Bangladesh has had no major flooding or drought over the last three or four years, Afsar added.
Most farms are owned by landlords who keep most of the crop yield and use the rest to pay farm laborers and landless share croppers, says Quazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmed, a leading economist.
"This means the surplus production is also held by the land owners while others working in their fields remain poor for generations," Kholiquzzaman said.
Farm workers' incomes could soon face pressure from a return to the land by jobless industrial workers, he predicts. "More competition for limited work in the fields would result in less pay and less buying power. And it is unlikely that agriculture can absorb all the newcomers, leaving many, particularly the women, to seek alternative ways of earning money," he added.
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