The homestead as a production system

Abstract

From ancient times, family-managed homesteads have supplied various products. In Bangladesh, there are diverse homestead production systems, which vary according to factors such as location, farm categories, local preferences, and ecological conditions. The Teknaf peninsula has a particular ecology that influences homestead production. We grouped homesteads based on farm-holding categories and evaluated the socioeconomic conditions, components, tree diversity and arrangements, and contributions of homesteads to households' annual incomes. Households within a total of 180 homesteads, grouped into five categories (landless, marginal, small, medium, and large), were surveyed using a structured interview schedule. The homesteads were also examined and monitored to assess their tree diversity and performance. Homesteads belonging to households in the large farm category were wider and were established earlier than those within the other categories. Among homestead components, fruit trees were predominant across all of the categories, followed by livestock and poultry and vegetables. Very few homesteads had medicinal plants. Interestingly, households were not inclined to plant timber species. This may be because they have access to easily available and cheap timber from the forests. Betel nut, mango, jackfruit, and coconut are some most dominant tree species. Larger homesteads had a greater number of trees and higher tree diversity. Accordingly, incomes derived from homesteads were significantly higher for those households in the large farm category, with incomes showing a gradual decrease corresponding to a reduction in farm size. However, while the percentage contribution of homestead incomes to annual incomes was the highest for households in the large farms category, the second highest contribution of homestead incomes was found for households in the marginal farm category, indicating that this group tended and efficiently managed more plant species than those belonging to other categories. We concluded that the homestead production system could be improved through a design accommodating many components for maximizing outputs and income generation.