The number of cattle, goats, buffaloes and poultry in Bangladesh has increased, according to a census covering land ownership, land use, crops, farm employment, farm machinery and livestock. The survey was carried out from 14 April 2018 to 13 April 2019.

The survey, titled Agriculture Census 2019, was released on Tuesday 27 December at an event in the auditorium of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

The census found that farmers' cattle numbers rose by 38 lakh in one year. In 2018 there were 2 crore 56 lakh cattle in rural and urban areas across the country, rising to 2 crore 94 lakh in 2019. Goats numbered 1 crore 63 lakh in 2018 and 1 crore 95 lakh in 2019.

Poultry numbers rose by about 10 crore on the previous year, from 9 crore 78 lakh in 2018 to 19 crore 94 lakh in 2019. Buffaloes rose by 95,000 in a year to 6,36,926.

According to the 2019 census, there are 3 crore 55 lakh households, of which 1 crore 68 lakh are farm households and 92,000 are agricultural labour households. There are also 12 lakh fishing households.

Project director of the survey Alauddin Al Azad said at the event that farm households have not grown at the same rate as households in general. The country's total cultivable land is 1 crore 86 lakh 81 thousand acres, of which 1 crore 64 lakh 23 thousand acres are under temporary crops and 19 lakh 70 thousand acres under permanent crops.

He said the report shows that compared with 2008, the land under Aus fell somewhat in 2019, while land under Aman, Boro, potato, wheat, maize, jute and other crops rose significantly. Cropping intensity in this census is 214, against 173 in 2008.

According to the Agriculture Census 2019, total land under fish farming is 12 lakh 12 thousand 107 acres. By use, ponds account for the most, 6 lakh 81 thousand acres.

The census also says total cultivable land fell by 0.23 per cent in the period, and land under temporary crops by 0.64 per cent. Aus covers 24 lakh acres; Aman and Boro 1 crore 19 lakh and 1 crore 10 lakh acres respectively; and wheat, jute, potato and maize 8 lakh, 16 lakh, 11 lakh and 10 lakh acres respectively.

Planning Minister MA Mannan was chief guest at the launch, and State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam was special guest. Md Matiar Rahman, director general of the Bureau of Statistics, presided.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.