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Farmers Preference and Perception Towards Cropland Agroforestry in Bangladesh

M. Chakraborty*
MDS Graduate, Economics Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna - 9208, Bangladesh

M.Z. Haider
Professor, Economics Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna - 9208, Bangladesh

M.M. Rahaman
MDS Graduate, Economics Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna - 9208, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

This study attempts to examine farmers’ preference and perception towards cropland agroforestry (CAF) and its economic benefits in Bangladesh. It surveys 84 farmers of two sub-districts named Manirampur and Bagherpara under Jessore district of Bangladesh to address the study objectives with the help of a questionnaire during the period of June to July 2013. We follow a multistage random sampling procedure for selecting respondents of the survey. A total of 27 plant species under 19 families are identified in the surveyed crop fields, among which 11 are tree species and 1 is shrub from 8 families and 15 species are agricultural crops from 11 families. According to the survey findings, most of the farmers prefer multipurpose tree species like Swietenia macrophylla (67 percent), Phoenix sylvestris (48 percent), Mangifera indica (48 percent) and Cocos nucifera (43 percent). We also find that Curcuma longa (92 percent), Oryza spp. (56 percent), Solanum melongena (43 percent) and Amorphophallus campanulatus (33 percent) are the available agriculture crops which are grown in association with trees in the study area. The surveyed farmers report that they practice CAF to get fuel wood, fodder, juice, fruit and food for family consumption and revenue earnings. About 76 percent of the surveyed farmers endorse the existence of a positive interaction between trees and agriculture crops, while the rest 24 percent endorse the existence of a negative interaction between trees and agriculture crops. This study finds that CAF farmers on an average earn US$ 1,410 per farm per year and the yearly average revenue difference between CAF and non-cropland agroforestry (NCAF) farmers is US$ 214. Overall, CAF needs to develop through scientific intervention in the study area to conserve the biodiversity and to enhance farmers’ sustainable livelihood.

Keywords: Agroforestry, Cropland, Preference, Perception, Multipurpose, Livelihood

Location: Jessore district of Bangladesh

Start Date: 00-06-2013

End Date: 00-07-2013

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Commodity: Agroforestry

Objectives:

This study aims to observe the farmers preferences and perceptions towards different CAF in the study area and to estimate the economic benefits of it in the Jessore district of Bangladesh. It also intends to better understand the local peoples’ socio-economic characteristics and their self-motivated CAF system that will act as baseline information for the policy makers to institutionalize CAF and subsequently to assist farmers in receiving support to adopt CAF.

Methodology:

Study area This study considers Jessore district of Bangladesh as the study site. Geographically, the area is located at an elevation of 4.8 meters above mean sea level and extends from 23o 10'12″N to 23o 17'0″N and 89o 12'0″E to 89o 20'0″E covering an area of 2,567 km² with a population of 2.74 million (BBS 2011). The area falls under high Ganges river floodplain agro-ecological region (BARC 2012). High lands (flood-free) comprise about 48 percent (Hasan et al. 1997) of total area in the district. The soil of the district is calcareous in nature with pH ranging from 7.0 to 8.5 (SRDI 1977). The climate of the area is tropical monsoon. Annual average temperature is maximum 37.10o C and minimum 11.20o C; and annual rainfall is 1,537 mm (Banglapedia 2014). Jessore district consists of 8 sub-districts (locally called upazilas), 92 unions, 1,434 villages and 0.66 million households. On an average two persons per household are economically active in the district. Common crops in the area include direct seeded rice (Aus), transplanted rice (Aman), winter transplanted rice (Boro), wheat, jute, pulse, tuberose, sugarcane and vegetables. It is also famous for date molasses. Therefore, the authors purposively select Jessore district as the study site for its better bio-physical resources of CAF (Hasanuzzaman et al. 2014b) and diversified livelihood patterns of the people. We also consider the easy accessibility and communication facilities in of the study area and the cooperation of local people in case of study area selection. Sampling design A multistage random sampling procedure is followed in this study. Firstly, Jessore district (locally called zila) is purposively selected from the south-west region of Bangladesh. Consequently, two upazilas (sub-districts) named Manirampur and Bagherpara are randomly selected out of 8 upazilas in the district. Out of 9 unions of Bagherpara and 17 unions of Manirampur upazila, a total of four unions are randomly selected taking two from each upazila. A total of twelve villages are selected randomly taking three villages from each union. A total of 84 farm families are randomly selected as samples from these twelve villages containing total 625 households. A control was imposed in selecting samples to ensure that half of the sampled households are CAF practitioners and the rest half are NCAF (monoculture) practitioners. Data collection and analysis Farm level primary information is collected using a questionnaire through an intensive household survey during June to July 2013. Besides, physical observations of the farms are carried out to observe the biophysical condition and to analyze the actual practices in the natural settings. Collected data are initially entered in computer carefully using Microsoft Excel and crosschecked randomly against original completed questionnaires to detect entry errors. Accordingly, the detected errors are corrected before analysis. Descriptive statistical analysis including frequency distribution, percentage and simple ranking procedures are used for the data analysis to summarize farmers’ socio-economic characteristics and farm specific characteristics.

Source of Information: Journal of Forest and Environmental Science; Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 241-254, November, 2015

Article Link (Online Journal): http://dx.doi.org/10.7747/JFES.2015.31.4.241

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

The respondents practice CAF both in traditional and systematic way in the study area. Small land size is the dominant land holding types followed by high elevated land in most cases of the study area. According to the study findings, most of the farmers prefer multipurpose tree species. The surveyed farmers report that they practice CAF to get fuel wood, fodder, juice, fruit and food for family consumption and revenue earnings. About three-fourth of the surveyed farmers endorse the existence of a positive interaction between trees and agriculture crops, while the rest endorse the existence of a negative interaction between trees and agriculture crops. This study finds that CAF farmers on an average earn US$ 214 more per farm per year than the NCAF farmers. Systematic approach with multipurpose tree species in CAF farm is getting popularity day by day in this region to get the diverse products and services from the integrated land-use system. Moreover, there is a lack of scientific intervention into this growing land-use system until now in the study area. Along with, there is also a great scope of improvement in these land-use systems through scientific research and government intervention, so that farmers can allocate their limited resources in a judicious way to get the best possible returns from their land use system.

Knowledge Management: Journal