Increasing Crop Production Benefits to Small Producers in Bangladesh

Agricultural production in South Asia is characterized by intensive use of inputs, such as fertilizers and irrigation water, and by a focus on production of staple crops, especially rice. However, continued growth of the agriculture sector is hampered by a number of challenges. In Bangladesh, these challenges include declining productivity of inputs, resource degradation, and lack of crop diversification. Expansion of agricultural lands is not an option given high population density. Rather, greater efficiency in agricultural production is needed to increase benefits to small producers. This paper examined the benefits of key crop production decisions for rural livelihoods across Bangladesh in order to suggest ways in which producers can increase returns to crop production. The study used plot-level data from…