Agriculture History

in #food6 years ago

The scientific method of production of agricultural (agricultural) crops and other agricultural resources. Other subdivisions in the field of agriculture include livestock, fisheries, and forest. The agricultural activities of Bangladesh are largely dependent on rainfall. Since agriculture is the mainstay of the life of Bangladesh, other relevant topics related to agriculture are presented below.

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History
History Agriculture is the source of livelihood of Bengalis. The condition of other parts of the subcontinent is almost identical. But due to the fact that almost all the major rivers including the Padma, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna and the abundant branches of the whole of Bengal, have been relatively easy to cultivate here since ancient times and the population pressure on agriculture was too high. This pressure increased further in the beginning of British rule, especially due to the reduction in the production of cotton textiles. In fact, by the year 1921, about four-fifths (77.3%) of the total population became agricultural, which was 69.8% of the total of India. In the British period, the public was of different social classes, on one hand, landlords (zamindars) and various types of intermediaries, on the one hand, on different levels of rent, on the other hand, raiyats, bargadars and farmmen. But raiyatai was directly involved in farming. Among the two parts of Bengal, the pressure of population on agriculture was seen in the land known as the present Bangladesh.

The most important features of agricultural economy during the ancient, medieval and British periods were the overwhelming majority of crop production as the sub-sector. The other three sub-sectors of agriculture, livestock, fishery and forest were relatively unimportant. Various types of crops were planted and according to the time of collection in government publication, they were mentioned in three titles: Bhadai (Sharad), Kharif (Haimanti) and Robi (Basanti). Among these crops were paddy, jute, wheat, barley, sugarcane, tobacco, oilseed, potato, onion, garlic, opium, blue, tea, various vegetables, pulses, perfume and spices. Paddy was one of the most important and oldest grains. In the Mahasthan Brahmi inscription, the earliest mention of rice was found in third or second century BC. In other writings, this crop is mentioned in Kalidas 'Raghuvansh' and 'Ramchirit' and 'Kasupala' and 'Saduktikarnamrta'.

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There is a great deal of rice fields especially in different scripts in the Sena regime. In the Anuliya copperplate of Laksman Sen, there is a mention of cutting of shalis. There is also more in the same script, that some villages, including Rajan Brahman's Dhanjeem, donate. There is another mention of rice in the Idilpur copperplate. In this, the rice is called as sali in general terms. In fact, it is the best in many different species of Bengal, Varendra, Gaur, Pundrabadharna, Radha and Samatata, which are some of the earliest habitations of Bengal. There are also mention of growing many other crops in ancient Bengal such as cotton, barley, mustard, sugarcane and pulses like kalai and mung. Cotton was the most important commercial crop. Various sources of cotton cultivation in ancient Bengal are known. Besides these crops, many vegetables and fruits were produced. The following vegetables are mentioned in Khana's talk: eggplant, lau, radish, raisins, pepper, yellow, patal. Various kinds of fruits like mango, jackfruit, pomegranate, banana, Mahua, date palms, lime, figs, tamarind, coconut etc. were very abundant. Mammal and jackfruit references are found in many sculptures of Pala and Sena.

Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang, who visited Bengal in the 7th century, wrote about adequate jackfruit in Pundravardhana. This fruit is mentioned in Lakhmana Sen's Gobindapur copper plate and Tamralipti of Calcutta Sahitya Parishad Vishwarup Sen. Pictures of bananas are often seen in terracotta plaques in Paharpur. From the inscriptions of Chandra, Varman and Sen, it is clear that since 8th century, coconut cultivation was going on in Bengal. Drinks, betel nut, etc. A group of people called Baru or Barujibi used to cultivate it. These crops were exported to other parts of India. Another material was used to build bamboo houses, baskets and sun-ceiling ceilings. In the book 'Ramchrita', Varendra has been described as the place of interesting flowers of Ashoka, Keshar, Mahua, Kanak, Ketaki, Malati, Nagkeshar and Padma. Herbal fruit trees, such as Amalaki, Bahira, Hiritaki, were planted in ancient Bengal.

Cows were the main livestock of farmers used for cultivation, transportation and various dairy products. Sometimes people's wealth was measured by the number of cattle. According to some quotes from the Pala and Sena kings' grants, there are various kinds of grass for the cattle in the pasturage and they are usually located near the village. The villagers sometimes used to jointly hire the shepherd, that every day the owner's cow's poultry would be taken out of the fields or cultivars and brought back to dusk. The important components of food were milk, curd, butter and ghee. The cow's bone fertilizer was used as fertilizer and dung was used as fuel. Other animals mentioned in sculptures, inscriptions and literature include buffalo, horses, goats, sheep, deer, monkeys, pigs, foxes, lions, tigers etc. There was a lot of fish and marine fish, and it was an important part of food.

