236; and input/output field survey 1991 .
Mesta without plough (3079) as per 3065; labour excluding ploughing which done by
contract
Mixed jute + aman (3067) Timing field survey 1991; no labour data; and input/output field
survey 1991 .
Wheat (sonal!1 (3055) Timing field survey 1991; labour M. Zahidul Hoque, N.U. Ahmed and
Nur-E-Elahi . 1982. 'Recent Findings of Cropping Systems in Deepwater
Rice Areas,' in Proceedings of the 1981 International Deepwater Rice
Workshop, jointly sponsored by IRRI , Philippines and the Department of
Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives Thailand, 397; and
input/output field survey 1991.
Mustard sada (3054) Timing field survey 1991; labour Hoque. 1982. ' Cropping Systems in
Deepwater Rice Areas, ' 397; and input/output field survey 1991 .
419
Mustard maghi (3053) Timing field survey 1991; labour Hoque. 1982. 'Cropping Systems in
Deepwater Rice Areas,' 397; and input/output field survey 1991.
Mustard sada without plough (3077) Timing field survey 1991; labour Hoque. 1982.
'Cropping Systems in Deepwater Rice Areas,' 397 excluding ploughing
which done by contract; and input/output field survey 1991 .
Khesari local variety (3057) Timing field survey 1991; labour Karim. 1986. Economic
Profitability of Major Crops in Bangladesh, 13; and input/output field
survey 1991 .
Lentil local variety (3056) Timing field survey 1991; labour. 1986. Economic Profitability of
Major Crops in Bangladesh, 14; and input/output field survey 1991.
Kalai (blackgram) (3058) Timing field survey 1991; labour Karim. 1986. Economic
Profitability of Major Crops in Bangladesh, 15; and input/output field
survey 1 991 .
Kejur gur (Phoenix sylvestris)(3069) Timing, labour, input and output field survey 1991.
Non-farm work RPA 3-5 months (3074) field survey 1991 .
Non-farm work RPA 6-8 months (3076) field survey 1991.
Dadan loan for irrigated boro rice (3075) Timing as per season for boro rice and
input/output based on Credit Survey completed by Orr 1991.
Bank credit for irrigated boro rice at 16 per cent (3080) Amount based on enterprise 3075.
420
Reference sources for Thakurgaon and Boda farm planning data
Broadcast aus (4001) Timing field survey 1991; labour Karim. 1986. Economic Profitability
of Major Crops in Bangladesh, 9; and input/output field survey 1991.
Rainfed wheat (4002) Timing field survey 1991; labour M.M. Hossain, M.E. Harun, A.U.
Ahmed. and Toweed, S.M. 1982. Costs and Returns for Wheat
Cultivation in Thakurgaon Tubewell Project Area 1980-81, Division of
Agricultural Economics, BRRI in cooperation with BWDB and US A.I.D.
Mission to Bangladesh, 17. Photocopied; and input/output field survey
1991.
Sugarcane (4003) Timing field survey 1991; labour incomplete; and input/output field
survey 1991.
Chilli (4005) Timing field survey 1991; labour S.M. Elias and Md Ismail Hossain 1984. Chilli
Cultivation in Bangladesh: Agro-economic Survey and Constraints to its
Higher Production, Agricultural Economics Division, BARI AERR no. 9, 39;
and input/output field survey 1991.
Jute (4006) Timing field survey 1991; Based on 3064 for Sariatpur which was derived from
BJRI economic analysis; and input/output field survey 1991 .
Kochu (Colocasia sp.) (4007) Timing field survey 1991; labour based on total labour
estimates from Rahman. 1989. Banana Production Manual, 62-63. (The
amount of labour for each operation was approximate as only total animal
power and labour available.); and input/output field survey 1991.
Turmeric (4008) Timing field survey 1991; labour based on total labour estimates from
Rahman. 1989. Banana Production Manual, 62-63. (The amount of labour
for each operation was approximate as only total animal power and labour
available.); and input/output field survey 1991.
80ro treadle pump (4009) Timing field survey 1991; Irrigation labour from Alastair Orr,
A.S.M. Nazrul Islam and Gunnar Barnes. 1991. The Treadle Pump Manual
Irrigation for Small Farmers in Bangladesh, RDRS, GPO Box 618, Dhaka
1000, Bangladesh, 48-53 and for other operations IDA Deep-tubewell II.
1990. Report of the 1988/89 Annual Monitoring Survey, Project Working
Paper no. 52, Mott Macdonald International Limited under assignment by
Overseas Development Administration United Kingdom, Appendix table
A4.1; assumed all labour was family labour; and input/output field survey
1991.
Local aman (4010) Timing based on field experience and cross checked with field data for
Kamalganj; labour M.M. Hossain, M.E. Harun, A.U. Ahmed. and Toweed,
S.M. 1981 Transplanted Aman Paddy Cultivation Practices Costs and
Returns in Thakurgaon Tubewell Project Area 1980-81, Division of
Agricultural Economics, BRRI in cooperation with BWDB and US A.I.D.
Mission to Bangladesh, Publication no 52, 16; and input/output BRRI-IRRI-
BWDB. 1986. Third Progress Report: Applied Research for Increasing
Irrigation Effectiveness and Crop Production, BRRI, Gazipur, Bangladesh,
table 7, 1984 aman season.
421
Modern Aman (4011) Timing based on field experience and cross checked with field data
for Kamalganj; labour Hossain. 1981 Transplanted Aman Paddy
Cultivation Practices Costs and Returns in Thakurgaon Tubewell Project
Area 1980-81, 16; and input/output BRRI-IRRI-BWDB. 1986. Third
Progress Report : . . . Increasing Irrigation Effectiveness, table 7, 1984
aman season. Yield reduced to 4.00 t/ha to reflect rainfed conditions.
Boro irrigated DTW (4012) Timing as for treadle pump; labour IDA Deep-tubewell II. 1990.
