Institut für Agrarsoziologie und Beratungswesen der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen ECO-FRIENDLY AND ORGANIC FARMING IN BANGLADESH – INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION AND LOCAL PRACTICE Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrads im Fachbereich 09 Agrarwissenschaften, Ökotrophologie und Umweltmanagement der Justus Liebig Universität Gießen Eingereicht von: Md. Nazmul Hoque Betreut von: Prof. Dr. Hermann Boland Prof. Dr. Günter Leithold Giessen, Mai 2012 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am thankful to ALMIGHTY ALLAH who bestowed upon me His blessings and gave me the knowledge, strength, and ability to accomplish this huge task with an objective to serve humanity around the world. I am highly grateful to my supervisor Professor Dr. Hermann Boland, whose consistent supervision, motivation, useful suggestions, and critical comments helped me to improve my work from time to time and finally it is published as a book in its present shape. His keen interest in my research work and new ideas proved the torch of success for me while working under his supervision. I am also thankful to Professor Dr. Günter Leithold, my second supervisor who read my work and gave me useful suggestions on the last draft of my thesis. I am also thanking to Prof. Dr. Hammadur Rahman, my local supervisor who supervise and gave me suggestion about data collection. I am highly indebted to Dr. Kazi Farooq Ahmed, President, Proshika, Director (Natural Resource) Kazi Khaze Alam, Mir Mahbubur Rahman, Director, Proshika, Dipok Kumar Gosh, Proshika, Deputy Director for his logistical support and advice during my data collection in Bangladesh. I am highly indebted to Farida Akter, Executive Director, UBINIG, Mr. Abdus Sobahan, consultant, UBINIG, Dr. Monirul Haque Nakvi, Director, Integrated Horticulture Management Project, BADC, Dr. Shamsul Alam, Dr. Abdul Momen, Mr. Monirul Haque, DAE, Dr. Nazim Uddin, BARI, Mr. Sajjad Hossain, Kazi and Kazi Tea est., Prof. Dr. M. A Momen Miah for their extreme support on me that helped me to achieve PhD in Germany. I am also grateful to Dr. Henrike Rieken, Stephanie Hoy for their useful suggestions in the analysis. I am extremely grateful to my relatives Taneeza (Michigan, USA) and Samir Islam (Washington, USA) who read and checks the mistakes of my work as native speakers. Thanks go to my beloved friend Phillip Musyoka for his proof reading of the work despite his own time limitation. I am very much thankful to my dear friends and colleagues Tyseer Omer, Huong Kiew, Khalid Siddig, Tarig Gibreel, Manjunath Arhali, Puran Mal, Asif Reza Anik, Sonam Wangchuk, Abdelatief, Martha Oumer, Ujjal Tiwari for their appreciative mental and positive support. They helped me whenever I needed, without arranging any scheduled time. I am highly indebted to the inhabitants and respondents of the study area who helped me to get proper information, continuously supporting and appreciating me as a researcher. I have no words to express the greatness of my beloved parents (Md. Abul Kashem Sharker & Shamsun Nahar) who gave effort and sacrificed a lot to educate me. I am greatly indebted to my brothers Advocate Shamsul Alam, Md. Robiul Karim Selim, Shafiul Alam who always encourages me for my higher study. I am grateful to my wife Dr. Sadika Haque whose patience, mental support and sacrifice enabled me to complete my PhD work. I extend special words of affection and thanks to my daughters Shafia and Sadia who missed my love and care during my very busy study period. Finally I am thankful to all of my friends and colleagues in Giessen for their cooperation and help during my stay in Germany. I am also grateful to Frau Lotze and Dr. Evelina Budjurova for their full sincere help and support. The friendship and moral support of Md. Anisur Rahman, Mrs. Beate Rahman, Mrs. Meera Chakrabarty, Mr. Bernd Klose and Mrs. Sigi Klose are worth mentioning. Thanks are also extended to Mr. Humayun Kabir, Mr. Salauddin Palash, Shameema Akter, Arefa Bhabi, Sadia Bhabi, Mrs. Mukta Khan, Mr.Nesar Uddin, Mr. Shimul and all other friends for their help and nice company in Giessen. Last but not least, all those individuals and organizations that supported this work in any way that I cannot memorize now are also acknowledged. Md. Nazmul Hoque Giessen, Germany March, 2012 i Dedicated to my parents ii Table of Contents Acknowledgement i Dedication ii Table of Contents iii List of Tables vi List of Figures vi List of Appendices vi Acronyms and Abbreviations vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background and problem statement 1 1.2 Justification of the study 5 1.3 Questions addressed in this research 6 1.4 Objectives of the study 6 1.5 Outline of the study 7 CHAPTER 2 DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC FARMING 8 2.1 History of organic farming 8 2.2 Organic farming 10 2.3 Current status of organic agriculture 11 2.4 Certification of organic product 13 2.5 Standard and regulations of organic farming in the world 14 2.5.1 IFOAM Basic standards 15 2.5.2 EU regulation on organic agriculture 16 2.5.3 The Codex Alimentarius Guidelines 17 2.5.4 National Organic Programme (NOP) of USDA 18 2.5.5 Japanese Agricultural Standard 19 2.5.6 Organic standards of Australia 20 2.5.7 Organic standards of China and India 21 2.6 When certification is important 22 2.7 Does organic agriculture provide lower yield and return? 