Back

Nature Farming and Vegetable Production in Bangladesh

A. R. Chowdhury

Institute of Postgraduate Studies in Agriculture, Gazipur, Bangladesh

Full Paper (PDF File: 76KB)

Abstract

Bangladesh had been practicing a true nature farming in her agriculture until 1960. No agricultural chemicals had been used in crop production prior to that time. Recently, however, many progressive farmers have started to understand the benefit of using fertilizers and insecticides for reaping a good harvest of quality produce. In case of vegetable production, however, use of these chemicals is still in a low profile. Vegetable growers of this subsistence farming community grow vegetables mainly around their homesteads where the land is generally more fertile than the land used for field crops. The general yield level of vegetables in Bangladesh is very poor because of lack of good seed, good varieties, inability and reluctance of the growers to use agrichemicals, and lack of incentives due to improper marketing facilities. Increase of total vegetable production is essential to help solve the nutritional problem and thereby the food problem. Among the many ways and means of increasing vegetable production, improved nature farming technology may have a reasonable role to play.