There are lots of information about the fertility of the land of ancient Bengal from different print and writing. Hiuen-Tsang observed intensive and regular cultivation in the land. Some of the poems of 'Saduktikarnamata' have been supported by this description. Of course, not all the land was fertile and they did not get enough rain water, so they needed artificial irrigation. Owing to the various water bodies of various rulers, such as Mahipal, Ramsagar, Pranasagar and other places of North Bengal, probably many such ponds were excavated. People knew the well-being techniques for reaching underground streams and in some cases they changed the course of the river for supplying water to the drain or canal. They also mastered the technique of water control to submerge the canals with water in the canals. William Wilcox says the ancient method 'overflow irrigation'. The names of various types of agricultural tools used at this time are known from different sources. These are the sesame seeds, da, kaste, pashi, peshanbari and dhanki. Most of these tools were made by village artisans and carpenters. The 'Kasapala' written in Rameshwar has been described in various tectonic techniques. Most of the copperplates in the Gupta era mentioned in Bengal are that the state or the state itself was selling the land and if it was donated to religious work, the king had to give one-sixth part of the religious income received from the land grant. In reality, application of land for every land was to be submitted to the king through local officials, and in the case of religious allowance the permission of the king would have been particularly necessary, because the only king had the power to exempt all the royal dues from the land.

Thus, according to the available information of ancient times, it was known that the king or the state was the owner of the land. Some proponents of the existence of land ownership of the land present in this argument argue that the land mentioned in most of the inscription was either fallen or opened. But in the three copperplates found in Faridpur and most of the Pal and Sen inscriptions are not only fall, but the entire village grants are also mentioned. In these villages there would definitely be homesteads and land under cultivation. Again, there is evidence of King's ownership in the forest area of ​​Tripura donation of Loknath. Another proof for the royal ownership of the land is that the king could confiscate or grant a grant to grant it to another person. Of course, although the owner of the land was owned by the farmers living in the village, the cultivation was done by the farmers and the cultivation was based on individual farm based organizations. The share of the king of agriculture was the main source of state income. But the names obtained in the sources received are not known, but how much the state was able to produce revenue and other taxes as well as other taxes. Though most of the land revenue is determined as a piece of land, but in some cases it is difficult to divide because of the share of the crop. Perhaps the diamond was such a tax. In some places farmers used to pay royal dues as the number of tillers used for cultivation.

Full descriptions of the description of foreign tourists and the condition of medieval agriculture from local writings are available. Foreign tourists, however, made high progress in the fertility and agricultural progress of Bengal soil. For example, in the description of a Chinese traveler from 1349-50, it is found that 'the seasons of heaven have spread the wealth of the world to the whole of the kingdom.' At almost the same time, Ibn Batuta traveled to East Bengal. During his journey, he traveled from Sylhet to Sonargaon for 15 days on the river and saw the fruitbaghan, the improved drinking system, the rich village and the Bagabagicha, as if we were moving through a market. At the time of Shaista Khan, Bernier came to Bengal. He observed the very fertile field of crops including various mechanized drinking water on both banks of the Padma. According to Abul Fazl's description, a special type of rice was planted and cut three times in the same year without little damage to the crops. But this is not considered as an indicator of the general fertility of the land. Even in the middle of the twentieth century, three crops have been planted on very low land.

There is no doubt about the authenticity of contemporary information related to agricultural prosperity. During the Sultanate and Mughal era there was considerable development of Bengal agriculture. With the names of many places, 'Aad' (attachment) attachment (such as Fatehabad and Khalifabad) may be evidence of those places coming under cultivation. The government took some steps to expand agricultural through land reclamation. For example, the government would give loans to the farmers to assist in the purchase of seeds and bullocks or agricultural machinery and tools. In order to encourage the cultivation of fallen land, the farmers would have been gradually increased by paying less rent to the farmers, and finally the whole rent was paid. The main reason behind these steps taken by the government was the expansion of cultivation, the main source of government income, land revenue increase. Of course, population growth has played a key role in agricultural expansion. In the absence of necessary information, the calculation of the increase in the crop land in the medieval period was not known. But in the Mughal period (1526-1707 AD) the idea of ​​doubling the amount of crop land in some parts of Bengal (in other parts of the Mughal region), Irfan Habib is questionable.

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The main agricultural commodity of medieval age was rice. It was so much that after meeting the local demand there was enough surplus for export. There were roughly three types of rice cultivation. These are Aus (Hemant), Aman (winter) and Boro (summer). There were many different types of these three types, and many of these names are mentioned in contemporary sources, including 'Shuny Puran' and 'Shivanan'. Of course, there were thousands of varieties of rice according to zero. Although a granary of every kind of rice is collected, a large pot will be filled up, according to Mughal historian Abul Fazl, who commented on the above information he got strong support. This description is not exaggerated. In the first decade of the twentieth century, in an exhibition held in Calcutta, in reality, more than thousand types of rice are displayed. Abul Fazal has described a particular species of rice which increases with the increase in water depth, so that the water can not harm any crop. Here he may have mentioned the Aman rice, which means water of the flood prone area, which means water. There is also a winter variety of aman, and it is planta aman.

