Community water management to intensify agricultural productivity in the polders of the coastal zone of Bangladesh

Appreciating and dealing with the plurality of farmers’ perceptions and their contextual knowledge and perspectives of the functioning and performance of their agroecosystems—in other words, their ‘mental models’—is central for appropriate and sustainable agricultural development. In this respect, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) aim to eradicate poverty and food insecurity by 2030 by envisioning social inclusivity that incorporates the preferences and knowledge of key stakeholders, including farmers. Agricultural development interventions and policies directed at sustainable intensification (SI), however, do not sufficiently account for farmers’ perceptions, beliefs, priorities, or interests. Considering two contrasting agroecological systems in coastal Bangladesh, we used a fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM)-based simulation and sensitivity analysis of mental models of respondents of different farm types from 240 farm households. The employed FCM mental models were able to (1) capture farmers’ perception of farming system concepts and relationships for each farm type and (2) assess the impact of external interventions (drivers) on cropping intensification and food security. We decomposed the FCM models’ variance into the first-order sensitivity index (SVI) and total sensitivity index (TSI) using a winding stairs algorithm. Both within and outside polder areas, the highest TSIs (35–68%) were observed for effects of agricultural extension on changes in other concepts in the map, particularly food security and income (SI indicators), indicating the importance of extension programs for SI. Outside polders, drainage and micro-credit were also influential; within polders, the availability of micro-credit appears to affect farmer perceptions of SI indicators more than drainage. This study demonstrated the importance of reflection on the differing perspectives of farmers both within and outside polders to identify entry points for development interventions. In addition, the study underscores the need for micro-farming systems-level research to assess the context-based feasibility of introduced interventions as perceived by farmers of different farm types.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Socio-cognitive constraints and opportunities for sustainable intensification in South Asia: insights from fuzzy cognitive mapping in coastal Bangladesh

Aravindakshan

Krupnik

Shahrin

et al. 2021

Environ Dev Sustain

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“…As such, field drainage is a likely prerequisite for rabi season cropping and the timely establishment of crops such as maize, wheat, and mungbean. Similar results have been observed in farmer-participatory agronomic studies in the south-western part of coastal Bangladesh within polders (Yadav et al, 2020). Nonetheless, large scale investment for canal dredging and irrigation infrastructure is beyond the ability of the farmers in the area.…”

Section: Impact Of External Interventions (Drivers) On Cropping Intensificationsupporting

confidence: 82%

Past trajectories, current preferences, and alternative futures for the sustainable intensification of coastal farming systems in Bangladesh

Aravindakshan¹

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Coastal systems are facing natural and human-driven change coupled with a rising population. With increasing shifts in socioecological conditions during the past several decades, it is important to understand how socioecological drivers at different hierarchical levels: -micro, -meso, and -macro affect coastal farming systems, which play a crucial role in the livelihoods of coastal dwellers. Mixed rice-livestock-aquaculture farming in Southern Bangladesh exemplifies the rapid change occurring in many of the world's coastal farming systems in response to these drivers. We used panel data observations from the above study area and modelled trajectories of farm typologies, and the impact of multi-level socioecological drivers by a novel approach. Our approach integrates:(1) a well-articulated conceptual frame of change observed using (2) a temporal view of the potential drivers, change process and farm type outcomes, with the twenty years panel data of 502 households that is analysed by means of (3) multivariate statistics in conjunction with panel data models that operationalise the conceptual frame. Our approach allows (a) estimating dynamic effects over time that typically cannot be estimated in a cross-sectional data set, (b) distinguishing between timeinvariant fixed and time dependent random effects of multi-level socioecological drivers, and (c) controlling for omitted variables to a certain extent. Considering farming systems both within and outside of polder embankment systems intended to protect against oceanic water intrusion, we found a gradual shift from heterogeneous, rice-livestock farm types to more homogenous farms with less livestock and more off-farm activities. Micro-level factors including farm plot fragmentation, farmers' experience in cropping, machinery, salinity and soil fertility were influencing changes in farming systems. Meso-level factors including markets, road infrastructure, labour availability, access to extension and land tenure also affect the trajectory of farming systems change. Among macro-level drivers, increasing population density positively and significantly influenced cropping intensity among farms outside polder systems. Within polders, a positive but non-significant trend was observed for the influence of population density on cropping intensity. Our data also indicate negative and significant influence of cyclonic storms on cropping intensity over time in both areas. Our results underscore the importance of accounting for multiple levels of socioecological drivers of change when developing appropriate policy options for sustainable development in South Asia's coastal farming systems.

