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Yield, Profitability, and Prospects of Irrigated Boro Rice Cultivation in the North-west Region of Bangladesh

Mohammed Mainuddin
CSIRO Land and Water, Black Mountain, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.

Md. Mahbubul Alam
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh.

Md. Maniruzzaman
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh.

Md. Jahangir Kabir
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh.

Mohammad A. Mojid
Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.

Md. Masud Hasan
Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

Erik J. Schmidt
University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.

Md. Towfiqul Islam
Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur, Bangladesh.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The North-West (NW) region of Bangladesh is pivotal for the country’s agricultural development, mainly in producing irrigated Boro rice. However, increasing cost of irrigation water, fertilizers, labour, and other inputs, and the Spatio-temporal variation in actual yield, market price and profitability of rice have added uncertainty to the sustainability of Boro rice cultivation. In this study, we evaluated the productivity, profitability, and prospect of Boro rice production using comprehensive field data collected directly from 420 farmers’ fields over two consecutive seasons (2015–16 and 2016–17), across seven geographically distributed locations in the NW region. We also analyzed the risk and return trade of popular Boro rice cultivars using Monte-Carlo simulation. The results show that there were significant (p≤0.05) variations in rice yield between sites, irrigation pump-types, and rice varieties, with Hybrid rice and BRRI dhan29 producing the highest yields (6.0–7.5 t/ha). Due to different pricing systems, the cost of irrigation water varied from site to site and from year to year, but always comprised the highest input cost (20–25% of total production). The total paid-out cost, gross benefit, and gross income of rice significantly (p≤0.05) differed between sites, type of irrigation pumps, rice varieties, transplanting dates, and two cropping years. The variations in observed yield and profitability reveal considerable scope to improve rice production systems. Market variation in the price of rice affected overall profitability significantly. Probability and risk analysis results show that Minikit and BRRI dhan29 are the most stable varieties for yield and profitability. Hybrid rice, which has the maximum attainable yield among the cultivated rice varieties, also has the risk of negative net income. Based on the analysis, we discussed ways to improve yield and profitability and the prospect of Boro rice cultivation in the region. The study provides valuable information for policy-makers to sustain irrigated rice cultivation in both the NW region and nationally.

Keywords: Yield, Profitability, Prospects, Irrigated, Boro rice, Cultivation

Location: CSIRO and Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI).

Start Date: 00-00-2015

End Date: 00-00-2017

Program Area: Crop-Soil-Water Management

Commodity: Boro rice, Irrigation scheduling

Objectives:

The specific objectives were: (i) to assess the variability in the actual yield of rice at different sites for different rice varieties, irrigation well-operating modes, and transplanting dates, (ii) to identify the cause(s) of productivity variations, (iii) to estimate the profitability and risk of rice cultivation, and (iv) to make suggestions for improving productivity and profitability of irrigated Boro rice cultivation.

Methodology:

The NW region of Bangladesh comprising 23.5% (34,515 km²) of the country’s total area is divided into 16 administrative districts. The annual rainfall in the region varies from 1,273 to 2,515 mm (1985–2010). The Rajshahi area has the lowest (1,428 mm) and the Rangpur area has the highest (2,262 mm) average annual rainfall. Most of the rainfall (82%) occurs during the monsoon (May–October) and the rest (18%) occurs during the dry season (November–April). The monthly average temperature ranges from 25°C to 35°C in the hottest period and from 9°C to 15°C in the coolest period. The annual average relative humidity is 78% with the lowest monthly average (62%) in March and the highest (87%) in July. The average reference evapotranspiration (ETo) in the region is 1,309 mm. which is close to the country’s highest ETo (1,334 mm) observed in the South-West region. ETo varies both spatially and temporally (CV = 6–8%) with the highest average value of 1,366 mm in Ishurdi and the lowest average value of 1,251 mm in Rangpur. Several criteria were adopted in selecting the sites, including (i) a good geographical spread within NW Bangladesh, (ii) a combination of DTWs and/or STWs covering at least 10–20 ha agricultural lands bounded by village homes, (iii) both diesel- and electrically-operated STWs, and DTWs were considered (iv) irrigation is done predominantly for Boro rice, (v) a range of water pricing systems, and (vi) the sites are convenient for communication. Four water pricing systems were considered. These were share of the crop as water charge, usage of a smart card, land area-based fixed water charge, and diesel paid by farmer plus a land area-based fixed charge. Rajshahi, Pabna, Bogra, Rangpur, Dinajpur, and Thakurgaon districts were selected in the 1st stage of monitoring and data collection (2015–16). DTW is the predominant irrigation technology in Rajshahi and Thakurgaon sites. STW irrigation is predominant in the other four sites, although both DTWs and STWs are used. Most of the farmers in these sites are marginal and tenant farmers and grows Boro rice in the dry season. Most of the farmers buy water from the pump owner to irrigate their crops. There is a vibrant water market. A total of 14 STWs and 3 DTWs were selected in the six sites. All these sites were selected following the ethical guidelines of implementing organizations, CSIRO and Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). BRRI conducted the study at the field level, which is a government research organization mandated to carry out rice-related research in the farmers’ field. The ethics permission was given by CSIRO and BRRI. The study was carried out on farmers’ fields and the owner of the land gave permission to conduct the study on these sites. Field studies did not involve endangered or protected species. Monitoring and data recording started at the beginning of the crop season (November 2015). STWs have a small command area so all the fields irrigated by an STW were considered for investigation. The command areas of the DTWs are quite large and water is supplied through buried pipes. There are outlets at certain intervals through which water is delivered to the farm channels for the farmers to irrigate their fields. So, the command areas of three outlets (at the head, middle and tail end) in each DTW site were considered for investigation. Considering the large volume of data collection, the monitoring was not continued in 2016–17 in Tanore and Kaharol and the number of STWs in Mithapukur and Ishurdi was reduced. However, one additional site, where irrigation pumps are operated by solar power, was selected at Badarganj Upazilla of Rangpur district for data collection in 2016–2017. A total of 235 fields covering 35.06 ha and 185 fields covering 24.62 ha were monitored respectively in 2015–16 and 2016–17. So, our study is based on 425 farmers over two seasons. Several similar studies are conducted based on the data of one year. For example, Shah et al. considered 425 farmers in a year of which 79 were non-adopters and 346 were adopters of hybrid rice. However, in the analysis, they did not consider non-adopters. Rahman and Parkinson used 380 samples from 3 study locations for one crop year (1996). A total number of 390 households from 15 villages were surveyed in a season by Roy et al. to assess the rice farming sustainability in Bangladesh. All this evidence justifies the adequacy of the data for this study.

Source of Information: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research-16(4); 2021

Article Link (Online Journal): https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250897

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Irrigated Boro rice production in the North-West region of Bangladesh is crucial for the coun- try’s self-sufficiency in rice production. Boro rice yield, paid-out cost, gross benefit, and gross income vary in between rice varieties, transplanting dates, farmland sites, and irrigation well-operating modes. We monitored actual Boro rice production factors in 420 fields across the region over two consecutive crop seasons and analyzed the yield, profitability, and risk. Although other studies have addressed the issues of Boro rice production, very few of them did risk analysis of varieties and have used such comprehensive data collected directly from farmland which stands our findings on a stronger footing. Our results show that uncertainty of input costs, productivity, and profitability are serious concerns for sustaining Boro production. Amongst the input costs, irrigation is the highest contributor to the production cost (20–25%). This implies that government policies must target affordable irrigation water availability to the farmers. We also observed that the costs of inputs do not vary in between cultivating different rice varieties but are increasing in recent years which needs to be stabilized to minimize farm- ers’ risks. The trend of increasing labor cost for transplanting and harvesting, which totals about 40% of the labor cost of production, is likely to continue in the future. Efforts must be made to mechanize the transplanting and harvesting operations. We found that Hybrid rice and BRRI dhan29 have the highest yields amongst different cultivated varieties. However, Hybrid rice yield was found to be most unstable, and farmers' gross income was lower than most other varieties. Thus, the government and the private sector’s push to promote the cultivation of Hybrid rice needs to be carefully monitored and re-evaluated. Interestingly, we found that BRRI dhan29’s yield and gross income are comparatively stable across the sites and over the years. However, this variety may only be suitable for commercial farming since it has a longer growing period and may not fit in farmer's cropping calendar in places where three or more crops are grown in a year. Another option for commercial farming is Minikit cultivation which has zero negative net income. For semi-subsistence farming, BRRI dhan28 is a good option. Another major finding of the research is that the variation in the market price of rice has a serious impact on overall profitability. Farmers gross benefit increased twofold in 2016–17 than the previous year primarily due to the higher market price. This result highlights that the market price needs to be adequate and stable to ensure farmers' profitability and sustainability.

Knowledge Management: Journal