Cotton and mulberry were two very important artistic crops in the province. In fact, cotton and silk were the main industries of Bengal. Cotton was produced in various districts of West, North and East Bengal. In West Bengal, enough cotton was born in Birbhum, Bardhaman and Nadia districts and mainly in Rangpur, Malda and Dinajpur districts in north Bengal. Of course, the high quality cotton made in the famous muslin industry, in effect, resulted in in Dhaka and Mymensingh districts. One of the agents of East India Company, named John Taylor, mentioned in 1800 that cotton (cotton) was produced around the city and near the Meghna river, 'the best quality compared to any part of the world'. Taylor also writes that cotton seeds were sown in October-November and crops were harvested in April-May. With the deterioration of cotton textiles during the East India Company, cotton cultivation in Bengal was actually stopped. For the silkworm, mulberry growers in central and north Bengal, especially in Murshidabad and Rajshahi districts. Very likely the crop was introduced from China and in the fifteenth century a silk reference for the first time was found in the description of a Chinese tourist in Bengal. The mention of mulberry culture has been found in the writings of Abul Fazl, Teverniar and Barneyer and in the documentary of the English factory. In 1666 AD, Tavernier, who visited Kasimbazar, mentioned that the annual production of silk in Kashimbazar was about 25 lakh pounds, with a portion being exported to other parts of India.

Another commercial crop was sugarcane. Until 1756, a significant trade of Bengal sugar was introduced with Madras, Bombay, Malabar coast, Surat, Sindh, Mascot, Mecca and Jeddah. Even in the seventeenth century, Bengal was the main center of the industry, with the export of huge quantities of sugar. There is clear evidence of Barbosa, Barthama and Berniera and English and Dutch documents. It is understood that sugarcane was an important economic crop in medieval Bengal. During the second half of the eighteenth century, the export trade was reduced and sugar produced could only meet its own needs in the province. In a certain part of the land, commercial crops like several varieties of mustard seed and other oilseed were produced. At this time some new crops were introduced in the province, tobacco, maize and possibly blue. Similarly, three new fruits - almonds, pineapple and papaya arrive from the west. Sweet potatoes and ordinary potatoes are already enamored. In this way, the Bengali peasants are not only cultivating various crops but also encouraging new crops. Apart from this, contemporary narrations show that there are many types of fish in rivers, farms, haors, bills, ponds, and oceans.

In the medieval period, some information was found about the amount of agricultural commodities used by the government as land revenue and other taxes. In the fourteenth century, the visiting tourist Ibn Batuta mentions that villagers on the banks of the Nile River gave half of their produce as landlords with other materials. Wang-ta-Yuan in Wang-ta-Yuan, said in a written statement that in the medieval period, the state collected one-fifth of the total production as tax. It is possible to explain this apparent inequality easily if there is difference in the rate of revenue in different regions according to the nature of the land and the nature of the crop. Thus, in the Sultanate period, different rates of revenue from one fifth to half of agricultural commodities were introduced. During Akbar, the fixed rate was one-third of the product. This rate continued even during the Murshid Quli Khan period. Of course, apart from land revenue, there were also other rural people and it was mentioned that in India these extra taxes amounted to almost a quarter of the total land revenue. Therefore, in the medieval Bengal, the rate of revenue was very high considering any specific value.

Revenue for every single land or fixed village would be fixed at a fixed rate for each single amount. In some places, land revenue was introduced based on the number of plow numbers. Land revenue and other taxes were paid in cash. That is, a significant portion of the agricultural produce produced by the farmers had to be sold. On the other hand, the productivity grew substantially. Villagers used to sell money and food grains in the city market, but they did not buy much in return. Because all non-agriculturally needed villagers were born in the village. It can be said that every village in the medieval period was self-reliant. Land revenue was provided with the help of the staff, known as zamindars, a class of tribal merchants, and a variety of common ancestry. In the Sultanate and Mughal period, the practice of pampering farmers was generally introduced. In the book 'Shivanan' of 'Chandimangal' and Rameshwar Bhattacharya of Kabikankan, the story of the extramarital subjects receiving acceptance of patta from Indra and Kalketu respectively. The subjects were two types of khudkasta and sapaksa. Early British officers used to call the first class people a permanent peasant. Farmers of second class temporarily used to come from other villages for land cultivation and they would generally pay less rent than farmers.

