Economics of cropping system intensification for small-holder farmers in coastal salt-affected areas in West Bengal: options, challenges and determinants

Mandal, Subhasis; Maji, B.; Sarangi, Sukanta K.; Mahanta, K. K.; Mandal, Uttam Kumar; Burman, D.; Digar, S.; Mainuddin, Mohammed; Sharma, Parbodh Chander

doi:10.1007/s40622-020-00236-8

Cited by 20 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Farmers have started small-scale diversification with vegetables and became ‘local experts’ while working closely with the experts of BCKV. They were exposed to diverse options of sustainable intensification and shared the acquired technological knowhow quickly in the region ( Ray et al, 2019 ; Mandal et al, 2020 ). The respondents depend on local input retailers for procuring input timely and receiving advisory services.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The groundwater is saline, and surface water dries up or becomes unsuitable for irrigating crops in the dry season due to higher salinity ( Mainuddin et al, 2020 ). Besides, the scope of crop intensification in the dry season is challenged by lack of storage facility for perishable crops, being further from big cities, and inadequate market infrastructure and market intelligence ( Ray et al, 2019 , 2020 ; Mandal et al, 2020 ). Professional extension support and institutional credit services are limited, especially in the less integrated islands.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Multi-faceted impact and outcome of COVID-19 on smallholder agricultural systems: Integrating qualitative research and fuzzy cognitive mapping to explore resilient strategies

Goswami

Roy

Dutta

et al. 2021

Agricultural Systems

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The shock of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has disrupted food systems worldwide. Such disruption, affecting multiple systems interfaces in smallholder agriculture, is unprecedented and needs to be understood from multi-stakeholder perspectives. The multiple loops of causality in the pathways of impact renders the system outcomes unpredictable. Understanding the nature of such unpredictable pathways is critical to identify present and future systems intervention strategies. Our study aims to explore the multiple pathways of present and future impact created by the pandemic and “Amphan” cyclonic storm on smallholder agricultural systems. Also, we anticipate the behaviour of the systems elements under different realistic scenarios of intervention. We explored the severity and multi-faceted impacts of the pandemic on vulnerable smallholder agricultural production systems through in-depth interactions with key players at the micro-level. It provided contextual information, and revealed critical insights to understand the cascading effect of the pandemic and the cyclone on farm households. We employed thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with multiple stakeholders in Sundarbans areas in eastern India, to identify the present and future systems outcomes caused by the pandemic, and later compounded by “Amphan”. The immediate adaptation strategies of the farmers were engaging family labors, exchanging labors with neighbouring farmers, borrowing money from relatives, accessing free food rations, replacing dead livestock, early harvesting, and reclamation of waterbodies. The thematic analysis identified several systems elements, such as harvesting, marketing, labor accessibility, among others, through which the impacts of the pandemic were expressed. Drawing on these outputs, we employed Mental Modeler , a Fuzzy-Logic Cognitive Mapping tool, to develop multi-stakeholder mental models for the smallholder agricultural systems of the region. Analysis of the mental models indicated the centrality of “Kharif” (monsoon) rice production, current farm income, and investment for the next crop cycle to determine the pathways and degree of the dual impact on farm households. Current household expenditure, livestock, and soil fertility were other central elements in the shared mental model. Scenario analysis with multiple stakeholders suggested enhanced market access and current household income, sustained investment in farming, rapid improvement in affected soil, irrigation water and livestock as the most effective strategies to enhance the resilience of farm families during and after the pandemic. This study may help in formulating short and long-term intervention strategies in the post-pandemic communities, and the methodological approach can be used elsewhere to understand perturbed socioecological systems to formulate anticipatory intervention strategies based on collective wisdom of stakeholders.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-faceted impact and outcome of COVID-19 on smallholder agricultural systems: Integrating qualitative research and fuzzy cognitive mapping to explore resilient strategies