1988/89 Annual Monitoring Survey, Appendix table A4.1; proportions of
hired to family labour adjusted to Thakurgaon based on: Hossain, M.E.
Harun, A.U. Ahmed. and Toweed, S.M. 1982 Costs and Returns for
Wheat Cultivation in Thakurgaon Tubewell Project Area 1980-81, 17; and
input/output BRRI-IRRI-BWDB. 1986. Third Progress Report.. Increasing
Irrigation Effectiveness, table 6, 1984 aus season. (Note aus and boro
seasons overlap for irrigation in the North-West).
Sesame (4013) Timing based on f ield estimation; labour assumed as for millet; and
input/output BRRI -IRRI -BWDB. 1986. Third Progress Report . . Increasing
Irrigation Effectiveness, table 5 and table 14. Seed rate from J.W.
Purseglove. 1974. Tropical Crops Dicotyledons (London: Longman), 430-
435.
Millet (4014) Timing based on field estimation; labour Karim. 1986. Economic Profitability of
Major Crops in Bangladesh, 8; and input/output BRRI-IRRI-BWDB. 1986.
Third Progress Report ... Increasing Irrigation Effectiveness, table 5 and
table 1 4 average.
Irrigated wheat (4016) Timing as for rainfed wheat; labour as per rainfed wheat except
added two irrigations; and input/output BRRI-IRRI-BWDB. 1986. Third
Progress Report .. : Increasing Irrigation Effectiveness, table 3, 1984
wheat season.
Irrigated aman (4017) Timing based on field experience and cross checked with field data
for Kamalganj; labour as per rainfed aman; and input/output BRRI-IRRI-
BWDB. 1986. Third Progress Report .. . Increasing Irrigation
Effectiveness, table 7, 1984 aman season.
Dadan loan (Thakurgaon) (4018) Timing as per season for aman rice and input/output based
on Credit Survey completed by Orr 1991 .
Dadan loan (Boda) (4019) Timing as per season for aman rice in 4018 and input/output
based on Credit Survey completed by Orr 1991 ..
Potato cultivation (4020) Timing, labour and input/output as per Mirzapur 3016.
Kalikapur Home Vegetable System (4021) Timing BARI. 1989. Accomplishments in Systems
Research, On-farm Research Division, BARI September 1989, 89; labour
assumed female family labour at 2 days per month; and input/output
Wajed Ali Shah, Rezaul Karim and Malik M.A. Karim. 1990. Economics of
Homestead Vegetable Farming Systems - Kalikapur Model , On-farm
Research Division Farming Systems Research, RARS, BARI, Ishurdi,
Pabna, 7-9 for output. DAE/BARI/BARC. 1992. Homestead Vegetables
Production Technology Transfer Project 1992-93, BARC, Dhaka, 9 for
living fence cost and 29 for fertiliser and seed kit input.
422
Mustard (variety Tori 7) (4022) Timing, labour and input/output with sowing date target
Nov. 15 as per 3053 and 3054 from Sariatpur based on the FSR research
at Dhaukhandi 1981 in Hoque. 1982. 'Recent Findings on Cropping
Systems in Deepwater Rice Areas,' 397; Effect of timing on yield for
Thakurgaon: S.M. Asaduzzaman. 1986. 'Effect of Seeding Time on Yield
of Mustard,' in Research Report on Kharif and Rabi, 1985-86, ed. Md
Badirul Islam, Md Shahjahan and S.M. Asaduzzaman On-farm Research
Division, BARI, Thakurgaon and presented at the Annual Internal Review
and Research Planning Workshop of OFRD held at BARI, Joydebpur,
Gazipur July 5-10, 1986, 36-39; for yield and estimated inputs Md Nazrul
Islam. 1991. 'Rice - Wheat Tradeoff in Irrigated Agriculture - Some
Experiences from North Bangladesh Tubewells (NBT) Project,
Thakurgaon,' in Irrigation Issues in Bangladesh Proceedings of the
Workshop held at RDA, Bogra, Mar. 11, 1991, ed. W.M.H. Jaim and R.L.
Sarker, 139-140.
Mungbean (variety Mubarik) (4023) Timing M.A. Mannaf, A.K. Qazi, M.B. Islam, and S.A.
Chowdhury and M.R. Karim. 1987. 'Performance of the Cropping Pattern
"Mungbean (Grain/Green Manure) - Transplanted Aman (Modern Variety) -
Wheat" in Gangachara - Bobarpara Highland Soil ,' in Research Report
Rabi, 1986-87 On-farm Research Division Region 1, BARI, Rangpur July
1987, table 1 a; labour Karim. 1986. Economic Profitability of Major
Crops in Bangladesh, 16; and input/output BARI. 1989. Accomplishments
in Systems Research, 33.
APPENDIX 3
SYSTEMS OF FARM FAMILIES WITH RICE PROVISION ABILITY
OF 3-5 AND 6-8 MONTHS
Figure 46.
Existing and potential farm plans for a marginal farm family
with a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months, compared with a
family with a Rice Provision Ability of 6-8 months for the
rainfed lowland site, Kamalganj, Bangladesh, 1991.
It
It
It
It
It
Existing systems
Field Crops
.c::!mproved system 7'
Homestead
Two cows used for ploughing
shaded fish pond
kitchen mixed vegetables
chickens
non-farm income
Dadan loan taken for two rice crop system for own land
Nota : usMi urn. home.t.1Id production-b for small .,d margin.' farm families.
RPA 35 months
Area (sq .m.) level
own share
1400 1450 (0 . ')
1 unit
300
300
3-4 hens
71 days
1400
Potential system for farm families with RPA 35 months
FI Id e Crops
system
/
ric. sys twn 7'
Homestead and nearby fields
b .. , ., "
/
ric. """ 01 ". g". t>I
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
two COWS used for ploughing
shaded fish pond
Singh vegetable system
chickens
non-farm income
Bank credit at 16 per cent for two rice crop system for own
land
II Indie.tn c ha ng e from existing systam
423
Area (sq.m.) level
own share
900
400
1 unit
350
300
1450 ( 0.0)
3- 4 hens
71 days
1300
( 0 . 70)
RPA 68 months
Area (sq .m.) level
own share
2620 1775 ( 0 . ' )
1 unit
300
300
3-4 hens
71 days
2620
424
Figure 47. Existing and potential farm plans for a marginal farm family
rainfed lowland site, Sitakundu, Bangladesh, 1991.