The cultivation system and agricultural machinery and tools were similar to the ancient era. During this time the Chittagong Hill Tracts, which included Bengal province, was the only exception to the cultivation system. The traditional zum cultivation continues to this day. The method of raising water from the well was not developed yet. The 'Persian Wheel' introduced in North India was not known in Bengal. Fertilizer application in the field was probably similar. As a result, the important crop in Mughal period is not to be more than the last or twentieth century or the previous period. At that time it was argued that the yield of the crop could be high for bringing more fertile land under cultivation. But it can also be said that due to the favorable proportion of the land and the people, the cultivation of short-lived cultivation was followed. The favorable land-man ratio shows that per capita production in medieval Bengal was relatively high. Low prices of agricultural commodities which attracted foreign tourists in the medieval age may be considered as an indicator of the abundance of agricultural commodities.

The production of crops was never affected by excessive rainfall, rain or rain. At some places in the province, sometimes the situation of famine may have occurred. Second, there was a certain level of inequality among the peasantry. On the one hand, there was so much land in the one-grade rural household that cultivation was not possible in family labor only, whereas there was no other land in the other category or even very little. From this it is understood that a section of rural families used to earn livelihood as an agricultural worker. So the average per capita production was high, but the distribution was uneven. Thirdly, the state's demands on farmers were excessive, about 40% of total production. In the end, agricultural supply was sufficient for the agro-based mass population, but overall quality of living was not satisfactory. It became clear from the description of foreign tourists and the sources of local sources. Abul Fazal said that the common people of Bengal used to keep the entire body around the waist. It is not acceptable for climate or social customs to happen. The upper class could be separated from the costly cloth and the value. At that time, cotton production and loom circulation in Bengal was very extensive. Compared to rice and rice, the clothes were expensive. The use of shoe was not widespread, and according to Morland, it was due to the high value of the skin. Most of the peasants were living in a clod of clay clay. Apart from stools and bamboo sticks, farmers do not have any other furniture in the house. Because the bargain or copper utensil was very expensive, the public generally did not use them. Therefore, despite the abundance of agricultural produce, the people of Bengal lived a high standard and found it very difficult to find such patterns.

There has been a significant expansion of the agricultural sector of the Indian subcontinent in British colonial rule. The total amount and value of agricultural production increased mainly through the expansion of the cultivation of land. In addition, India has changed its role as a supplier of agricultural products from industrial production and with the development of certain industrial and city centers, the internal market expanded, production becomes more important for the market than in the past. This was despite the decline in the traditional industry and the increase in population, despite the increased (population) pressure on the agricultural sector. The necessity of expansion of the market in Bengal was first felt, as it was the first British rule.

At the end of the eighteenth century, there was a land of cultivable land across the vast area of ​​Bengal. It is important to stay in it because the famine of 1770 caused massive massacre in different parts of the province. But in the next century the crop area expanded rapidly and in the beginning of the twentieth century it literally reached the end (there was no such scope for expansion of cultivation). Of course, the expansion of the cultivation of the time was mainly centralized in the present Bangladesh land. Thus, in the nineteenth century, the greater part of Chittagong and Noakhali, the majority of the Meghna estuarine, including the Tripura (present Comilla district), Baroind region, Sunderbans and the haor areas of northeast Bengal came under full farming. The farmers of three districts of 24 Parganas, Khulna and Bakerganj take part in the recovery of Sundarban area. Population growth in new areas of farming is seen in the census statistics. Of course, the cultivation of cultivation in these districts by the Sundarbans was actually higher than the rate of population growth. As a result of greater fertility of the soil, farming of a greater area than any other place was possible for a person. In addition, a large part of the cultivation was made of non-residents who returned to their village after the cultivation of seasonal land. Another area of ​​recovery was the fertile sedimentary land in the rivers in these districts. This was the highest in Bakerganj district. The vast area of ​​Tripura district was brought under cultivation. In addition to the newly formed all-agricultural settlements in East Bengal, there were several districts having their own special cultivable areas. Such areas in the districts of Dhaka and Mymensingh were almost deserted Madhupur jungle. One-third of the southern part of Dinajpur, half of eastern Malda, half-west of Bogra and a quarter of north of Rajshahi were used to cultivate the land of the Barind region by immigrant Santal workers. Of course, in some parts of western and central Bengal, the situation was different. There was a deforestation of the river system from the ancient times in the natural process. Due to the construction of railways and connecting roads for connecting remote villages with the railway, this degradation is accelerated at that time. As a result, two adverse effects have occurred, reducing the productivity of the soil and the malaria prevalence. Due to the latter, the rate of growth of the population has decreased. In this context, in the second half of the nineteenth century, the cultivation of land in districts like Nadia, Birbhum, Midnapore, Hooghly and Jessore declined or remained unchanged. Although there was a difference of production capacity in two parts of the province of the depleted and active delta region, the overall production in Bengal was increasingly quantitatively and due to the price rise, at the cost. In the nineteenth century there was no significant increase in the rate of yield of different crops in East Bengal districts.

