Peasant of BangladeshIntroduction: Bangladesh is mainly an agricultural country. Agriculture is the base of our economy and rural life. Agriculture still employs bulk of our population. So peasants are the backbone of our agricultural output, our food production and agro-based industries. Peasants are the vital element of our country and economy.
Condition: A peasant is a farmer who owns or leases a piece of land and which he cultivates himself. In our country most of the peasants are generally small farmers. They possess a small piece of land. They have no ploughs and bullocks to cultivate their lands. Many of them do not have enough land to grow enough food for them. In that case they cultivate the lands of those who have large areas of lands and do not cultivate themselves. They get a stipulated share of the produce. The share is generally half or one third of the total produce.
There are some landless peasants. They till other’s land and take a share of the produce. They work hard to manage subsistence for their family. Through they work hard in the rain and sun; they lead a very miserable life.
Solvent Peasants: A minority of peasants are very rich. They are landlords because they have large areas of land. They produce more than what need. So they can lead a prosperous and easy-going life. The landlords are influential people in the villages. They also contribute to various developmental initiatives of the villagers like setting up schools, mosques, colleges, dispensaries, orphanage etc.
Knowledge: The learning methods of our peasants are relatively obsolete. They still use bullocks and plough to till the lands. They do not have knowledge about proper seed time, insecticide, and good harvesting. As a result, they often do not get good crops. They depend on nature for good harvest instead of applying new and scientific methods in the fields. A many of our peasants are illiterate and poor. They lack knowledge about better cultivation and how to yield more crops. They are often unable or unwilling to apply new methods and approach in cultivation. And they are also often unable to buy tractors, machinery, sufficient fertilizers and insecticides, and irrigate their lands. All these are responsible for poor agricultural output and poor conditions of our peasants.
Peasants of our country play the vital role of producing food grains. They also produce various other crops like jute, wheat, sugarcane, maze, and various other crops and provide raw materials for many mills and factories base on them. They thus contribute to country’s economic activities and GDP.
Economic Condition: Though they feed the nation, and run country’s economy, the overall condition of our peasants are very miserable. Many of our peasants cannot afford square meals. They cannot send their children to school because they cannot bear the educational expenses. They do not get good house, pure drink, costly clothes or any modern luxuries or comforts. They are ill-clad and ill-treated in the society. They are poor, illiterate, and superstitious and they suffer from malnutrition and various diseases. But nobody not even the government care for their miseries and sufferings. They lead a very unhappy and neglected life. Govt. often takes some development projects for them, but most of it does not reach the deserving and hapless peasants. As a result, they are born poor. They live a poor life and die poorly.
Conclusion: Govt. and wealthy persons in the society must do something effective for our unhappy peasants. Mostly, our peasants do not get due prices of their agricultural produce. So they remain poor. Govt. can take a comprehensive distribution system of country’s cultivable land and bring landless and small peasants under beneficiary projects. They should be trained about new and scientific methods of cultivation. They should be given loans without interest or no easy terms. And in must be ensured that the peasants get right price of their corps. Otherwise, their condition will remain unchanged.