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“…This results in fluctuations in river water level of up to 4.0 m. The dense networks of canals (former river distributaries) within the polders are connected to the surrounding rivers by a series of sluice gates under the embankments providing the opportunity to bring water in during high tides, or to drain water from the polders during low tides, as needed. However, water management in the polders is poor, and infrastructures are inadequate, which makes the drainage of rain water accumulated within the polders difficult 4 , 7 , 9 – 11 . Due to insufficient drainage arrangement and high rainfall (~ 2000 mm, mostly concentrated during the monsoon season), polders are prone to flooding during the wet season.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Governments of Bangladesh and West Bengal have developed comprehensive master plans for the agricultural development of the region to increase productivity and cropping intensity thus improving food security and livelihood 17 , 21 of the population. Traditionally, farms produce low-yielding local rice varieties under rainfed conditions in the wet season 11 , 22 – 24 . In the dry season, most agricultural land remains fallow due to: (1) late wet season harvesting and prolonged waterlogging (which delays the planting of Rabi crops exposing the late planted crops to high soil salinity and untimely rains during the later part of the season), and (2) the lack (or perceived lack) of good quality irrigation water for Rabi season irrigation 9 , 11 , 23 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Traditionally, farms produce low-yielding local rice varieties under rainfed conditions in the wet season 11 , 22 – 24 . In the dry season, most agricultural land remains fallow due to: (1) late wet season harvesting and prolonged waterlogging (which delays the planting of Rabi crops exposing the late planted crops to high soil salinity and untimely rains during the later part of the season), and (2) the lack (or perceived lack) of good quality irrigation water for Rabi season irrigation 9 , 11 , 23 . Recent experimental studies 24 – 30 and modelling 8 , 9 , 31 shown that crop production could be increased substantially with careful soil and crop management 9 , 29 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of climate change and management strategies on water and salt balance of the polders and islands in the Ganges delta

Mainuddin

Karim

Gaydon

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Enhancing crop production, particularly by growing a crop in the typically-fallow dry season is a key strategy for alleviating poverty in the Ganges delta region. We used a polder water and salt balance model to examine the impact of several crop management, salt management and climate change scenarios on salinity and crop evapotranspiration at Dacope and Amtali in Bangladesh and Gosaba in India. A key (and unsurprising) finding is that salt management is very important, particularly at the two drier sites, Dacope and Gosaba. Good salt management lowers salinity in the shallow groundwater, soil and water storage ponds, and leads to more irrigation. Climate change is projected to alter rainfall, and this in turn leads to modelled increases or decreases in runoff from the polders, and thence affect salt concentrations in the soil and ponds and canals. Thus, the main impacts of climate change are through the indirect impacts on salt concentrations, rather than the direct impacts of the amount of water supplied as rainfall. Management practices to remove salt from polders are therefore likely to be effective in combatting the impacts of projected climate change particularly at Dacope and Gosaba.

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Community water management to intensify agricultural productivity in the polders of the coastal zone of Bangladesh

Cited by 27 publications

References 19 publications

Socio-cognitive constraints and opportunities for sustainable intensification in South Asia: insights from fuzzy cognitive mapping in coastal Bangladesh

Socio-cognitive constraints and opportunities for sustainable intensification in South Asia: insights from fuzzy cognitive mapping in coastal Bangladesh

Past trajectories, current preferences, and alternative futures for the sustainable intensification of coastal farming systems in Bangladesh

Impact of climate change and management strategies on water and salt balance of the polders and islands in the Ganges delta

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