Existing systems
Field Crops
Kh.sari
wat., malon
tomato
chilli
Kh... ri
wat.r-malon
--
RPA 35 months
Area (sq.m.)
own share
1540
Khesari 500
wat.r -malon 350
tomato , 00
chilli 120
1670
level
Khesari 400
water -malon 180
tomato 100
_______ ---11 00 pits
Homestead
cattle rearing for small farmer
homestead coconuts
chickens 3-4 hens
non-farm income
Nota: u .cf .wn. hom teald production-b ... for .mllH a"'Id margin" fwnll i ...
harecropping i. 0.5 'or rica ."d kh ari
and 0.87 for wat.r- malon and tomato
1 unit
5 trees
1 unit
142 days
Field Crops
,
II kh .. ari
" wat.r -malon
II tomato
, chill i
Khas.i
II wat.r-malon
, --
Area (sq.m.)
own share
1540
Si ngh ..... g.t.bl. syst.m 300
kh.s.-i 200
w.t.t-melon 350
tom.to 100
chilli 120
1670
Kheswi 400
w.t.r m.lon 180
tom.to 100
,
'--_0_0_"_"_":...Y_b_O_00_0_"_0_I'_IO_'_______ ---1100 pits
Homestead
cattle reari ng for small farmer
homestead coconuts
chi ckens 3-4 hens
non-farm income
" i ndi c at change from existi ng system
1 sharecr opping is 0.5 for rica and khuari
and 0.67 10f wat.r -malon and tomato
1 unit
5 trees
1 unit
142 days
RPA 68 months
Area (sq .m.)
own share
2400
Khu.,i 780
wat.r -malon 540
tomato 230
chilli 185
1
2145
level
Kh ... i 520
w.t.r m.lon 230
tom.to 130
100 pits
1 unit
5 trees
1 unit
142 days
level
O.
1 . 2
. 2
. 2
. 2
. 2
1. 2
425
upland dissected site, Sreepur, Bangladesh, 1990-1991.

Existing systems
Byde or lowland
/' irrigated boro 7' ~ transplanted .man 7'
""'L- _______ /
./ faint ed t w ~ i C . sy.tem 7'
Chala or upland
:::;:::::::-
/
sugarcan. Vat .
:::::==--
L
sugarcane v.,.
c-- -
Homestead and nearby 'ields
f-------------
Jackfruit (bearing)
poultry
goats
Mi .,lmai.
Mi.rim ratoon
Note: us.ct awn. hom tead productlon-b ... for am'" Wid marginal farm fIImili ...
dar is diract dad ric.
Byde or lowland
/' i rrigated boro 7'
./ fainfed t w ~ i C . system 7'
Chala or upland
:::;:::::::-
/
sugatcan. "at.
p=-- -
"/
sugarcane v., .
fo----
Homestead and nearby fields
f-------------
Jackfruit bearing
poultry
improved black bengal goat rearing
ginger cultivation
turmeric cultivation
banana cultivation
Mivimala
Mi,ri m ratoon
cis, is dir act s ded rica
, indicates chang. fr om .. i .ting systam
RPA 35 months
Area (sq.m.)
own share
635 (D . 7!)
due to cost
01 wat.r
830
1120 (D. !)
520
black gram 285
615
400
10
3 tamal. with kids
level
Area (sq.m.) level
own share
635 ( D. 7!) 1.2
due to cost
of wat.r
830 1120 (D. !) 1. 2 (own)
520
black gram 295
615
400
10
2 hans & 5 pullats
100
100
200
RPA 68 months
Area (sq.m.)
own share
965
(0 . 75)
due to cost
of wat.r
1670 1290 (D. !)
785
black gram 445
935
605
10
2 hans &; 5 pullets
3 f amal. with kids
level
426
Figure 49.
Existing and potential farm plans for a marginal farm family
coastal saline site, Char Matua, Bangladesh, 1991.
Existing systems
Field Crops
cowp.a
chilli
relay khnarl
Homestead
au. vat. BoUam 7
aus vat.
dual purpose draught/milking cow
local goat rearing
traditional fish culture
sweet potato- local variety
var, Rajasail
Vel. Kar1iksail
var.
Dadan loan taken for aman rice crop on own land
Nota: used .rn. hom talld production-b for smaM .,d mwgi n .. fwm famil i .
RPA 3-5 months
Area (sq .m.) level
2775 own
aus: Boilam 505
am., : "ar.Raj.sail 1255
" . K.rtik iI 580
v. ,K.j ... il 940
ubi : chilli 460
cowp.. 480
r.l.y kh.... 16!i
2890 share (0 .5)
.... : Boil...., 525
am an: "ar.Aajauil 1300
var,Kartiksail 615
"w.K.j_sail 975
0.5 unit
1.0 unit
475
85
2775
Potential system for farm families with RPA 3-5 months
Field Crops
cowp.a
chilli
r.lay kh.lari
Homestead
<::::dibbled aus var . Boil...., 7
/dibblad aus var .
