Country’s arable land shrunk by four lakh acres in 11 years: BBS

Staff Reporter :
Agricultural land in the country is declining at the rate of one per cent every year. At the same time, the ecological balance is being affected due to rapid urbanisation and development activities.
As a result, agricultural production and fish population are also being affected, according to experts.
Against this backdrop, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) on Tuesday published the Agriculture Census Report 2019 showing that the net cropland across the country has decreased by around four lakh acres in 11 years from 1.9 crore acres in 2008 to 1.86 crore acres in 2019.
However, the number of farming households has increased to 1.68 crore compared with that of 2008, 1.51 crore, according to the Agriculture Census Report 2019 published Tuesday by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
The net cultivable land in the country is 1.86 crore acres, of which the temporary cropland is 1. 64 crore acres and the permanent cropland is 19 .70 lakh acres in total.
“The census report shows that the land under cultivation of Aush crops has slightly decreased in the 2019 census compared to 2008, but the land under cultivation of Aman, Boro, Potato, Wheat, Maize, Jute etc. crops has increased significantly,” said the BBS press release.
Additionally, the number of livestock and poultries including cows, buffalo and chickens has increased significantly.
The total number of cows obtained in the Agriculture Census 2019 is 2.94 crore which was 1. 63 crore in 2008. Also, the number of roosters, chickens and ducks more than doubled to 27.38 crore as against 13.72 crore in 2008 census.
Planning Minister MA Mannan and State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam were present at the publication event.
“It demands working out an effective strategy to check the country’s fast-shrinking arable land and thus maintain the momentum in increasing its food grain production,” Abu Naser Khan, Chairman of Poribesh Bachao Andolan told The New Nation.
He said that urbanisation affects food production in two ways – by removing agricultural land from cultivation, as cities expand, and by reducing the number of family farms, as more farmers move to cities. The spread of cities alone consumes enormous tracts of farmland in much of the world.
The prospect is really discouraging as resources are outrunning habitants. Trees are being chopped down for fuel regularly, Abu Naser Khan said adding that climatic disruption in recent times, followed by salinity intrusion, shrinking farmlands and crop losses, has added to the woes of the people.