Goswami

Roy

Dutta

et al. 2021

Agricultural Systems

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“…The population density in these 3 polders/Islands are 548 person/km 2 , 1024 person/km 2 , and 831 person/km 2 , respectively for Amtali, Dacope and Gosaba 7 , 51 , 52 . The people depend mainly on agriculture for their livelihood 4 , 23 . Based on soil salinity, the polder at Amtali can be considered as low salinity, polder at Dacope as medium to high salinity and the Gosaba Island as high salinity, thus representing the range of salinities amongst the polders and islands of the Ganges Delta.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

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%

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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“…One of the less investigated phenomena which require the immediate attention of researchers and policymakers is the possible environmental hazard which can be triggered by adopting calamitous farming practices in the delta. The delta landform mostly comprises farmers with small and marginal land holdings, predominantly comprising of paddy fields with inadequate agricultural drainage infrastructures [22,53,54]. The post-green revolution cultivars grown in the area are subjected to heavy doses of nitrogen in the form of Urea or other compound fertilizers for maximum yield along with organochlorine, organophosphate and carbamate pesticides and herbicides for enhancing productivity.…”

Section: Water Pollution From Agricultural Chemicalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Threat of arsenic contamination, salinity and water pollution in agricultural practices of Sundarban Delta, India, and mitigation strategies

et al. 2021

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The paper through a critical appraisal of the agricultural practices in the Indian Sundarban deltaic region explores the tripartite problems of arsenic biomagnification, salinity of arable lands and ingress of agrochemical pollutants into the freshwater resources, which endanger the health, livelihood and food security of the rural population inhabiting the delta. The threefold problem has rendered a severe blow to the agrarian economy consequently triggering large-scale outmigration of the rural population from the region. Although recent studies have addressed these issues separately, the inter-connectivity among these elements and their possible long-term impact upon sustainability in the Sundarbans are yet to be elucidated. In the current scenario, the study emphasizes that the depleting freshwater resources is at the heart of the threefold problems affecting the Sundarbans. Owing to the heavy siltation of the local river systems, freshwater resources from the local ravines have salinized beyond the point of being used for agricultural purposes. At the same time, increasing salinity levels resulting from fluctuation of pre- and post-monsoon rainfall, frequent cyclones and capillary movement of salinized groundwater (primarily during the Rabi season) have severely hampered the agricultural practices. Salinization of above groundwater reserves has forced the farmers toward utilization of groundwater, which are lifted using STWs, especially for rice and other cultivations in the Rabi season. The Holocene aquifers of the region retain toxic levels of arsenic which are lifted during the irrigation process and are deposited on to the agricultural fields, resulting in bioaccumulation of As in the food products resourced from the area. The compound effect of consuming arsenic-contaminated food and drinking water has resulted in severe health issues recorded among the local population in the delta. Furthermore, due to the sub-optimal conditions for sustaining agriculture under saline stress, farmers often opt for the cultivation of post-green revolution high-yielding varieties, which require additional inputs of nitrogen-based fertilizers, organophosphate herbicides and pesticides that are frequently washed away by runoff from the watershed into the low-lying catchment areas of the biosphere reserve. Such practices have endangered the vulnerable conditions of local flora and fauna. In the present situation, the study proposes mitigation strategies which necessitate the smart use of locally obtainable resources like water, adaptable cultivars and sustainable agronomic practices like organic farming. The study also suggests engaging of conventional plant breeding strategies such as “Evolutionary plant breeding” for obtaining cultivars adapted to the shifting ecological conditions of the delta in the long run.

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Economics of cropping system intensification for small-holder farmers in coastal salt-affected areas in West Bengal: options, challenges and determinants

Cited by 20 publications

References 10 publications

Multi-faceted impact and outcome of COVID-19 on smallholder agricultural systems: Integrating qualitative research and fuzzy cognitive mapping to explore resilient strategies

Multi-faceted impact and outcome of COVID-19 on smallholder agricultural systems: Integrating qualitative research and fuzzy cognitive mapping to explore resilient strategies

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

Threat of arsenic contamination, salinity and water pollution in agricultural practices of Sundarban Delta, India, and mitigation strategies

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