Rajasail
Kwtiksail
" var. Kaj_ail
11 var, BR23
# MCC vegetable kit: cauliflower (15).cabbage (25) .
#
#
tomato (285). bitter gourd (25). radish var. Early Mino (160).
lal sag (120).
country bean var. Bata (40). (in sq. m)
dual purpose draught/milking cow
local goat rearing
Nilotica fish monoculture
sweet potato- variety Tripti
Dadan loan taken for aman rice crop on own land
" indicat chang. from isting system
Area (sq.m.) level
2775 own
au. : Boilam 505
aman: Vel . R ..... iI 1255
Vat. Katikuil 580
var. Kaj.ail .. 70
Vel . Br23 470
rw: chilli 460
eowp.a 460
,.I.y khu_i 165
2890 share (0 . ')
aus: Boilam 525
.man: .... r .Aa}auil 1300
.... r. Kartiks.il 615
..... K.j.nil 975
0.5 unit
1.0 unit
475
85
2775
RPA 6-8 months
Area (sq .m.) level
3650 own
aus: Boilam 685
.m.n: .... . R.juail 1650
... ar , K_tiksail 765
.... r, K.j.sail 1235
rabi : chilli 605
605
'-'try khnari 220
4880 share (0. 5)
&.IS: Boilam 885
am.n: v . R_issail 2195
v.r.K.rtiks_il 1040
Vat .Kaj_sail 1645
0.5 unit
1.0 unit
475
85
3650
427
deepwater site, Mirzapur, Bangladesh, 1991.
,
"
"
"
Existing systems
Field Crops
boro (IRB)
/' L
I L boro (IRB) ,,/
./f'i1 ustard (to.;
mustard
/ Ljute
/'
/
/ mixed aus + /' aman khesari
wheat / /' mixed aus + /' aman

Homestead
production of homestead and non-farm income not recorded
Cash advance of per ha givan for sh.,. cropped plots of bore,
jut. and must.d. Adv.,.ca tor sh.,. cropping is known as udh.r!
borga.
RPA 35 months
Area (sq.m.)
own share
415 595 (0.5)
) 350
345 395 (0.5)
190
230
level
Field Crops
boro (I RB)
/'
boro #transplanted deepwater rice?
L..
/ L boro (IRB)
,/
ustard (to.;
mustard /./jute
/7
potato
/
./ jute
./
/
./ mixed aus + /' am an wat.r-malo
Singh vegetable. /./ mixed aus + /' aman
#
Homestead
Singh vagatabla systam and wat.r-malon cultivati on n .... homut.ad
C h advance of ".r ha given for shar.-cropped plots 01 borD,
Jut. and must.d. Advance for sh .... cropping Is known as udhari
borga.
II Indlcata. chang. from isting systam
Sh i . tor wint.r crop only; l' per cant sh.,. for irrigation
I Singh vagatabla systam at 0.7S producti on lav.,
Area (sq .m.) level
own share
595 ( 0. 5)
415
)350
395 (0,5)
345
190
(0 . B5)'
230
(0 . B5)' (O. 75)l
RPA 68 months
Area (sq.m.) level
own share
980 1035 (0.5)
700
785 690 (05)
375
465
428
irrigated site, Thakurgaon, Bangladesh, 1991.
#
#
#
#
#
#
Existing systems
Irrigated (deep-tubewell)
./ modern boro
7'
./ modern aman
./
./modern boro
7'
./ local aman
./
wheat / ./ modern aman
/L
wheat /'
./Iocal aman
7'L
Rainfed
./modern aman 7'
./ local aman 7'
./ millet 7'./ modern aman 7'

./ modern aman 7
""'/"--- __ :am:=a:n=::::::7'=_""
... /==-- __ ..,;jut;.;.e:;"...______ 7'./local aman 7'
Dadan loan taken for all land owned on which aman
cultivated (1910 sq .m.)
RPA 3-5 months
Area (sq.m.) level
own share
590 385 (0 .5)
450 (0. 5)
230 (0.5)
135 (0.5)
585
740 (0.5)
595 (0 .5)
340 (0. 5)
550
185
1910
Irrigated (deep-tubewell)
Area (sq .m.) level
own share
./ modern aus
./
./ modern aman
/
1175 385 (0.67)
./modern aus
/
./ local am an
./
450 (0 .67)
wheat / aman
7'L
230 (0 . 67)
wheat / local aman
./L
135 (0.67)
./ chillie ./ ./Iocal aman
7'
250 1.25
fotato/ ./Iocal am an
7'/
300 1.25
Rainfed
./Iocal aman
./
740(0.5)
./millet
./
./ modern am an
./
595(0.5)
./iocal aus
./
modern aman
/'
340(0.')
./
jute aman./ 185
Homestead
Kalikapur vegetable system 36
Dadan loan taken for all owned aman land
1910
, , , , , , , , , ,
# Indicat change from existing system
RPA 6-8 months
Area (sq.m.) level
own share
655 620 (0.5)
585
305 (0.5)
175
955
490 875 (0.5)
1050
600
960 (0. 5)
320 (0.5)
4510
429
irrigated site, Boda, Bangladesh, 1990.
