Determinants of Crop Diversification in Boro Rice‐Based, Wetland Farming Systems in Bangladesh
5 affiliations
- 1Agricultural Economics Division Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute Joydebpur Gazipur Bangladesh.
- 2Department of Agribusiness and Marketing Bangladesh Agricultural University Mymensingh Bangladesh.
- 3Pulses Research Centre and Regional Agricultural Research Station BARI Ishwardi Pabna Bangladesh.
- 4Oilseed Research Centre Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute Joydebpur Gazipur Bangladesh.
- 5Department of Agricultural Economics Bangladesh Agricultural University Mymensingh Bangladesh.
Abstract
The haor landscape of Bangladesh is highly reliant on Boro rice cultivation, making farm households vulnerable to recurring floods and climate-related risks. Crop diversification can intensify agricultural resilience and reduce production risks. This study examined the pattern, extent, and determinants of crop diversification using a cross-sectional field survey performed in 2023 among 240 farm households in three purposively selected upazilas (Itna, Mithamoin, and Nikli) of Kishoreganj district. The Simpson Diversification Index (SDI), based on crop-area shares, was used to measure crop diversification, while Censored Tobit and Ordered Probit models were employed to identify its determinants. The results showed that farmers were gradually familiarizing themselves with crops such as maize, mustard, jute, chili, sweet potato, groundnut, potato, pumpkin, black gram, and various vegetables, along with Boro rice. The mean SDI was 0.22, with 58.33% of households falling within the poor diversification category (0-0.24). The Tobit model indicated that household head education, farm size, agricultural training, marketing training, and extension contact positively associated with crop diversification. In contrast, road distance, duration of waterlogging, and agro-ecological location had negative effects. The Ordered Probit results generally confirmed these associations and also revealed a positive relationship between the dependency ratio and the higher category of crop diversification. Marginal effects indicated that agricultural training, marketing training, and extension contact increased the probability of achieving excellent diversification by 6.2, 5.5, and 4.8 percentage points, respectively, while each additional kilometer from a nearby road and each additional month of waterlogging reduced this probability by 5.4 and 3.1 percentage points, respectively. These findings emphasize the importance of improving farmer training, extension services, rural infrastructure, and location-specific waterlogging control to increase crop diversification and resilience in haor farming systems. Given the purposive selection of three upazilas in Kishoreganj district, the findings should be interpreted with caution in other haor regions.
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BibTeX
@article{hoq2026determinants,
title = {{Determinants of Crop Diversification in Boro Rice‐Based, Wetland Farming Systems in Bangladesh}},
author = {Mohammad Shamsul Hoq and Esrat Jahan and Moniruzzaman and Morsalina Khatun and Md Ripon Hasan and Faria Rahman and Nazmun Nahar and Md Imrul Kaysar and Md Nymul Islam and Abu Hayat Md Saiful Islam and Mohammad Ismail Hossain and Mohammad Ismail Hossain},
journal = {Plant-environment interactions (Hoboken, N.J.)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/pei3.70227},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13716940},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Determinants of Crop Diversification in Boro Rice‐Based, Wetland Farming Systems in Bangladesh
AU - Mohammad Shamsul Hoq
AU - Esrat Jahan
AU - Moniruzzaman
AU - Morsalina Khatun
AU - Md Ripon Hasan
AU - Faria Rahman
AU - Nazmun Nahar
AU - Md Imrul Kaysar
AU - Md Nymul Islam
AU - Abu Hayat Md Saiful Islam
AU - Mohammad Ismail Hossain
AU - Mohammad Ismail Hossain
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - Plant-environment interactions (Hoboken, N.J.)
DO - 10.1002/pei3.70227
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13716940
AB - The haor landscape of Bangladesh is highly reliant on Boro rice cultivation, making farm households vulnerable to recurring floods and climate-related risks. Crop diversification can intensify agricultural resilience and reduce production risks. This study examined the pattern, extent, and determinants of crop diversification using a cross-sectional field survey performed in 2023 among 240 farm households in three purposively selected upazilas (Itna, Mithamoin, and Nikli) of Kishoreganj district. The Simpson Diversification Index (SDI), based on crop-area shares, was used to measure crop diversification, while Censored Tobit and Ordered Probit models were employed to identify its determinants. The results showed that farmers were gradually familiarizing themselves with crops such as maize, mustard, jute, chili, sweet potato, groundnut, potato, pumpkin, black gram, and various vegetables, along with Boro rice. The mean SDI was 0.22, with 58.33% of households falling within the poor diversification category (0-0.24). The Tobit model indicated that household head education, farm size, agricultural training, marketing training, and extension contact positively associated with crop diversification. In contrast, road distance, duration of waterlogging, and agro-ecological location had negative effects. The Ordered Probit results generally confirmed these associations and also revealed a positive relationship between the dependency ratio and the higher category of crop diversification. Marginal effects indicated that agricultural training, marketing training, and extension contact increased the probability of achieving excellent diversification by 6.2, 5.5, and 4.8 percentage points, respectively, while each additional kilometer from a nearby road and each additional month of waterlogging reduced this probability by 5.4 and 3.1 percentage points, respectively. These findings emphasize the importance of improving farmer training, extension services, rural infrastructure, and location-specific waterlogging control to increase crop diversification and resilience in haor farming systems. Given the purposive selection of three upazilas in Kishoreganj district, the findings should be interpreted with caution in other haor regions.
SN - 2575-6265
ER -