Rice productivity in Bangladesh: What are the benefits of irrigation?

Water management and livelihood choices in southwestern Bangladesh

“…However, Bell et al (2015) examine farm production data from a nationallyrepresentative survey and find that the case for expanding irrigation in the south is not compelling, and points instead to the importance of understanding and managing the interplay between brackish-water shrimp aquaculture and irrigated freshwater agriculture as competing approaches to cope with the stressors faced by the coastal south. These conflicting findings raise uncertainty regarding the role that irrigation may play in strengthening coastal livelihoods in the coming decades.…”

Sustainable crop intensification through surface water irrigation in Bangladesh? A geospatial assessment of landscape-scale production potential

“…We conservatively estimated that there are 20,800 and 103,000 ha of fallow and rainfed cropland that could be brought into double cropping, with considerable potential production gains for maize and wheat. Land use planning policy in Bangladesh conversely emphasizes boro rice to offset increasingly high-energy subsidy and production costs in the country’s intensively groundwater irrigated areas (Bell et al, 2015, MOA and FAO, 2013, Qureshi et al, 2015). Our data however indicate that it is unlikely that decentralized SWI could augment national rice production (or conversely offset it in groundwater irrigated areas) at levels above three percent of recent national production.…”

“…Similarly decentralized irrigation supplied by service providers operating portable low-lift pumps and managing smaller command areas mimics this approach, and may be more feasible for expanding SWI (Krupnik et al, 2015b). Measures to rationalize abstraction will nonetheless be crucial to maintain freshwater availability in the coastal fringe (Bell et al, 2015, Bernier et al, 2016)…”

“…In West Bengal and coastal Bangladesh, for example, dry season land fallowing is common. Groundwater irrigation facilities are lacking, especially near the coast where shallow aquifers may be saline (Bell et al, 2015). Where environmental conditions are more permitting, the cost of deep tube well drilling and installation is still out of reach for most resource-poor farmers (Bernier et al, 2016).…”

“…Further emphasis is placed on increasing dry season boro rice production in southern Bangladesh (MOA and FAO, 2013), partly to offset increasing production and energy subsidy costs in existing boro areas in the north reliant on groundwater irrigation. The viability of this approach has however been questioned given the southern region’s soil and water salinity constraints, problems with coordinated water governance, and concerns over the anticipated long-term effects of climate change (Bell et al, 2015, Bernier et al, 2016, Qureshi et al, 2015). …”