The description of crop production in the nineteenth century is based on the individual assessment of the officials concerned and the statistics of census population every ten years, but no chronological data of the yield of cropland and acres. The government started providing such information only after 1891/92. The relevant publications are Estimates of Area and Yields of Principal Crops in India, Agricultural Statistics of India, Agricultural Statistics of Bengal, Season and Crop Report. There is a detailed discussion on the reliability of these figures. Officially published statistics show that in some districts of West and Madhya Pradesh, the amount of cultivable land was reduced or reduced. On the contrary, the proportion of landowners in eastern districts has increased marginally (especially due to the spread of Duffali cultivation). But it was so marginal at the time of the upheaval that in the overall form of confinement was found. Although the jute land was slightly increased in single crops, the stagnant area of ​​rice (80% of the total cropped area) was the determining factor for overall trends. According to the officially published statistics, the quantity of farmland cultivation increased rapidly since 1941, and it was the contribution of government-sponsored 'more food propaganda' for years. Of course, the success of this campaign was not exactly what it was claimed. What was the trend at the rate of crop yield? On the basis of the information obtained, it can be seen that the yield of jute and sugar was increased, but the yield rate of aman paddy did not increase. That is, stagnation prevailed at the overall yield rate. The crop yield of all the crops and the uncertainty of the amount of land under occupation can be understood that the overall crop production does not increase. This happened in a scenario when population was increasing at an annual rate of 1%. Due to the high density of the beginning of the twentieth century, per capita crop production was reduced, that is, average average jotjmi was reduced (about 4 acres). At that time the per capita production was further reduced due to the stagnation of crop production.

In the meantime, a provincial agricultural department was established in 1885. The steps it took in agricultural development were 1. Conducting research on improved farming practices by establishing experimental agricultural farm in Burdwan, Dhaka, Rajshahi, Shibpur and Rangpur; 2. Demonstrate the cultivation of improved farming techniques by employing the Demonstrator; 3. Reporting the results of various experiments by the farmers through the publication of agricultural text; 4. Supply of improved seeds to farmers; 5. Training for improved farming practices of farmers and 6. Introduce advanced agricultural tool. But the impact of these initiatives at the farm level was very limited. As a result, farming methods and agricultural machinery and tools remained almost as old as in the middle and ancient era. Commercial fertilizers were unknown. There is little progress in the use of improved varieties of seeds. In the late thirties of the nineteenth century, only 6% seed was planted in paddy fields. Irrigation was in a small part of the total cropped area and it was limited to only some districts of West Bengal. Meanwhile, in the districts of East Bengal, due to the increase of two-storeyed land, the reduced land was reduced. Then the reasons for the stagnation of yield to the main crop of acres are not covered.

It has been mentioned earlier that due to the establishment of British rule agricultural production has not only increased in quantity and value but also became more commercial or market oriented. Although not new, commercialization became an important feature of the agro-economy. Production for sale was not limited to cash crops, but at the end of the late 19th century, 44 percent of the total rice produced in Bengal was marketed. Of course, the cultivation of cash crops also increased and the most important was the increase in the area of ​​jute cultivation, especially in some districts of East and North Bengal (Dhaka, Mymensingh and Rangpur). During the highest increase in the area of ​​jute cultivation, the employment of 10 percent of the total agriculture sector, the middle class of the jute business was involved, the millennium and export earning profit in Calcutta, sufficient number of industrial workers were developed and the vast majority of marketable surpluses were seen in the most important agricultural sector. According to one calculation, the share of jute in the market surplus was 20% to 1925/21 in 64%, 1920 / 21-193 / 33, whereas the average surplus was 40% in the case of rice, whereas in rice it was 34%.

Jute was an export crop of raw and industrial products. Jute goods were used in sacks and packaging. Thus, foreign demand has been the main driving force behind the increase in jute production. The first jute mill was established in Kolkata in 1855 and in the next 50 years more 34 jute mills were established. In 1900/01, there were 3,15,000 spindle and 15,340 weaving and 1, 10 thousand workers employed in these tapes, which used to be around 40% of the total crop production. Meanwhile, demand increased in Dandi mills and in 1896/97, the land under jute cultivation increased from just 5,53,300 acres of 1876/77 to 16 lakh acres. During the 1920-2004 period, the amount of land under jute cultivation was 10% of the total cropped land and it reached at the peak of 1904 / 05-1907 / 08, when the jute was in excess of 30 lakh acres. The land under jute cultivation did not decrease so much, even during the recession years, when prices were very low. The Finlow Committee and Fawcus Committee correctly identified that it happened because of the absence of a profitable alternative crop.

