Adaptive cropping systems can produce higher yields on char lands: Study

Climate-smart crop varieties and farming patterns, widely known as adaptive cropping systems, can produce higher yields on char lands of Bangladesh and improve farmers' lives with substantially increased earnings, found a study by a group of scientists from home and abroad.
 
They revealed the findings in a webinar titled "Rural livelihood, agricultural intensification, and climate change adaptation in the char lands of Bangladesh" on Tuesday, said a press release.  
 
M Akkas Ali, Md Samim Hossain Molla, and Md Shahidul Islam Khan from the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Md Jahangir Kabir and Abdur Rouf Sarkar from the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Humnath Bhandari and Mohammed Shaheen Bhuiya from Philippine-headquartered International Rice Research Institute, and Charles Rice and Vara Prasad from the US-based Kansas State University jointly conducted the research.
 
Funded by the National Academy of Science and the USAID, the study found 50-150% increased production by piloting 3 new crops, 16 improved varieties, 6 climate-smart practices, and 4 cropping systems at Char Ganai in Rangpur and Char Saula in Patuakhali between 2018 to 2021.  
 
The new technology and varieties also showed resilience to climate impacts.
 
The research activities were to understand the socio-economic situation and livelihoods of the inhabitants, analyse climate risks and vulnerabilities, and evaluate improved and climate-smart agricultural technologies and practices in the char lands.
 
The country's total area of char lands – the riverine land formed by the gradual deposition of sand, silt, and clay from rivers – is 830,000 hectares, two and a half times bigger than Dhaka city, while about 60%-90% of that is cultivable, the study found.
 
Currently, more than 8 million people live in the char lands and the majority of them manage their livelihoods by farming on the land. As the expansion of crop production on the mainland is limited, the char lands present an opportunity for maximising crop production, the researchers said.
 
Agriculture Secretary Md Sayedul Islam, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council Executive Chairman Shaikh Mohammad Bokhtiar, BARI Director General Debasish Sarker, BRRI Director General Md Shahjahan Kabir, and USAID Agriculture Development Officer Kevin Fath, among others, were present in the webinar.
 
"The government has given high priority to agricultural development to improve food security, climate resilience and rural livelihoods. In this regard, the Ministry of Agriculture and development partners have been investing for agriculture development of the climate hotspot regions including char lands," Md Sayedul Islam said.
 
"We have to unlock the agricultural potential of char lands," he added.