"
II
II
II
II
II
II
Existing systems RPA 3-5 months
Irrigated (treadle pump) Area (sq.m.) level
own share
./ modern boro
./
./ modern aman
./
650
./ modern boro
7
./ local aman
./
1950 (0.5)
wheat
7
./ modern aman
7"L
180 (0 .5)
Rainfed
./modern aman
./
520
./ local am an
./
530 (0.5)
./millet
7'
./ moaern aman
./
610
(0.5)
wheat
7
./ modern aman
7L
200
wheat
//
jute aman 7' .L 280
1650
Irrigated (treadle pump)
./modern aus
./
./ modern aman
./
./modern aus
./
./ local am an
7'
wheat / modern aman
./L
./ chillie ./ ./ modern aman
./

./modern aman
7/
Rainfed
./
modern aman
7
./Iocal aman
./
/millet
./
./ modern aman
7"
wheat
//
jute aman/ L
Homestead
Kalikapur vegetable system
, , , , , , , , , ,
# Indicate. change from existing syste",
Area (sq.m.) level
own share
650 975 (0.67)
200
300
220
280
36
1650
975 (0 . 67)
180 (0.67)
530 (0.5)
610 (0.5)
1.00
1.00
RPA 6-8 months
Area (sq.m.) level
own share
965
785 2105 (0.5)
265 (0. 5)
550 (0.5)
540 (0.5)
400
235 (0. 5)
210
290 (0.5)
2440
APPENDIX 4
EXISTING AND POTENTIAL PRODUCTIVITY FOR MARGINAL FARM
FAMILIES AND EXISTING PRODUCTIVITY FOR SMALL FARM FAMILIES
FOR EACH SITE
430
431
Table 52. Input and labour requirements and output value and quantity
for a vulnerable farm family, with a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5
months, at the rainfed lowland site, Kamalganj, Bangladesh,
1990
Input Labour Output
Kind Cash Family Hired Home Sale Quantity
Tk days Tk kg
Field crops
rice: existing two rice 228 356 81.6 13.0 4189 2325 1217
system
dadan loan for two rice 902 ( 449)
system
Homestead
ploughing pair (two cows) 1 167 170 75.0
calf (nos) 1875 1.5
milk 1200 1200 300
cowdung 7200
ploughing (days) 30
threshing (days) 60
pond (shaded) 25 33 5.2 801 26.7
kitchen vegetable garden 80 83 8.5 968
(mixed)
bushbean 15
potato 49
lal sag 30
egg plant 20
chilli 10
garlic 2
white gourd 2
onion 10
spices 4
tomato 20
pusto 5
chickens (pullet rearing) nos. 422 400 80.0 1128 24
Non-farm 71.0 5664
sub-totals
field crops 228 356 81.6 13.0 4189 2325
credit (dadan loan) 902
homestead 694 686 168.7 2969 4203
non-farm 71 5664
Total 922 1944 321 13.0 7158 12192
1 Income estimate for milk and calf output only; additional estimated income for ploughing/
threshing own crops was Tk 9900 and cowdung was Tk 1800.
432
Table 53. Potential extra requirements and output for a vulnerable farm
family, with Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months, adopting new
or innovative technology at the rainfed lowland site, Kamalganj,
Bangladesh 1990
Extra Extra Extra Extra
cash labour return production
Tk days kind cash kg'
Field crops
rice: recommended and improved 125 (3.3) 300 972 238
two rice system
bank credit at 1 6 percent (841) 448
2
Homestead
vegetables innovative Jadabh Singh
system
cauliflower (nos.) 667
bushbean 31
sweet pumpkin (nos.) 108 0.4 662 9822 378
pusto 23
khol rabi (nos.) 148
local potato with bushbean
and mixed vegetables
local potato 13
bush bean 32 4.1 311 41
mustard 1.6
onion -8
radish 49
Colocasia kochu (nos.) 115
kochu loti 49 7.8 92 802 42
mukhi 23
pond (shaded) 6 0.9 133 4
sub-totals
field crops 125 (3.3) 300 972
credit ( 841)
homestead 195 13.3 1198 10624
Total ( 521) 10.0 1498 11596
1 The Singh system replaces the existing kitchen garden; the innovative local potato with
mixed vegetables and the cultivation of Colocasia in summer are additional enterprises.
Labour and input requirements and production for the existing vegetable system were
deducted. amaranth, egg plant, chilli, garlic, tomato, spices and white gourd were not in the
intervention.
2This production was gained as no longer part of dadan loan repayment .
433
for a vulnerable farm family, with a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5
months, at the rainfed lowland site, Sitakundu, Bangladesh,
1990
Input Labour Output
Tk days Tk
kg 1
Field crops
rice: improved two rice system 257 355 80.8 23.4 3462 921 819
khesari 167 2.1 0.9 11 378 50
2
water melon (variety Glory or 26 356 9.2 4.1 1954 89nos.
Tobi (Taiwan) (nos.)
tomato (long fruit variety) 6 58 6.5 0.2 330 156
chilli with mixed spices 38 55 4.3 2.1 251 443
chilli 16
dhonia 2
onion 18
country bean cultivation 80 110 7.2 216 2790
(100 pits)
green sim 192
dry bean 65
Homestead
coconut cultivation (nos.) 2.5 1500 300 nos.
3
827 165 220.0
cattle (nos) 2800 1 nos.
milk 480 1200 210
cowdung 3650
ploughing (days) 90 days
chickens (3-4 hens) 22.0 126 966 26 nos.
Non-farm 142 11376
sub-totals
field crops 407 1101 110.1 30.8 3940 6816
credit
homestead 827 165 244.5 606 6466
non-farm 142 11376
Total 1234 1266 496.6 30.8 4546 24658
1 kilograms unless indicated.
2 By-product for feed keshari straw 20 kg.
3 Estimated home income of Tk 6600 for ploughing, Tk 915 for cowdung and sale of
ploughing Tk 3300.
434
Table 55. Potential extra requirements and output for a vulnerable farm
family, with a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months, adopting
new or innovative technology at the rainfed lowland site,
Sitakundu, Bangladesh, 1990
Field crops
rice: recommended and improved 186 1877 708 483
two rice system
keshari
3
(56) (0.3) (5) (162) (22)
water-melon variety Glory or Tobi (Taiwan) 391 18
(nos.)
tomato long fruit variety 66 31
country bean cultivation (100 pits) 43 558
green sim 38
dry bean 13
chilli with mixed spices
chilli 51
I
89
I
3
onion 3
Homestead
innovative Jadabh Singh
2
system
cauliflower (nos.) 667 nos.
bush bean 191 8.9 1628 9822 42
sweet pumpkin (nos.) 378 nos.
pusto 28
khol rabi (nos.) 148 nos.
sub-totals
field crops 130 0.3) 1966 1650
homestead 191 8.9 1628 9822
Total 321 8.6 3594 11472
2 Sitakundu is ideally suited to expand vegetable cultivation. However, drainage and flash
flooding are a hazard. For this reason the introduction of a sorjan system is imperative. The
winter vegetable system developed by Singh in Kamalganj is the nearest approximation to
sorjan. It may be considered the next level of advancement in intensive vegetable
production.
3Area of khesari reduced.
