9. BANGLADESH
Title of the Project
Field Testing of Innovative Farming Practices related  to Climate Change in the Vulnerable Areas of Bangladesh

Summary
Bangladesh is a small (147,570 sq.km) country and the highest densely populated (140 million people) country in the world which is vulnerable to different types of environmental disasters. The major disasters and environmental vulnerabilities are flood, drought, cyclone, tidal surge, river erosion, salinity, extreme temperature and low light intensity, pests and diseases etc. These vulnerabilities have direct and/or indirect implications on the performance of crops, livestock and fisheries.
 

The vulnerabilities due to climate change are likely to aggravate more in the future. But the people are to live with these vulnerabilities. In the coastal zone, crop is lost due to flood or tidal surge. No crop is cultivated during kharif due to high depth of standing water in the field. Flood/tidal surge water recedes late from the crop field.
 

Soil is still muddy at the time of appropriate sowing time of the next candidate crops and traditional land preparation is no possible. But the affected community needs food, fodder, fuel and feed earlier than the next rice crop (viz, boro rice, wheat, potato etc.). Maize is a multipurpose crop suitable for sowing under muddy/wetbed and no-tillage condition. Crop field and homesteads are inundated by flood and tidal surge.
 

Crops and seedlings are damaged/lost, water recession is delayed, water logging is prolonged, community needs immediate and/or early harvest or vegetables before a regular vegetable crop. Amaranths (both leaf and stem), okra, brijjal, kangkong etc. can be grown successfully under wet condition on floating substrata made of water hyacinth. For want of vegetables the affected community suffers from malnutrition owing to dearth of minerals and vitamins in their diet.
 Consequently the people especially the women and children suffer from various diseases. Sorjan is a system of cropping on artificially made alternate raised beds and ditches. Flood or tidal surge or water due to sea level rise stands at about a depth of 1 metre and remain on the crop field during the wet months when no upland crops like vegetables and fruits can be grown. In the drought prone areas, minimum tillage/zero tillage, priming of seeds, mulching, rainwater harvest technology are usually practiced to avoid moisture stress in the cultivation of field crops. 

Key Activities
• Site selection and training of demo farmers.
• Clear the field from grasses and other debris.
• Dibble 5-6 maize seeds per hill on no-till muddy soil in 90 cm apart rows at 25cm interval.
• Apply fertilizers at recommended rate.
• Follow all management practices.
• Timely harvest and processing.

Contact Info
Dr. Md. Muslem Uddin Miah
Senior Agriculture Specialist, BCAS
Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS)
House No.10, Road No. 16A, Gulshan-1, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh
Tlephone: 8851237, 8851986, 8852217
Fax: (880-2) 8851417
E-mail: info@bcas.net