Opportunities and constraints of Crop Diversification

Crop diversification is the shifting from one crop or cropping system to another crop or cropping system which is done by observing the market demand for making more benefit. It is now practiced more or less by the farmers of Bangladesh. It is becoming popular day by day. However, there are both opportunities and constraints for the diversification of crop in this country which are given below under the head.

Opportunities:

The term crop diversification is now a more discussed topic in the arena of agriculture throughout the world. The opportunities of practicing crop diversification in the Bangladesh are as follows:

1. Bangladesh is such a country which have favorable climate with six different seasons. As a result, there are ample opportunities for the cultivation of different crops.
2. The soils of this country is very fertile which can do possible the farmers to grow various crops by balancing major crop with minor crop.
3. Minor crops can be grown easily in the seasonal fallow land after harvesting major crops by managing irrigation with proper technologies.
4. The food consumption habit of the consumer is changing every day with the advancement of economic condition. People move away from a diet based on staples to one with animal products and fruits and vegetables. In turn, farmers can go for diversification of crop to meet these needs.
5. The agricultural produce is now exported to the foreign countries. The crop diversification is necessary to keep it up in future.
6. The government has taken different measures for getting suitable market value of the minor crops. As a result, the farmers can diversify their farming to get more output.
7. The yield of minor crops can be increased by improving agronomic management practices with the remaining crop varieties. This will obviously encourage the farmers to grow minor crops in their land.
8. Diversification from staple crops to other crops can add more nutritional value to the food which can encourage farmers to do it.
9. There are so many varieties of different crop released by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute which are compatible with the diversification of crop.
10. A lot of research is going on for practicing crop diversification to support the increasing population with food, nutrients, clothing and housing from the decreasing land resources.
11. The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) is the leading government organization for the dissemination of new technologies in the farmer level. It is playing an active and vital role to disseminate this technology.
12. There are many NGOs running in this country which are trying their best for food security by disseminating crop diversification program.

Constraints:

Each crop has different set of limitations for practicing diversification. But there are some constraints which are common for every crop. These are:

1. Most of the farmers of this country use their cultivable land for growing high yielding Boro rice varieties. As a result, the suitable land is always not found for cultivating other crops for diversification.
2. Most of crops which are suitable for diversification except pulses need irrigation during the dry season. But the farmers who are economically weak cannot afford to irrigate crops rather than rice.
3. Although there are many varieties for practicing crop diversification, the dissemination of these varieties is still limited.
4. A greater portion of pulses, oilseeds and edible oils are imported from the foreign country every year. This bring down the local price for pulses. As a result farmers has to compete with international markets which discourage them to produce those in their land.
5. There is a very common scenery of market price in Bangladesh which is the price of most crops are at the lowest level during harvesting period. As a result, farmers has to sell their produce at cheap rate to meet their cash demands.
6. There is insufficiency of agricultural credit supply which acts as a deterrent for diversifying the crop.
7. The quality seeds are not always found at the required time which discourage farmers to go towards diversification.

The implementation of crop diversification has brought a golden opportunity to commercialize the production of those crop which have high market value and can act as substitute for import oriented crops. This program can also play a vital role for exporting agricultural produce to the foreign. So, we all have to come forward to diversify the crops for enriching Bangladesh.

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