Constraints to the Adoption of Rice-Fish Farming by Smallholders in Bangladesh: A Farming Systems Analysis

In spite of its potential, the adoption of rice-fish farming among smallholders in Bangladesh is low. This paper seeks to explain this low adoption by evaluating the rice-fish technology as one element of the household farming system. The adoption of the technology is associated with a range of technical, human, and institutional constraints. Rice-fish technology is not structured to address the food security goal of smallholders and, therefore, is adopted by only those who are better placed to assume the risks. This paper concludes that the adoption of the technology among this group of smallholders would accelerate when policymakers acknowledge its constraints and structure extension services accordingly.