Ash1514054 m

Ash1514054 m

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  Livelihood Development Through AgriculturalFarming Practices Of The Coastal People Of Bangladesh Created By- Rayhan Ahammed ID-ASH1514054M Department of Agriculture,NSTU
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  Introduction • Bangladesh isa rural country. Agriculture is the dominant occupation of the people. However, the importance of the agriculture sector in the national economy and also in the coastal belt is declining. Contribution of agriculture to the economic progress of the nation is on a declining curve. The share of agriculture products in GDP has been coming down. This sub-sector alone contributes approximately 71% of total agricultural product (TAP), and he remaining 29% comes from allied activities -- forestry, fishery and livestock. Livestock contributes the least among these three sub- sectors, about 9%. All the components of non-crop production branch have experienced export-led growth.
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  Livelihood status ofcoastal people • The farmers’ overall livelihood status was assessed on the basis of asset pentagon which is composed of five types of capitals namely human capital, social capital, natural capital, physical capital and financial capital (DFID, 2000). Farmers’ income was increased which enhanced overall socioeconomic condition and livelihood status. • Their technical knowledge, social network, housing and sanitation facilities, communication facilities, cash income and savings, managerial capacities, etc. were improved. However, farmers’ health condition was deteriorated to some extent due to disease outbreak, scarcity of safe drinking water, etc. Majority of the respondents had decreased access to forest resources due to increasing salinity impacts of shrimp farming. Educational status of majority of the respondents was enhanced. Household asset possession was increased.
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  Constraints for agriculturaldevelopment: • The agricultural development in the coastal saline belt is constrained by various physical, chemical and social factors. In general, themajor agricultural constraints identified that impede development are as follow: It has been found that constraints increased with increasing intensity of salinity. Soil salinity is the most dominant limiting factor in the region, especially during the dry season. It affects certain crops at different levels of soil salinity and at critical stages of growth, which reduces yield and in severe cases total yield is lost. A substantial area of land is tidally affected by saline water. Appropriate management practice for crop production in this area is not available.
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  Cont’d • Fertility statusof most saline soils range from low to very low in respect to organic matter content, nitrogen, phosphorus and micronutrients like zinc and copper. The crop yields obtained in these soils are also low. • Scarcity of quality irrigation water during dry season limits cultivation of boro rice and rabi (winter) crops, and aus cultivation during kharif- 1 (March-July) season. • Variability of rainfall, uncertain dates of onset and recession of seasonal floods and risk of drought restrict cultivation of aus and aman rice. Uncertain rainfall delays sowing/transplanting and flood damages aus and aman crops. Heavy monsoon rainfall causes delay in transplanting of aman and sometimes flash floods washes away the standing crop.
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  Extent of salinity:Coastal saline soils occur in the river deltas along the sea coast, a few kilometers to 180 kilometers. The landscapes are low-lying land, estuaries and inland along the seacoast of Bangladesh. According to salinity survey findings and salinity monitoring information, about 1.02 million ha (about 70%) of the cultivated lands are affected by varying degrees of soil salinity. about 0.282, 0.297, 0.191, 0.450 and 0.087 million hectares of lands are affected by very slight, slight, moderate strong and very strong salinity respectively. Cropping intensity may be increased in very slight and slightly alkaline areas by adopting proper soil and water management practices with introduction of salt tolerant varieties of different crops. To mitigate the demand of fresh water for irrigation, especial emphasis may be given to adopt rain water harvest technology. Cont’d
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  Salinity affected areasin the coastal and offshore regions of Bangladesh Description Total cultivated Saline area Area of each salinity class (ha)
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  Farming pattern andagricultural production in coastal region • The farming system of coastal region is generally shrimp based. Shrimp farming has adversely affected the potential farming pattern as well as cropping pattern. Farmers cultivate both local and HYV aman rice in kharif-II season. During kharif-I and rabi seasons, the salinity intensity becomes higher and most of the farmers grow vegetables in their homestead for their own consumption. Fruit trees like mango, jackfruit, black berry, battle nut, date palm, etc. are disappearing gradually. Number of livestock is also decreasing due to lack of grazing lands, shortage of feed, e.g. forage, straw, etc. However, the number of poultry and duck is increasing. Some trees like babla, raintree and fruits like sofeda are growing satisfactorily. Native fish species in fresh and open water bodies are also disappearing gradually.
