Three technologies that are

changing agriculture in
Bangladesh
In agrarian countries like Bangladesh, agriculture can serve as a powerful
driving force to not only raise family income, but also the nation’s entire
economy.
Consistent policy and investments in technology, rural infrastructure and
human capital boosted food security by tripling the Bangladesh’s food grain
production from 1972 to 2014. Between 2005 and 2010, agriculture accounted
for 90 percent of poverty reduction in the country.
Bangladesh is now threatened by increasing droughts, flooding and extreme
weather events due to climate change. In response, rural communities are
adapting through innovative, localized solutions that combine sustainable
practices and technologies.
“Mechanization is a very important part of the future of agriculture in
Bangladesh,” said Janina Jaruzelski, the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID) mission director in Bangladesh, during a visit to areas
where the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) is
helping commercialize three agricultural machinery technologies – axial flow
pumps, reapers and seed drills – to help farmers thrive under increasingly
difficult growing conditions.
Below we detail how these three technologies are transforming farming
across Bangladesh.

Axial flow pumps

The axial flow pump is an inexpensive surface water irrigation technology that
can reduce costs up to 50 percent at low lifts – areas where the water source
is close to the field surface, and therefore is easy to pump up to irrigate fields.
Surface water irrigation involves deploying water through low-lift irrigation
pumps like the axial flow pump and canal distribution networks managed by
water sellers who direct water to farmers’ fields.
For example, 24-year old Mosammat Lima Begum, who lives in a village in
Barisal District in Bangladesh, gained access to an axial flow pump and
training on its use through CIMMYT’s Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia
(CSISA). After the training, Begum started a business providing irrigation
services to her neighbors, boosting her household income by nearly $400 in
one year.
Groundwater extraction – a common approach to irrigation in much of South
Asia – can result in high energy costs and present health risks due to natural
arsenic contamination of groundwater in Bangladesh. Surface water offers
a low-energy and low-carbon emissions alternative.
For more information on how axial flow pumps and surface water irrigation
help farmers, click here.

Axial Flow Pump. Photo: CIMMYT.

Reapers
Reapers allow farmers to mechanically harvest and plant the next season’s
crops, and can save farmers 30 percent their usual harvesting costs. The two-
wheeled mechanical reaper is particularly popular in Bangladesh, especially
among women since it’s easy to maneuver. It also helps farmers cope
with increasing labor scarcity— a trend that has continued to rise as the
country develops economically and more people leave rural areas for off-farm
employment.
Like the axial flow pump, local service providers with reapers – entrepreneurs
who purchase agricultural machinery and rent out their services – are now
offering their harvesting services to smallholder farmers at an affordable fee.
Learn more about how reapers can reduce the cost of harvesting and risk of
crop damage, making them a key tool to boost farmer efficiency in
Bangladesh here.

Reaper. Photo: CIMMYT.

Seed fertilizer drills

Seed fertilizer drills till, plant and fertilize crops in lines simultaneously and
with greater precision. These drills are frequently used as attachments on two-
wheeled tractors.
Around 66 service providers in Barisal, Bangladesh have cultivated more than
640 hectares of land using seed drills for over 1,300 farmers since 2013.
These drills cut 30 percent of their fuel costs compared to traditional power
tillers, saving them about $58 and 60 hours of labor per hectare. In south-
western Bangladesh where USAID’s Feed the Future initiative operates, 818
service providers have cultivated more than 25,500 hectares of land using
seed drills for 62,000 small holder farmers till to date.
These drills can also allow farmers to plant using conservation agriculture
practices like strip tilling, a system that tills only small strips of land into which
seed and fertilizer are placed, which reduces production costs, conserves soil
moisture and help boost yields.
Since 2013, CIMMYT has facilitated the sale of over 2,000 agricultural
machines to more than 1,800 service providers, reaching 90,000 farmers.
Through the CSISA Mechanization and Irrigation project, CIMMYT will
continue to transform agriculture in southern Bangladesh by unlocking the
potential productivity of the region’s farmers during the dry season through
surface water irrigation, efficient agricultural machinery and local service
provision.

Seed fertilizer drill. Photo: CIMMYT.

https://www.cimmyt.org/three-technologies-that-are-changing-agriculture-in-bangladesh/