435
for a vulnerable farmer with a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5
months at the upland partially irrigated site, Sreepur,
Bangladesh, 1991.
Input Labour Output
Tk days Tk kg'
Field crops
Highland
sugarcane 651 403 17.5 8.7 4863 454
sugarcane ratoon 104 5.6 3.4 1807 169
direct seeded aus 73 61 6.2 366 65
blackgram 11 1.5 94 7
Lowland
existing rainfed two rice 156 150 30.2 5.4 2492 558 570
crop system
irrigated bora - 11 147 5.7 5.5 987 279 225
followed by transplanted 25 64 9.2 922 251 211
aman
Homestead
jackfruit (1 0 bearing trees) 19.0 4005 500 nos.
nos
poultry (2 hens) 22.0 1620 27 nos.
goats (3 females with 57 58.0 1876
kids)
castrated goat 2 nos.
female goat 4 nos.
sub-totals
field crops 927 929 76 23 4861 7758
homestead 57 99 7501
non-farm
Total 927 986 175 23 4861 15259
436
Table 57. Potential extra requirements and output for a vulnerable farmer,
with a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months, adopting limited
identified interventions at the upland partially irrigated site,
Sreepur, Bangladesh 1991
Field crops
rice existing rainfed two rice ( 24) 5.8) ( 380) ( 85) ( 87)
crop system
irrigated bora - 72 5.7 784 222 179
followed by 32 4.6 734 200 168
transplanted aman
Homestead
Kalikapur vegetable 289 24.0 798
system
lal sag 71
poi sag 3
bitter gourd 6
eggplant 10
lady's finger 3
garlic 4
onion 2
radish 50
tomato 19
kolmi (kang kong) 6
bati sag 24
datta sag 4
spinach (palong sag) 14
cabbage 31
improved black bengal 78 2924 same
2
goat rearing (1 female)
banana 396 8.0 6560
suckers 320 nos.
bananas 700
ginger 2.3 1080 120
turmeric 2.7 297 99
sub-totals
field crops 80 4.5 1138 337
homestead 763 37 798 10861
Total 843 41.5 1936 11198
1 kilograms unless stated.
2 output number same but quality and size improved.
437
months at the coastal saline site, Char Matua, Bangladesh,
1990
Input Labour Output
Tk days Tk kg'
Field crops
rice: dibbled aus; 35 14 6.4 7.0 549 269 113
(variety Boilam)
transplanted aman; 63 43 4.6 26.5 2166 353 364
(variety Rajasail)
(variety Kartiksail)
(variety Kajasail)
dadan loan 85 ( 142)
sweet potato (variety local) 15 1.6 .2 189 69
chilli 58 7.4 1.1 50 563 28
cowpea (or mungbean) 11 4.7 1 .1 27 386 34
relay khesari (or blackgram) 6 .5 63 98 11
Homestead
local goat rearing 40 21.6 61 595
kids (nos) 2.5
manure 206
dual purpose draft/milk cow
2
1296 519 43.2 1506
milk 162
cowdung 1009
ploughing (days) 43
pond (traditional fish culture) 2.1 621 621 54
sub-totals
field crops 280 123 31 68 5776 2121
credit (dadan loan) 85
homestead 1296 559 67 2188 1216
non-farm
Total 1576 767 98 68 7964 3337
1 By-product for feed 861 kg paddy straw; keshari straw 28 kg
21ncome estimate from milk only; additional estimate of income in kind from ploughing and
threshing of Tk 4350 and cowdung of Tk 132.
438
with a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months, adopting the main
MCC intervention at the coastal saline site, Char Matua,
Bangladesh, 1990.
Tk days kind cash kg
1
Field crops
rice: BR23 on Hatya soil 119 1.9 300 50
series
sweet potato variety Tripti 0.3 91 31
Homestead
pond Nilotica monoculture 190 18.0 720 720 35
vegetable homestead
cauliflower 20
tomato 490
cabbage 28
bitter gourd 25
radish Early Mino 264 10.6 152 3354 70
la/sag 136
country bean
(variety Bata) fresh 37
dry 10
sub-totals
field crops 119 2.2 391
homestead 454 10.6 872 4074
Total 573 30.8 1263 4074
439
months at the deepwater site, Mirzapur, Bangladesh, 1991
Input Labour Output
Tk days Tk kg'
rice: boro (HYV) existing 133 265 20.8 14.3 2710 797 638
variety IR8
udharj borga advance for 336 283
share cropping for boro
aus + aman mixed crop 61 4.3 5.0 831 96
jute 47 16.3 303 1544
fibre 101
stick 202
udhari borga advance for 234 188
share cropping for jute
mustard (local) Tori 7 174 2.5 625 63
udharj borga advance for 223 188
share cropping for mustard
khesarj 15 1.0 5 103 16
wheat (HYV) not irrigated 59 3.3 21 411 55
sub-totals
f ield crops 209 545 48.2 19.3 3870 3480
sharecropping advance 793 659
homestead
non-farm
Total 209 679
2
48.2 19.3 3870 3480
3
1 Paddy straw 637 kg from boro rice and 113 kg from mixed aus + aman; khesarj straw 27
kg;
wheat straw 41 kg.
2 Adjusted for actual cost of udharj borga advance (Tk 793-659);3return of udharj borga
advance not included.
440
Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months, adopting new or
innovative technology at the deepwater site, Mirzapur,
Bangladesh 1990
Tk days kind cash kg
1
Field crops
rice: boro short duration BR14
transplanted deepwater rice 10 7.5 656 88
aus+aman ( 9.3) 831) (96)
potato
3
334 13.2 1825 793
mustard ( 55) ( .8) ( 242) (25)
khesari
2
( 1.0) 5) ( 103) (16)
wheat 59) ( 3.3) 21 ) ( 411 ) (55)
Homestead or intensive plots nearby
vegetables water-melon (variety Glory or 120 4.8 671 30
innovative Jadabh Singh
2
system
cauliflower (nos.) 435
bush bean 137 6.8 1062 6401 27
sweet pumpkin (nos.) 241
khol rabi (nos.) 97
pusto 18
sub-totals
field crops 230 6.3 201) 1069
homestead or nearby 257 11.6 1062 7072
Total 487 17.9 861 8141
2Khesari, wheat and mixed aus + aman not grown.