22 2.8 Who are the consumers of organic products? 26 2.9 Relationship between natural disaster, biodiversity and organic farming 27 2.10 Conclusion 28 CHAPTER 3 POLICIES AND ORGANIZATIONAL EFFORT TOWARDS ORGANIC MOVEMENT IN BANGLADESH 29 3.1 Agriculture in Bangladesh: at a glance 29 3.2 Brief review of agricultural Policies in Bangladesh 31 3.3 Agricultural Extension Services in Bangladesh 34 3.4 NGOs Participation in extension services 37 3.5 Participation of the private sectors 38 3.6 The problematic issues of extension services 38 3.7 Effort of GO and NGOs towards organic farming 39 3.7.1 Effort from government level 40 3.7.2 Efforts on organic farm management from NGO level 42 3.7 Marketing status of organic products 48 3.8 Previous relevant available literature in Bangladesh perspective 48 3.9 Conclusion 49 iii CHAPTER 4 DATA AND METHODOLOGY 50 4.1 Research design and rationale 50 4.2 Qualitative research method 51 4.3 Research process 52 4.3.1 The role of the researcher 52 4.3.2 Data 53 4.3.3 Sampling key informants 53 4.3.4 Data sources and collection 58 4.3.4.1 Document data 59 4.3.4.2 Interview data 59 4.3.4.3 Observation data 60 4.3.5 Data analysis 62 4.4 Conclusion 65 CHAPTER 5 CLASSIFICATION OF ORGANIC AND ECO-FRIENDLY FARMING 66 5.1 Similarities and dissimilarities among international standards 69 5.1.1 Choice of crops and varieties 70 5.1.2 Length of conversion period 70 5.1.3 Diversity in crop production 71 5.1.4 Soil fertility and fertilization 71 5.1.5 Pest, disease, weed and growth management 73 5.1.6 Avoiding contamination 74 5.2 Organic and eco-friendly practices in Bangladesh 76 5.2.1 Practices followed in eco-friendly or organic farming in Bangladesh 78 5.2.1.1 PROSHIKA 78 5.2.1.2 UBINIG’s principles and Nayakrishi farmers’ practice 81 5.2.1.3 Community Development Association 83 5.2.1.4 Kazi and Kazi tea farm, only certified organic farm in Bangladesh 84 5.2.1.5 Dhamrai Dairy, an integrated farm 85 5.2.2 Initiatives from government level 85 5.3 Comparing the local and international standards 90 5.4 Conclusion 93 CHAPTER 6 BARRIERS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN THE WAY OF ORGANIC 94 PRACTICE IN BANGLADESH 6.1 Introduction 94 6.2 Barriers to promote organic farming 94 6.2.1 Barriers from policy level 94 6.2.2 Input related problems 96 6.2.3 Problems of marketing of organic products 101 6.3 Possibility and opportunities of organic farming in Bangladesh 103 6.3.1 Organic farming and food security 103 6.3.2 Cost-return- profit-benefit-yield issues 107 6.3.3 Crop diversification in Bangladesh 109 6.3.4 Role of research organizations 109 6.3.5 Increasing price of chemical fertilizer 110 6.4 Analytical suggestions to implement organic/ eco-friendly farming 110 6.4.1 Promotion of local varieties 110 6.4.2 Use of less chemical pesticides 111 iv 6.4.3 Increase soil fertility 112 6.4.4 Develop proper marketing system 113 6.4.5 Consumers’ awareness 115 6.4.6 Proposed adoption process for organic farming 115 6.4.7 Policy option regarding agricultural extension 116 6.5 Conclusion 117 CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSION OF THE STUDY AND POLICY RELEVANCE 119 7.1 Background and problem statement 119 7.2 Research design 119 7.3 Results and findings 120 7.3.1 Classification arrangement of organic and eco-friendly farming 120 7.3.2 Practices followed in eco-friendly or organic farming in Bangladesh 121 7.3.3 Barriers to promote organic practice in Bangladesh 122 7.3.4 Possibilities of organic farming 123 7.4 Policy Implications 123 CHAPTER 8 SUMMARY (ENGLISH AND GERMAN) 126 8.1 Summary (English) 126 8.2 Zusammenfassung (German Summary) 128 REFERENCES 136 APPENDICES 155 v Lists of tables Table 2.1 Continent wise area, no. of producers and leading countries of organic 12 farming Table 3.1 Basic facts of Bangladesh Agriculture 30 Table 3.2 Utilization of land in Bangladesh for the production of different crops and 30 groups of crops in 2010-2011 Table 3.3 Public sector organizations extension and advisory services 36 Table 4.1 Steps followed in inductive coding process of qualitative data 63 Table 5.1 Difference between organic and eco-friendly farming 68 Table 5.2 Comparison and special features of different international standards of 75 organic practices Table 5.3 Comparison of different local standards of organic practices