Published: 12:45 AM, 29 April 2026
Agricultural Workers in Bangladesh: The Crisis of Evaluation
Babul Chandra Sutradhar
Among the products produced in our country, let's assume that the lowest price is one taka for a lozenge. Lozenges are not such a necessary product, but in some cases they are even considered harmful. The company determines the price of lozenges. And, the farmer who produces food that saves lives does not even know how to determine the price of his product. What could be more shameful and humiliating than this? Yet look at all the fancy adjectives that have been assigned to these unfortunate farmers: saints, food warriors, the main driving force of the economy, eternal fighters, friends of the soil, and friends of the people- how many more! Judging the overall condition of the country's farmers, it becomes a matter of thinking whether these are adjectives or riddles. Yet, the country's farming community is somehow living its days by embracing these adjectives.
In view of such a situation, it is easy to generalize that farmers are now carrying on farming work with absolute responsibility. Farmers no longer hope to make a profit from agriculture. That is why no farmer wants to see his child in the agricultural profession. I, personally come of a farmer family, I grew up in a village. I have talked to farmers from different parts of the country and tried to find out why they are doing agriculture if it is not profitable? The main answers were that there is no other way, the land cannot be abandoned, I can eat rice from home, etc. One person also said ÒI cannot say why I do agriculture, I am just following the tradition of my father and grandfather.” In fact, these answers were not pleasant answers.
Those who earn their living by working in agriculture are called agricultural laborers. The labor force in agriculture is gradually decreasing for many reasons. In 2000, 60 percent of the country's total labor force was agricultural laborers. Currently, it has come down to 40 percent. There is a risk that it will come down to 20 percent by 2050. It is also significant here that after the abolition of the zamindari system, there was not much difference between the farmers and agricultural laborers in the country. Almost all farmers contribute their labor to agriculture in some way or the other. The same applies to the members of the farming family. I am mentioning this information because almost all families are now ready to reduce their dependence on agriculture or say goodbye to agriculture.
Moreover, rapid urbanization and the increasing number of landless people in villages are also having an impact on the cities. Due to various reasons such as high cost of agricultural inputs, not getting fair price for the produced products, violence of intermediaries and moneylenders, impact of climate change, inability of farmers to adapt to new technologies, etc., the condition of agricultural laborers is deteriorating day by day. Due to the impact of all these, the geographical size of agriculture in the country is also decreasing day by day. However, the population is increasing. Renowned agricultural researcher Sheikh Siraj rightly said that we are oppressing the soil by trying to produce more on less land. Gradually, the generation has turned away from agriculture. He made this comment citing a statistical data from the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, which states that in 1977, agricultural land in the country was about 85 percent of the total land. But in 2010, it fell to 75 percent. And in these 15 years, it has certainly decreased a lot more.
Recently, BBS conducted a survey on agricultural workers in Bangladesh and reported that the wage rate of the population engaged in agriculture has been decreasing month after month. The picture from the survey is as follows:
A vital portion of the country’s workers is engaged in the agricultural sector. How miserable their lives have become in the current situation of rising commodity prices can be estimated by looking at these statistics. This is indicative of negativity towards agriculture in a larger sense. Although various corners have praised the concepts of agriculture, farmers, agricultural workers, agricultural labor, etc., no effective initiative has been taken for the development of the core working class of this sector. It was very necessary for them to fix a minimum wage by the government. In the major agricultural countries of Asia, such as China, Nepal, India, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Myanmar, etc., the daily minimum wage has been fixed for the population engaged in agricultural work. In Bangladesh, the minimum wage has been fixed for workers in 47 industries, excluding workers engaged in agricultural and domestic work. Again, shrimp, fish, rubber industries, etc., which are included in agriculture, are covered by the minimum wage structure.
The environment in which agricultural workers usually work is in no way conducive to health, safety or mental comfort. Eating, drinking water, and natural work while working in the field are not conducive to health. The scorching sun, heavy rain and hail - all these things affect their bodies. Every year, farmers die in the field due to lightning, but no safety measures have been taken for them. Moreover, pesticides have a negative impact for their lives.
On May 1, 1886, workers working in the city of Chicago, USA, took to the streets with their demands and were able to achieve their rights due to their organizational skills. The root of our culture is agriculture, and the main craftsman of building that culture is the farmer. Unlike workers working in factories, agricultural workers do not have any organizational foundation or structure. Therefore, it is not possible to raise their voices, and no one listens to their suffering. As a result, the largest working group in the country is deprived of the dignity or recognition of workers. The conviction that determines their status as members of society is the status of agricultural workers in three aspects: economic, social and political.
In order to make the agricultural sector sustainable, which contributes 13.6 percent to the country's GDP, agricultural workers must be properly evaluated. For this purpose, it is also necessary:
1. Make legal arrangements for determining the price of agricultural products by actual farmers;
2. Simplify the policy for distributing agricultural loans, and arrange subsidies;
3. To establish an effective and reasonable balance between the prices of essential commodities, the prices of agricultural products and the wages of agricultural workers;
4. To reduce the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and increase the use of fertilizers and pesticides prepared naturally;
5. To keep agriculture free from the hands of multi-purpose commercial institutions at all times;
6. To eliminate the oppression of middlemen and foremen in the marketing of farmers' products;
7. To impose a ban on the establishment of brick kilns, industries, etc. near agricultural land, so as to prevent negative impact on agriculture;
8. To develop agriculture as a cooperative-based industry;
9. Proper evaluation of female workers engaged in agriculture must be ensured and wage inequality must be eliminated.
10. Farmers should have their own organizational structure where there will be no influence from political parties or personalities;
11. To ensure priority services to farmers in financial, educational, health and other life-related institutions;
12. To give priority to farmers in the distribution of Social Safety Net (SSN) programs;
13. An emergency permanent fund must be formed for farmers.
14. The policy makers, lawmakers, representatives of civil society of the country must be cordial on the important issue.
In this context, I would like to emphasize that before taking these measures, specific criteria or outlines for evaluating agriculture, farmers and agricultural workers must be fixed; these criteria will determine the future direction and nature of the country's agriculture. There is no alternative to such initiatives to maintain the existing tradition of ÔBengali on fish and rice’.
Babul Chandra Sutradhar is a human
rights activist and a researcher.