Other economical crops grown in Bengal in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were tea, opium, blue, sugarcane, tobacco and various oilseeds. As a transplant crop, tea was different from other cash crops, considering that it was based on full wages-labor (most tribal). Tea gardens were in three districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Chittagong. A special feature of opium was the monopoly control of government on production and sale. But opiate production was mainly limited to Patna and surrounding areas. Growth of indigo cultivation was noteworthy and due to the lack of blue supply from the former sources such as West India, North America and the West Indies, major foreign demand was also increased in this regard. The east india company government was interested in the expansion of indigo cultivation. Due to the reduction of cotton textile export from Bengal, the demand for a highly profitable foreign trade of the government was largely due to the remittance of currency, and the government saw blue as a potential alternative. However, indigo cultivators had an anti-economical suppression strategy to increase indigo cultivation. Because the indigo cultivation was not profitable for the farmers and they did not wish to cultivate this crop. As a result, indigo cultivation became oppressive and in 1859-60 the people declared revolt against indigo cultivation. Apart from the previous anti-Nilak resistance, these indigo trends spread throughout the region of indigo cultivation and ultimately, indigo cultivation in Bengal has decreased rapidly. Sugar was still another cash crop, and it was one of the few crops (another tea, linseed), which had some progress in yield per acre. This happened for two reasons. First, in the thirties of the twentieth century, more than half of the sugarcane saplings were planted in the soil, and secondly, the use of iron made tapes to increase sugarcane increased. But in addition to jute all other crops, there was no 5 percent of the total cropped area in the province.

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In 1793, the permanent settlement introduced by Lord Cornwallis gave British ancestral structure of Bengal under British rule. In this system the zamindars were declared as land owners and the government fixed the rent imposed on them forever. Provided further that no proprietary rights to claim the waiver of the rent or the suspension on the pretext of any natural disaster shall be owned and sold in full or part of a special auction if any proprietor fails to pay the rent in due course. As a result of the harsh application of the Rent Sale Act (known as the Sunset Act) many zamindariers were sold at auction, and earlier a group of people engaged in trade and commerce and government and zamindari became new zamindars. One of the objectives of introducing the permanent settlement was that the government's demands on zamindars remained unchanged so that they would make capital for agricultural development. Lord Cornwallis's expectation was that the junking of the private property would also motivate the landlords to follow the British colleagues. But the expectation was not fulfilled. None of the old or new zamindars took any initiative to invest in agriculture.

Many of the zamindars were not prepared to carry out the rent collection from the raiyats. So they started transferring the landlord to a class of permanent rent-receivers. Those conditions were also imposed on those conditions which were agreed to fulfill under the permanent settlement. In possession of this property, it was between zamindars and raiyats, and therefore these are the tenure or middle property. The tenure of the zamindari title was also transferable and hereditary. The tenure was mainly two types of landlords and landowning rights of fallen land. The original title of the paternal claim was first invented by the Maharaja of Burdwan. He split his vast estate into thousands of blocks, each of which was headed by a middleman Pottnidar. Paternider then created Dapatnani (second class) and the darpattnidars created the same way (third grade), etc. Other zamindars also follow the system. Those responsible for the restoration of mainly fallen lands of different districts of East Bengal were the inherited land tenure. The zamindars created different types of intermediate class and allowed capital investment to recover their fallen (cultivated fall) land in exchange for permanent rights on the land they had occupied. In spite of the cultivation of fallen land like paternal property, many layers of the structure were formed, whose local names were Talukdar, Howlader, Nim-Hawladar, Gothider etc. It is to be noted that only a certain part of zamindari was influenced by the emergence of middlemen. Secondly, the number of middlemen was never less than fifty, which was mentioned in the Indian Statutory Commission. The number was 12 in Bakerganj district. According to the other districts found, 4 in Dhaka, 6 in Jessore, 8 in Khulna, 10 in Bogra and 3 in Mymensingh.

Zamindars or original proprietors and intermediaries of different levels used to embezzle a large portion of agricultural surplus in the form of rent and the entire one-way abwab (illegal cess). In 1793, the amount of surplus was increased in two ways - increasing rate of rent and additional land under cultivation. But the demand of the state was tied. From an information, there may be some connotation about the level of growth. According to one estimate, in 1918/19, these proprietors and middlemen had embezzled 76.7% of the total rent of 12.85 crore, and as a land revenue, the state had given only 29.9 billion taka. In the context, it was mentioned in the permanent settlement that 90% of the total rent collected will go to treasury and the zamindars would get only 10%. On the basis of this gap of rent and revenue, proprietors and lenders established the foundation of a growing class (known as the gentleman), from which the first successful generation of lawmakers, journalism, medical science, civil services and judges engaged in judicial work. But zamindars did not invest a part of this surplus for agricultural development. Here lies the biggest weakness of the permanent settlement. In this, zamindars get the opportunity to enjoy this surplus without having any role in the creation of agrarian production. The landowning landholding helped in the recovery of land, played a somewhat productive role. However, in the early twentieth century, if the restoration activities were stopped altogether, such middlemen would become parasites like the original owner and other relatives. The Bengal Land Revenue Commission (known as Floud Commission), appointed by the provincial government in 1938, recommended the abolition of the permanent settlement. Of course, the recommendations were not implemented in the remaining years of British rule.