3Area of mustard reduced.
441
months at the lowland favourable irrigated site, Thakurgaon,
Bangladesh, 1991
Input Labour Output
Tk days Tk
kg 1
Field crops
Irrigated
modern rice boro 200 275 14.1 9.4 1325 374 318
modern rice aman 49 166 17.9 1445 408 314
local rice aman 41 30 6.8 290 82 63
wheat 82 56 4.3 67 155 35
Non irrigated
local aus 26 32 3.5 87 32 25
millet 119 52 14.7 424 106
jute fibre 24 15 5.0 115 98 24
stick 54
modern aman 61 210 22.1 1264 355 274
local aman 103 76 17.0 1096 310 238
dadan loan for aman rice
1
61 (112)
sub-totals
field crops 705 912 105.3 9.4 6113 1814
credit 61
homestead
non-farm
Total 705 973 105.3 9.4 6113 1814
1 Dadan loan based on total own area aman cultivated and matched to the average
for farmers taking dadan loan.
442
with a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months, adopting limited
identified interventions at the lowland favourable irrigated site,
Thakurgaon, Bangladesh 1991
Tk days kind cash
kg 1
Field crops
rice
1
deep tubewell aus 137 9.4 957 271 229
modern aman 0.2 411 116 89
local aman 99 28 21
mungbean variety Mubarik 16 2.4 159 16
wheat 22 53 11
millet ( 25) ( 7.0) 275) ( 69)
potato 249 11.5 1984 862
chilli 5.0 116 191 15
Homestead
vegetables Kalikapur home system 289 24.0 798
lal sag 71
poi sag 3
bitter gourd 6
eggplant 10
lady's finger 3
garlic 4
onion 2
radish 50
tomato 19
kolmi (kang kong) 6
bati sag 24
datta sag 4
cabbage 31
sub-totals
field crops 377 21 .5 1489 2643
Total 666 45.4 2287 2643
1 aman rice is inclusive of irrigated and rainfed.
443
months at the lowland favourable irrigated site, Boda,
Bangladesh, 1991.
Input Labour Output
Tk days Tk kg'
Field crops
Irrigated
modern rice bora 364 949 94.8 3147 878 752
modern rice aman 33 115 12.3 1192 336 259
local rice aman 137 100 22.5 966 273 210
wheat 41 27 2.1 33 77 17
Non irrigated
millet 63 28 7.8 153 38
jute fibre 36 23 7.6 174 149 36
stick 81
modern aman 53 183 19.3 1227 345 267
local aman 57 41 9.4 541 152 117
wheat 118 38 5.4 249 566 127
Dadan loan for aman rice 103 ( 187)
sub-totals
field crops 902 1504 181 7682 2776
credit 103
homestead
non-farm
Total 902 1607 181 7682 2776
444
with a Rice Provision Ability of 3-5 months, adopting identified
interventions at the lowland favourable irrigated site, Boda,
Bangladesh 1991
Field crops
rice Treadle pump aus (12.5) 642 179 154
Treadle pump aman
2
134 26.3 2202 891 524
local aman (after
irrigated aus) 50) (11 .2) 483) ( 137) (105)
wheat irrigated 11 26
rainfed 16) 2.2) 104) 236)
mungbean variety Mubarik 8 1.2 78 8
chilli variety local 4.0 74 122 10
potato 249 11.5 1587 690
Homestead
vegetables Kalikapur home system 289 24.0 798
lal sag 71
poi sag 3
bitter gourd 6
eggplant 10
lady's finger 3
garlic 4
onion 2
radish 50
tomato 19
kolmi(kang kong) 6
bati sag 24
datta sag 4
cabbage 31
sub-totals
field crops 325 17 2420 2432
Total 614 41 3218 2432
2Labour, input and output for modern aman in existing system deducted.
445
months at the rainfed lowland site, Kamalganj, Bangladesh,
1990
Input Labour Output
Tk days Tk kg
Rice: Existing two rice 352 550 125.9 20.0 6915 3837 2010
system
dadan loan for two rice 903 ( 449)
system
Ploughing pair (two cows) 1 167 170 75.0
calf (nos) 1875 1.5
milk 1200 1200 300
cowdung 7200
ploughing (days) 30
threshing (days) 60
Shaded pond 25 33 5.2 801 26.7
Kitchen vegetable garden 80 83 8.5 968
(mixed)
bushbean 15
potato 49
lal sag 30
egg plant 20
chilli 10
garlic 2
water gourd 2
onion 10
spices 4
tomato 20
pusto
5
chickens (pullet rearing) nos. 422 400 80.0 1128 24
Non-farm income 71.0 5664
sub-totals
field crops 352 550 125.9 20.0 6915 3837
credit 903
homestead 694 686 168.7 2969 4203
non-farm 71 5664
Total 1046 2139 365.6 20.0 9884 13704
1 Income estimate for milk and calf sale only; additional estimated income from ploughing/
threshing own crops Tk 9900 and cowdung Tk 1800.
446
months at the rainfed lowland site, Sitakundu, Bangladesh,
1990
Input Labour Output
Tk days Tk kg'
Field crops
rice: improved two rice 364 502 114.4 33.2 5063 1347 1198
system
khesari 241 3.0 1.3 16 563 75
2
water melon (variety Glory or 37 518 13.4 6.0 2882 131 nos.
tomato (long fruit variety) 11 85 9.5 0.4 488 231
chilli with mixed spices 58 85 6.6 3.2 388 684
chilli 25
dhonia 3
onion 27
country bean cultivation 80 110 7.2 216 2790
(100 pits)
green sim 192
dry bean 65
Homestead
coconut cultivation (nos.) 2.5 1500 300 nos.
