Land Tenure System and Agricultural Productivity in a Selected Area of Bangladesh

Abstract

The relative efficiency of farming under tenancy systems in Bangladesh was measured in this study. Thirty cash tenants and 30 share tenants were randomly selected for data collection through field survey method from Narayanpur and Bhabokhali villages under Sadar upazila of Mymensingh district. The functional analysis of the study was based on Boro rice. The land tenancy situation in rural Bangladesh was explored in this study with a reasonable high incidence of owners who cultivate their own land in comparison to owner-cum-tenants and tenants. A number of tenurial arrangements including sharing agreements were also revealed in the study villages. Share tenant farmers earned significantly lower net return (Tk. 19,252.18) than the cash tenant farmers (Tk. 22,815.89) from Boro rice production. However, Boro rice production was profitable from the viewpoint of both tenant operators. Finally, the study tested and confirmed that all the explanatory variables (key production inputs) included in the Cobb- Douglas revenue type production function model were important for explaining the variations in gross returns under both tenancy arrangements. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/pa.v22i1-2.16479 Progress. Agric. 22(1 & 2): 181-192, 2011