Under the permanent settlement law, the right to raiyat was never properly defined. On the other hand, their position was weakened by the rules of 1799, 1812, 1822 and 1844. With the help of these regulations, the zamindar's power increased greatly, the farmers were taxed at an increased rate, and extreme insecurity prevailed. Then, in the beginning of 1859, several legal steps were taken to improve the status of the subjects, and by the year 1938, the raiyats actually got all rights of ownership - freedom of inheritance, land free transfer, eviction and increase in rent increases. Even under the raiyats, tians and raiyats also get certain legal rights. Initiatives were taken to give some rights to bargadars or shareholders (mainly due to their share of production 50%), but perhaps the initiative did not succeed because of the opposition of the rich peasants and zamindars of the provincial legislature. Thus, at the end of the British colonial regime, the land tenure system became very complex. On the one hand, the revenue collector was a zamindar and middle class people of different classes and on the other, the 'owner' cultivators of the land. A landlord under the sub-divisional tenure of a particular level, he was again with the zamindar or his senior middle class, a peasant. According to the rules, the landowners and tenants who are the only taxpayers, the tenants are tenants. Likewise, a landlord, who owed the rent-receivers from the under-raiyats, in particular, is a zamindar. Again, landlords (ie land zamindars and middlemen) lived mainly on the income of the rent but they also had fixed khassamas and they used to cultivate them with the help of the peasantry and peasants. Not to mention the type of cultivation, the proportion of land in the possession of different classes was that the landlord's khas land was 20%, raiyats were 72% and Tissa-prasar 8%.

Farmers, like the ancient and medieval age, had priority over cultivation. According to one estimate of the Bengal Land Revenue Commission, the cultivation of land of the peasant family members was 66% of the total land. Of course, the bargadars and the peasants were cultivating an important part of the land. Again, according to the Land Revenue Commission, these two classes respectively cultivated 21% and 13% of the land respectively. In this way, there was significant disparity in the distribution of agricultural land among the various rural households. On the one hand, there was more land of a rich wealthy farmer, which was not possible to cultivate family 'labor'. So they used to hire bargers or rent workers. On the other hand, the vast majority of the farmer's land was so small that they did not have the employment of all of them. The same thing has been verified in the other data of the Land Revenue Commission. Thus, in the possession of more than 5 acres of land owners, 25% of the total land of the province, where two-fifths (46%) of the total land was owned by owners of less than two acres of land. Instead of half of the produce, two-thirds of the bargadars should get it. This was the advice of the Floud Commission. In order to implement this recommendation, in the last years of British rule, an armed movement (known as tebhaga) occurs. But the movement did not succeed.

It has been mentioned earlier that during British rule, due to widespread commercial interaction with the outside world, cash transactions started in the rural areas more than the past. The use of money on the relatively unpredictable areas or communities on the commercialization of commercialization also has considerable effect. Of course, due to the lending institutions being developed in the changed environment, almost exclusively meeting the requirements of export trade and domestic industries, the rural areas were virtually separated from the source of organized financial resources. In this way, the richness of the economical structure of an economic structure was fulfilled by the noble people like Mahajan, Pathan, Kabuli, businessmen, zamindars and rich peasants. Cooperative credit movement initiated by the government in 1904 achieved very limited success, the agricultural credit received a small portion of the total receivables (10% in 1943). Thus, the moneylenders actually have the only source of credit. But most of the loans received from them were not used directly for productive purposes. Secondly, even if these loans are used for productive purposes, but not for any instrument that can be used for the purchase of traditional machinery, tools and seeds, yielding one acre. Third, the rate of interest as well as the interest rates was too high; 18% -38% per year on risk-free loans, and more in risky cases. Perhaps early in the twentieth century the amount of interest started to be higher than the zamindar's rent. In any case, by the influence of these hostile elements, a portion of the loan money remains unpaid and the accumulated debt crisis arises. According to the Bengal Provincial Banking Inquiry Committee, the total amount of loan was Tk 100 billion in 1929/30. According to another account, in 1934 the amount of loan was (96% excluding interest) 96 crore When the global economic recession began in 1929, debt problems were extremely intense. At the time, the prices of agricultural products are almost half, whereas the loan amount is at the same level. In this situation, an urgent need was felt to help the debt-ridden farmers. Accordingly, the farmers' rights were framed under the Act of 1935.) Accordingly, the Agricultural Borrowing Act came into force in 1936 and under this law, a debt-related board was formed in different parts of the province, especially in some districts of East Bengal, to bring down the debt amount to the power of payment. By 1944, the debt collective board brought down the rural loan of Tk 50 crore to Tk 18 crore. Meanwhile, in the 1940s, the Moneylenders Act was passed to control the rate of interest of the moneylenders and to prevent their misdemeanors. In spite of these, in 1945, the amount of agricultural loans in the province stood at around Tk 15 crore.

