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Role of Jackfruit Based Traditional Agroforestry in Farmers Income and Livelihood Improvements: Evidence from Mymensingh District of Bangladesh

M. A. Mondol*
Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation

K. K. Islam
Department of Agroforestry, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The agroforestry production systems provide products and services to support the basic needs and augment the livelihood of millions of farmers all over the world. In Bangladesh, the benefit of the traditional agroforestry systems and their livelihood development approaches are often not systematically addressed. Thus, the goal of the study was to evaluate the impact of traditional agroforestry on income generation and livelihood improvement of the rural farmers in Bangladesh. The study selected one of the most common jackfruit agroforestry cases practiced in the Mymensingh region of Bangladesh. The study was conducted in Muktagasa, Ghagra and Birunia, three villages located in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh. The outcome revealed that the most common significant feature of the jackfruit-based agroforestry system was to generate income and diversified products for the rural farmers. Besides, the BCR was an evident indication of the income and livelihood developments of farmers. The rural farmers were able to build their finical, physical and natural capital strongly, while the social and human capital developments would require further attention. Also, the local marketing system was a constraint factor for the farmers, thus, the farmers could not get the proper price of their jackfruit in the peak season. The scientific training on jackfruit-based agroforestry farming systems and local conflict resolution mechanism process from the government levels would speed up the income generation and livelihood development of the farmers in the Mymensingh region. Therefore, the study suggests to minimize the constraints of the agroforestry production systems through training, resolve marketing problems and also enhance social relationships through government official interference would be very effective to make the jackfruit-based agroforestry a more sustainable land-use practice in Bangladesh.

Keywords: Agroforestry, Jackfruit, Income, Benefi-tcost, Livelihood, Bangladesh

Location: Muktagasa, Ghagra and Birunia, three villages located in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh

Start Date: 00-00-2019

End Date: 00-00-2020

Program Area: Socio-economic and Policy

Non-commodity: Livelihood

Objectives:

The livelihoods of the rural farmers have been evaluated in this study with the help of DFID’s livelihood framework, particular the development of rural farmer’s livelihood capitals

Methodology:

Description of jackfruit-based traditional agroforestry Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) is a famous tropical fruit in the world and ranks third in the area under cultivation and second in production among the fruits in Bangladesh (BBS 2018). Being the national fruit of Bangladesh the jackfruit can be grown all over the country. However, the soil and climatic (reddish soil with high humidity and rainfall) condition of the greater Mymensingh region is good for jackfruit production (Khan 2008; Ullah and Haque 2008). Traditionally the farmers of the Mymensingh region grow jackfruit in their cropland, home gardens and other fellow lands as well. Farmers can grow different vegetables and cereal crops in association with jackfruit trees since the time memorial. However, the jackfruit tree having a wider canopy and extensive room systems which may compete with understory crops. Farmers in the Mymensingh region managed their jackfruit-based crop production through traditional knowledge, which may sometimes reduce the productivity of the agroforestry systems (Mia and Hussein 2010; Blanche 1999). Jackfruit tree bears fruit during April and ripening from June to August each year and farmers get a good amount of income from selling the fruits of jackfruit. Nevertheless, the timber of jackfruit is very useful for making furniture and thus, the farmers get a higher return in selling timber. The leaf of the jackfruit is also used for fodder. Study Area The study was conducted in Muktagasa, Ghagra and Birunia, three villages located in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh. The villages were belonging to the Old Brahmaputra Floodplain Agroecological zones and the soil of the Mymensingh region is a non-calcareous dark grey floodplain and the average rainfall is 2541mm per annum. The soil and climate of the Mymensingh region are good for vegetable cultivation as the soil is predominantly silt loams to silty clay loams. Farmers here grow different winter and summer vegetables like (cauliflower, cabbage, radish, etc.) and cereal and pulse crops (rice, lentils) in association with jackfruit trees. Sampling and data collection Before data collection, the study was collected traditional agroforestry farmers' information with an informal conversation with the local people of the communities and from the respective agricultural offices. A pilot survey of 5 farmers was conducted in the Mymensingh region and then the interview questionnaire was organized and confirmed for data collection. The preliminary data of this study was obtained through household interviews and focus group discussions. For the farmers’ household survey, the study selected 60 farmers randomly from the three villages, where 20 farmers represent each village. The selected farmers were practiced traditional agroforestry on their farms for more than 5 years. The interview was carried out with the assistance of a semi-structured questionnaire, which consists of farmers’ socioeconomic information, their agroforestry income, improvement of five livelihood capitals through agroforestry systems and the problems faced by the farmers in the community. Interviews were held in the daytime with the help of two enumerators in the native Bengali language. In addition to the household interview, the study also conducted focus group discussions and in each of the villages, two focus group discussions were conducted. The farmers were informed about the focus group discussion and their perceptions were recorded accordingly. Repeated conservation with farmers was made in each common and decision-making question to ensure the validity of the information. Finally, the collected data were verified, crosschecked and authenticated in the study, the whole data collection period was conducted between 2019 and 2020.

Source of Information: Vol 2 No 1 March 2021 Pages 55-61 e-ISSN 2708-5694

Article Link (Online Journal): Journal Homepage: http://journal.safebd.org/index.php/jafe http://doi.org/10.47440/JAFE.2021.2110

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Being a tree-crop-based production system, jackfruit agroforestry has numerous benefits that can contribute to rural farmers in respect of household income generation and livelihood improvements. The results of the study concluded that the jackfruit-based agroforestry has tremendous long-term benefits to farmers' total household income in maximizing the benefit-cost ratio of the farm. In addition, the rural farmers also faced some constraint which would hamper the productivity and outcomes of the traditional agroforestry system. The social relationship dynamics revealed that the participants had possessed a negative relationship with the local leaders and elites, and it is considered as one of the important issues to achieve the overall goal of the program. This community development process would speed up by the active participation of local leaders, agricultural officers and local governments as facilitators in this concern. Now there is a current need to develop the livelihood of the farmers by providing them training on scientific agroforestry production and improve their relationship with other stakeholders in order to promote a more effective agroforestry system in the Mymensingh region of Bangladesh. Finally, the study can substantiate that the jackfruit-based agroforestry could be a more sustainable land-use system if the government and related stakeholders would provide their mutual support to the rural farmers and dissolve their production problem in a sustainable scheme.

Knowledge Management: Journal