Innovative Farm Machinery Transforms Agriculture in Bangladesh

Improved resource-conserving practices like zero tillage require farm machinery appropriate for the diverse soils and multi-crop systems of South Asia. Published in 2013, the open-source book “Made in Bangladesh: Scale-appropriate Machinery for Agricultural Resource Conservation” describes and provides scaled technical drawings for agricultural implements designed for use with the two-wheel tractors now common throughout Bangladesh and parts of Nepal.“In Bangladesh, the average farmers’ field size is just 0.2 hectares or less,” said Timothy Krupnik, a CIMMYT systems agronomist and one of the book’s authors.

“Farmers make optimal use of nearly every square centimeter of arable land, often several times a year, putting intense pressure on natural resources. In South Asia, the use of appropriate agricultural machinery helps to conserve natural resources, decrease costs and increase farmers’ profits. But more small-scale farmers need to benefit, which is why the open-source supply of the designs for these machineries is important to help scale-up their use.”Funding for the book came from the USAID Mission in Bangladesh through CSISA, as well as the European Union (EU) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).