In Shropshire, in the United Kingdom, family farming is disappearing day by day. For many whose ancestors farmed, farming ended with their grandfather's or father's generation. Some still farm, but the next generation is not interested.

Landowner and farmer Stephen said much land now lies idle. He has kept his ancestors' profession, but of his two children, one is a doctor and the other an engineer, and they cannot imagine farming.

In the developed world, farming is passing from traditional farm families to businesses. In Bangladesh, it is passing from landowners to farm labourers and sharecroppers.

In the Muladuli agricultural block of Ishwardi upazila, Pabna, almost all cultivated land in eight villages is farmed by sharecroppers who were farm labourers until recently. One said he owns no land and farms others'. Some lease land at 12,000 taka per bigha a year.

Sharecroppers say landowners fear losing face if they work in the fields. Former farmer and landowner Aminur Rahman Babu said farmers were ruined over the past two years, unable even to recover costs for lack of a market. A tenant said owners harvesting in Jyoishtha get 20 maunds of paddy per bigha, worth about 10,000 taka, while the lease brings owners income at no cost.

Farming is now profitable for sharecroppers, who are becoming landowners. Some who started with one bigha now farm ten within five years, and some have saved 1.5 million taka.

Field experts say the soil is losing its guardians. Sub-assistant agriculture officer Rumana Parvin said owners no longer supervise the land, and some tenants apply salt to push yields. Policymakers must consider this shift in food security and farm planning: farm trade and profit are being divided among large, medium and marginal farmers, strengthening the rural economy.

Source: Shykh Seraj, Hridoye Mati O Manush. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.