ABSTRACT
Agriculture is of paramount importance to Bangladesh. Nine-tenths of the people depend, directly or indirectly, upon it. Over half of the National Product is from the agricultural sector. The great importance of agriculture and agricultural products is often not fully understood because of the pre-occupation with ways and means to promote industrial growth. Rice dominates agriculture in Bangladesh. It occupies 80% of the gross cultivated areas and constitutes 75% of the total produce from all field crops. The main high yeilding varieties being grown in the Aman season are IR-20 and chandina. Average yields range from 2000 to 3000 lbs. of cleaned rice per acre. Fluctuation in yield is mainly due to their cultivation under rainfed conditions. The other important Aman type is the Jali-aman. It is also known as 'Floating Paddy' and Deep-Water Paddy'. This type covers nearly five-million acres, most of it in the vast low lying areas in the centre of the Delta.
