Policies and Implementation Strategies for Strengthening Agricultural Mechanization in Bangladesh

Abstract

The demand for mechanization as an important input to achieve higher agricultural production has lately been recognized by our policy makers and planners. For a long period of time agricultural mechanization, especially the use of machines like power tillers, irrigation pumps, threshers and many other equipment are expanding without any specific policy guidelines. Nonetheless mechanization has brought a substantial production increase through timely cultivation, irrigation, harvesting and threshing. The impacts of mechanization are now visible in the technical skills development within local workshops, better livelihoods for farm workers and employment in the rural non-farm sectors. Besides local manufacturing capacity of small machines, equipments and spare parts by light engineering industries are growing but at a slower space due to many problems faced by them. These enterprises are not capable enough to compete with foreign manufacturers in terms of quality and performances. The need for technical assistance, innovation, government support and proper policies are essential to make the local entrepreneurs viable and capable to meet the local demands of machines and equipments. This paper reviews the present status of mechanization, highlights the proposed policies and implementation strategies to be undertaken by the government to strengthen agricultural mechanization in order to make progress in the agricultural sector.