12-04-2014, 11:55 AM
Importance of Agriculture in the Economy of Bangladesh
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1. Prime occupation: 75% of the total population is directly or indirectly engaged in agriculture and agricultural related work. That means dependency on agriculture is enormous here. Whereas 6% of total population depends on agriculture directly in USA and in England 3% only.
2. Main source of national income: At present the contribution of agriculture in the national income of Bangladesh is about 20%. That means, the increase of national income mostly depends on the increase production of agriculture.
3. Raw-materials for industry: The acquisition of raw-materials of key industries in Bangladesh mostly comes from agriculture. Like, jute, cotton/yarn, silk, various raw materials for pharmaceuticals, rubber for producing tires, gum pipes, rubber sheets, and cord rings etc.
4. Source of earning foreign currency: The key sources of earning foreign currency in agriculture in Bangladesh are raw jute, tea, newsprint, RMG (agriculture related industry), rubber, tobacco etc. Healthy performance of RMG, jute and jute goods and frozen foods, the government is likely to set the export target at around US$ 25 billion during the next financial year. The overall export during the ten months (July-April) of the current fiscal stood at US$ 18.2 billion. During the July-April period, jute and jute goods totaled US$ 924.78 million. Raw jute exports fetched US$ 289.82 million, jute yarn and twine US$ 422.53 million, jute sacks and bags US$ 171.54 million and other items brought in some US$ 40.89 million. Export earnings for the 2009-10 fiscal was US$16.2 billion against a target of US$ 17.6 billion.
5. Acquisition of fulfilling prime needs:
Acquisition of fuel: (jute stick, bamboo, wood, coal)
Acquisition of food: Our main or staple agro-foods include rice, maize/corn, wheat, pulse etc.
Acquisition of cloths: Like, yarn, silk, rayon etc used for textile purpose.
Acquisition of the elements of shelter: Wood, bamboo etc.
6. Creating market scope: Agriculture not only provides the raw-materials for industry but also creates the materials for agro-market. Like chemical fertilizer, insect-killer, seeds, agro equipment, irrigation machine etc.
7. Important source of govt. income: Agriculture is one of the key sources of govt. income. The sources include agro-tax, export tariff etc
8. Localization of industries: The localization of industries could be depending on a country’s agriculture. The factors affecting the location of industries are the availability of key raw material, land, utility, market etc. In Bangladesh, examples could be silk industry of Rajshahi, tea in sylhet, Tangail sari, tobacco in Rangpur etc.
9. Overall economical development: The overall economical development also depends on the development of agriculture. The development of agriculture creates –
Increase of income
Increase of purchasing power
Increase the demand of industrial materials