ABSTRACT
The agricultural system at Chapra is being transformed from an ecocentric to a technocentric system, as a result of government policies and interventions. This chapter provides documentation of agricultural transformation for Chapra specifically, on the basis of information gathered directly from local farming households. Farming families face major challenges when attempting to follow traditional seasonal cropping patterns. The Ganges Basin ecosystem failure is a main reason for accepting seed commodification, which creates the differential outcomes for the rich and marginalized farmers at Chapra. The government seed policy promotes private sector involvement in seed development and marketing and this worsens the differential outcomes between the rich and marginalized. The Ganges Basin farmers encounter sudden, unpredictable flooding, earlier or later flood periods, and more periods of drought, all of which are not suitable for the HYV crops. The top-down agriculture policies in Bangladesh are transforming water and agricultural development from traditional to technological systems.