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  Table 2. Areacovered by dominant cropping patterns in different upazillas of greater Noakhali district, 2000-2001 0 1 . N o a k h a li 67,000 F - F - T . A m a n 40,000 6 0 0 2 . C o m p a n ig a n j 22,000 F - F - T . A m a n 12,500 5 7 0 3 . B e g u m g a n j 26,500 B o r o - F - F 22,000 8 3 0 4 . C h a tk h il 8,700 B o r o - F - F 7,000 8 0 0 5 . S e n b a g h 12,500 F - F - T . A m a n 4,000 3 2 B o r o - F - F 2,000 1 6 F - B .A u s - T . A m a n 2,000 1 6 B o r o - F - T . A m a n 2,000 1 6 0 6 . H a tiy a 55,000 F - F - T . A m a n 15,000 2 7 F - B .A u s - T . A m a n 10,000 1 8 G .n u t- A u s - T . A m a n 8,000 1 5 0 7 . F e n i 16,500 B o r o - F - T . A m a n 10,000 6 1 0 8 . P a r s h u r a m 12,700 B o r o - F - T . A m a n 8,300 6 5 0 9 . C h h a g a ln a iy a 10,000 B o r o - F - T . A m a n 7,000 7 0 1 0 . D a g o n b h u iy a n 10,500 F - F - T . A m a n 3,500 3 3 B o r o - F - T . A m a n 2,400 2 3 F - T .A u s - T . A m a n 2,000 1 9 1 1 .S o n a g a z i 21,000 F - B .A u s - T . A m a n 10,000 4 8 F - F - T . A m a n 5,800 2 8 U p a z illa N e t c r o p p e d a r e a ( N C A ) in h a S ta tu s o f d o m in a n t c r o p p in g p a tte r n s C r o p p in g p a tte r n s A r e a ( h a ) % o f N C A
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  Shrimp farming isthe major source of employment for people in coastal regions. Shrimp farms require labour for various activities such as gher preparation (drying, clearing, leveling of land, canal preparation, liming, manuring, etc.), carrying and releasing of post larvae, weeding, guarding farms, harvesting, transporting and marketing of shrimp and fish. Shrimp cultivation has opened up new avenues of employment for the local people especially for women. Women get involved in shrimp fry collection. It was found that around 40 % of total labourer was women who were involved in fry collection in the coastal regions. They also worked as labourers in shrimp fields. After shrimp cultivation, most of them were found to be working in shrimp related processing activities. Employment status in coastal region
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  Bangladesh is blessedwith an extensive coastline of about 710 Km. The southeastern and southwestern coast of this country is mostly covered by a complex estuarine ecosystem with strong interactions of biotic and abiotic factors. According to Ketchum, an estuarine environment is a unique and important part of the aquatic habitat and forms the transition zone between the inland world of freshwater and the seawater lying offshore. Estuaries play a vital role in the life history development of many marine and brackish water coastal animals, and some live out their entire life cycle within the estuarine environment. COASTAL FISHERIES RESOURCES
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  Problems faced bythe coastal farmers and probable suggestions Agricultural crop production was mostly affected by shrimp farming as its effects reflected on land fertility. Cultivation of shrimp needs storage of saline water for a long period which results in percolation of salt. Moreover, shrimp producers keep on adding extra salt into the water to ensure better growth of shrimp during monsoon. The extra salt gets stored in the field and adds to the salinity level further. Thus, shrimp farming increases soil salinity in non-saline area that hampers crop cultivation seriously. Crop and vegetable yield reduces in shrimp prone areas due to lack of salt tolerant varieties.
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  Coastal zone managementinvolves managing coastal areas to balance environmental, economic, human health,and human activities. Coastal Management integrates the biological, physical, and policy sciences toplan and execute sustainable solutions for environmental challenges where land meets water. ICZM is a process for the management of the coast using an integrated approach, regarding all aspects of the coastal zone, including geographical and political boundaries,in an attempt to achieve sustainability. It is a dynamic, multidisciplinary and iterative process to promote sustainable management of coastal zones. It covers the full cycle of information collection ,planning (in its broadest sense), decision making,management and monitoring of implementation COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT
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  Conclusion Regions vary intheir natural endowments ,constrains and vulnerabilities .Therefor it is very likely that the livelihood patterns and thus the susceptibility of the people will vary with regions. However all group of people are not equally vulnerable. The coastal region of Bangladesh is prone to cyclones ,stromes and sea level rise and is therefore particularly vulnerable . Agriculture and fisheries are two main sectors of livelihood of the coastal people .