During the last phase of the British period, during the last two decades, the rule of foreign rule came to an end during the stagnation of all kinds of crops and the present Bangladesh is included in Pakistan. Under the Land Reclamation Act of 1950, the Bengal Land Revenue Commission (1938) was given the right of ownership to abolish the permanent settlement and the farmers' cultivation land, although the 'all kinds of people's efforts and efforts to breathe'. But this obstruction continued. Then in the mid-20th century, the then Pakistan government started a program to increase production of agriculture, especially food grains through adoption of seed-water-fertilizer technology. When Bangladesh came into existence as an independent state in 1971, the program gained momentum. Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation, the successor of East Pakistan Agricultural Development Corporation, is given the responsibility of collecting and distributing irrigation, fertilizer and improved varieties seeds. In the north of freedom, the use of chemical fertilizers, irrigated land and enhanced rice paddy fields increased. At the same time, the amount of short, medium and long-term institutional credit given by Bangladesh Agricultural Development Bank (successor of Pakistan Agricultural Development Bank) also increased. But despite these attempts, the increase in population growth of 2.48 percent in 1967 / 70-1985 / 88, as well as overall production of cereals, was 1.53 percent and food production increased by 1.89 percent. Wheat production was at 15.1%. But the excessive decline of rice production (1.96%) decreased the overall food grain growth. As a result, the goal of achieving self-sufficiency in food production was not fulfilled. At the same time (in 1967-88) pulse and oilseed production decreased by 1.72% and 0.72% respectively. On the other hand, production of jute increased marginally (0.15%). In the last decade, the use of commercial fertilizers and improved varieties of seeds and the proportional increase in irrigation area has increased, but Bangladesh still can not achieve self sufficiency in food production. It is clear from the available data that the production of rice is approximately the same level (188 million tonnes) between 1990 / 91-1993 / 94 and 1994 / 95-1997 / 98. Note that in the ancient and medieval periods and during the British period, crop production was the most important subdivision and in 1997/98, 72% of the overall agriculture remained so. The other sub-sections are Forest (7%), Livestock (10%) and Fish (11%). Paddy is still the most important crop (three-fourths of the total cropped land) in the crop production subdivision. Meanwhile, agriculture of Bangladesh has changed in many ways. Jute cultivation has decreased recently, net crop land has decreased from 19.77 million acres in 1973/74 to 1 crore 94 lakh 1 thousand acres in 1996/97; The quantity of multiple cropped land has increased from 84 lakh 47 thousand acres of 1973/74 to 1 crore 46 lakh 88 thousand acres in 1996/97 and the GDP Or the contribution of agriculture to total domestic production has dropped from 60 percent after independence and in 1997/98 it has dropped to about 30 percent.

It is noteworthy in the historical and current context that absence of adequate industrialization in a significant area is a major source of the overall economy, especially the weakness of agricultural land. In fact, during the British era this industrial area, known as Bangladesh, was actually missing industrialization efforts. In Pakistan, this weakness did not bother. The situation did not change much after 1971. In the context of the continuous reduction of net cropland, the meaning of the absence of industrial development (agricultural and livestock census data) increased the number of landless people, from 17 percent in 1951 to 56.5 percent in 1983/84. Changes in the size of the zodiac stock segment is also an indicator of the increase in the indifference of peasant families in Bangladesh. Small farm percentage increased from 51.6% in 1960 to 79.9% in 1996. But the average size of small-scale farm has decreased from 1.11 acres at the same time and reached 0.9 acres. Most of the small farms are not sustainable. On the other hand, the proportion of medium and large holdings, and the average size of these holdings has decreased over the past 36 years. The Land Reform Ordinance of 1984 reduced the upper limit of the ownership of agricultural land to 100 bighas and 60 bighas for every family in 1972. According to the 1996 agricultural year, the area of ​​15 acres or more land is only 0.4% of the country's total land, that is, the acquisition of all the land (which is extremely difficult) than the maximum limit of the government, but the land obtained in this manner will become very important for redistribution to the shambles. Here, the basic complexity of the problem lies in the face of agriculture and the whole economy of Bangladesh.

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