3
827 165 220.0
cattle (nos) 2800 1 nos.
milk 480 1200 210
cowdung 3650
ploughing (days) 90 days
chickens (3-4 hens) 22.0 126 966 26 nos.
Non farm income 142 11376
sub-totals
field crops 550 1541 154.1 44 5683 8754
credit
homestead 827 165 244.5 606 6466
non-farm 142 11376
Total 1377 1706 540.6 44 6289 26596
2 By-product for feed keshari straw 30 kg.
3 Also estimated, but not included, home income of Tk 6600 for ploughing, Tk 915 for
cowdung and for sale of ploughing Tk 3300.
447
months at the upland partially irrigated site, Sreepur,
Bangladesh, 1991.
Input Labour Output
Tk days Tk
kg 1
Field crops
Highland
sugarcane 990 612 26.6 13.2 7393 691
sugarcane ratoon 157 8.5 5.1 2733 255
Direct seeded aus 110 92 9.4 552 98
Blackgram 16 2.2 141 11
Lowland
existing rainfed two rice 237 228 45.9 8.2 4149 929 949
crop system
irrigated boro - 17 223 8.7 8.4 1499 424 342
followed by transplanted 39 98 14.0 1402 382 320
aman
Homestead
jackfruit (10 bearing trees) 19.0 4005 450 nos.
nos
poultry (2 hens) 22.0 1620 27 nos.
goats (3 females with 57 58.0 1876
kids)
castrated goat 2 nos.
female goat 4 nos.
sub-total
field crops 1409 1410 115 34.9 7743 11861
credit
non-farm
1409 1467 214 34.9 7743 19362
kilograms unless indicated.
448
months at the coastal saline site, Char Matua, Bangladesh,
1990
Input Labour Output
Tk days Tk kg'
Field crops
rice: dibbled aus; 53 21 9.7 10.5 790 388 163
(variety Boilam)
(variety Rajasail)
(variety Kartiksail)
(variety Kajasail)
dadan loan 112 ( 187)
sweet potato (variety local) 15 1.6 .2 189 69
chilli 76 9.7 1.5 66 740 37
cowpea (or mung bean) 15 6.2 1.5 36 508 45
relay khesari (or blackgram) 7 .7 84 131 15
Homestead
local goat rearing 40 21.6 61 595
kids (nos) 2.5
manure 206
dual purpose draft/milk cow
2
1296 519 43.2 1506
milk 162
cowdung 1009
ploughing (days) 43
pond - traditional fish culture 2.1 621 621 54
sub-totals
field crops 400 187 43 102 8233 2931
credit 112
homestead 1296 559 67 2188 1216
non-farm
Total 1696 858 110 102 10421 4147
1 By-product for feed 1243 kg paddy straw; keshari straw 37 kg
2 Also cowdung 1000 kg and ploughing 44 days (not included).
449
months at the deepwater site, Mirzapur, Bangladesh, 1991
Input Labour Output
Tk days Tk kg'
Field crops
rice: boro (HYV) existing 266 528 41 .6 28.5 5604 1648 1319
variety IR8
share cropping for boro
aus + aman mixed crop 123 8.5 10.0 1661 192
jute 92 32.6 631 3216
fibre 210
stick 420
share cropping for jute
mustard (local) Tori 7 349 4.9 1282 128
share cropping for mustard
khesari 30 1.9 11 203 31
wheat (HYV) not irrigated 119 6.6 42 830 111
Subtotal
field crops 419 1088 96.1 38.5 7949 7179
sharecropping advance 1383 1148
homestead
non-farm
Total 419 1323
2
96.1 38.5 7949 7179
3
1 paddy straw 1318 kg from boro rice and 185 kg from mixed aus + aman; khesari straw 52
kg; wheat straw 84 kg.
2 Adjusted for actual cost of udhari borga advance (Tk 1383-1148);3return of udhari borga
advance not included.
450
months at the lowland favourable irrigated site, Thakurgaon,
Bangladesh, 1991
Input Labour Output
Tk days Tk kg'
Field crops
Irrigated
modern rice boro 261 359 18.4 12.3 2040 577 489
modern rice aman 63 217 23.5 1800 508 391
local rice aman 53 39 8.8 753 213 164
wheat 109 74 5.6 120 279 62
Non irrigated
local aus 46 56 6.1 307 112 87
millet 208 92 25.7 765 191
jute' 41 27 8.7 99 85 21
modern aman 104 359 37.8 3120 876 677
local aman 185 136 30.6 1554 439 338
dadan loan for aman rice
2
61 ( 112)
sub-total
field crops 1070 1359 165.2 10558
loan 61
homestead
non-farm
Total 1070 1420 165 12.3 10558 3089
, jute stick 46 kg.
2Dadan loan based on total own area aman cultivated and matched to the average
for farmers taking dadan l o a n ~
451
months at the lowland favourable irrigated site, Boda,
Bangladesh, 1991.
Input Labour Output
Tk days Tk kg'
Field crops
Irrigated
modern rice bora 540 1407 140.6 5427 1514 1298
modern rice aman 50 170 18.3 1767 498 384
local rice aman 202 148 33.4 1821 515 396
wheat 60 40 3.1 48 113 25
Non irrigated
millet 65 29 8.1 259 65
jute' 37 24 7.9 180 154 37
modern aman 55 190 20.1 1069 301 232
local aman 59 43 9.7 560 158 122
wheat 123 40 5.6 204 466 105
dadan loan for aman rice 103 ( 187)
sub-total
field crops 1191 2091 247 11335 3719
loan 103
homestead
non-farm
Total 1191 2194 247 11335 3719
, jute stick 84 kg.
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ADELAIDE UNIVERSITY

EMPOWERING MARGINAL FARM FAMILIES

complexity of the agriculture systems of vulnerable farm families is an

. . their involvement may be better seen as a step in the direction

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