Climate resilient agriculture

The sun beats down on Patuakhali's once fertile lands. Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall have choked the life out of these fields, turning them to dust. Farmers are forced to abandon their ancestral professions, their dreams withering under the climate's harsh grip. Yet, a flicker of hope emerges in Khulna. Innovative solutions, like climate-resilient crops, have given new life to these lands.
 

Even three years back, vast lands would remain barren throughout most of the year in Koyra upazila of Khulna due to high level of salinity in the nearby rivers and waterbodies.

Aman paddy cultivation during monsoon was the only option for farmers to cultivate the land in absence of fresh water for irrigation during  rest of the year. Many would leave the villages for cities in search of alternative livelihoods.

Koyra upazila, located in the vicinity of the Sundarbans, is among the areas most affected by salinity and climate change in the southern part of the country.

The situation, however, has changed significantly in the past three years as the farmers embraced salinity tolerant crop varieties to cultivate their lands round the year.

As such, the once fallow lands are gradually transforming into thriving crop fields.

The farmers have adapted to cultivating salinity-tolerant crops -- including paddy, fruits, vegetables -- as well as rearing fish varieties through training provided by government and private organisations, bringing in a shift that has not only revitalised the agricultural landscape of the region, but also improved the financial condition of the community.

Visiting at least six villages in the upazila, this correspondent saw beans being cultivated in vast lands, while eggplants are grown in the yard of almost all houses. Fish are reared in ponds and enclosures using bamboo lofts, as well as in crop fields alongside paddy cultivation. Various other crops, including potato, garlic, corn and watermelon are also being cultivated.

Wholesalers from numerous districts come to purchase these crops, said farmers.

"We are farmers for generations. Due to salinity, we struggled to cultivate crops for most of the year over the last three decades. I was forced to leave the village to find work elsewhere for a while. After returning home, I rented three bighas of land from someone to do integrated farming of fish and salinity-tolerant vegetable varieties," said Abdul Quader of Naksha village.

"Over the last couple of years, the situation has improved. I managed to buy some land. This year, I cultivated fish and vegetables on five bighas of land spending Tk 1.50 lakh. I am hoping to make a profit of Tk 6-7 lakh," he added.

Over 40 farmers in the village are also seeing success by doing the same.

Md Abdullah Al Mamun, upazila agriculture officer, said over 5,000 farmers are now cultivating salinity-resilient crop varieties in Koyra with support, advice, training, seeds, and fertilisers from the Department of Agricultural Extension.

According to DAE office in Koyra upazila, integrated farming of fish and vegetables has gained popularity. In the last year, a total 24,259 tonnes of vegetables were produced in 1,270 hectares of land, including 2,500 tonnes of eggplants, while 44,528 tonnes of watermelon were produced in 1,200 hectares of land.

Also, Boro rice is being produced in 4,925 hectares of land, sunflower in 88 hectares, maize in 40 hectares, mustard in 146 hectares and sweet potato in 150 hectares of land in the upazila.

The Field Research Department of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute in 2015 engaged in verifying feasibility of cultivating crops in saline fallow lands of Koyra upazila, and found the salinity level to be too high for regular crop varieties to be cultivated.

However, researchers and 37 farmers did not give up and continued their efforts, and in 2017 they successfully cultivated Brri-67, a high salinity-tolerant Boro rice variety, on 50 bighas of land in East Maharajpur area of the upazila.

Later, the farmers expanded the Boro rice cultivation to over 2,000 bighas of land in the area.

"We have been able to develop improved salinity-tolerant varieties of different crops. We are trying for rapid expansion in cultivation of these varieties in different upazilas including Batiaghata, Paikgacha, Koyra. Khulna Regional Office of BARI provides all support in this regard," said Md Harun-or Rashid, chief scientific officer of BARI in Khulna.