Keynote Speech

Resilient Farming Practices towards Reshaping Climate Change Adaptation in Bangladesh

Venue: ICCCAD, Independent University, Bangladesh

08-11 January 2015

Prof. Zahurul Karim PhD

FBAS, FTWAS

Development Practitioner on Agriculture, Food Security and

Climate Change

Apt. 2D, House # 74, Road # 11/A, Dhanmondi, R/A

Dhaka-1209 Email-ID: zkarim.karim@gmail.com 1

What is in the Talk

Snapshot on Bangladesh Agriculture and Food Security Climate Change Vulnerabilities Resilient Farming Practices Revisiting NAPA & BCCSAP on Adaptation Measures Strategies for Climate-smart Farming Practices Working Ahead

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Agriculture in Bangladesh

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Agriculture plays an important role in Bangladesh economy contributing about 19% of the GDP

Contribution of Agriculture to GDP (%) at constant price ( Base year- 1995-96)

Crops- 55%

Livestock 13%

Fisheries 23%

Forestry 9%

Rice is the Dominant Crop

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Rice, 75.03

Wheat, 5.83

Jute, 2.86

Pulses, 3.49

Oil Crops, 3.06

Potatoes, 1.71

Vegetables, 1.73

Fruits, 1.3

Spice & Condiment

s, 1.74

Sugarcane, 1.19

Tea , 0.34

Others, 1.69

Extend of Land Type in Bangladesh Land class Land Characteristics Area (ha) % of total

Area

Highland (H) Land which is above normal flood-level 4 1,99,952 29

Medium Highland (MH) Land which normally is flooded up to about 90 cm deep during the flood season

50,39,724 35

Medium Lowland (ML) Land which normally is flooded up to between 90 cm and 180 cm deep during the flood season

17,71 ,102 12

Lowland (L) Land which normally is flooded up to between 180 cm and 300 cm deep during the flood season

11,01,560 8

Very Lowland (VL) Land which normally is flooded deeper than 300 cm during the flood season

1,93, 243 1

Total 6141284 89 5

Trend of Land use Pattern of Bangladesh (1971-2011)

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Climate Factors Depicts Growing Season in Bangladesh

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Irrigated Agriculture Enhances Vulnerability due to Dwindling Water Resources

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Climate Change Threats Aggravating Poverty Incidence

At least 45 million people in Bangladesh ( almost 33%) live below poverty line (36% rural and 28% urban);

Barisal – 39.4%, Rajshahi- 35.7%, Khulna- 32.1%, Dhaka-30.5%, Sylhet-28.1%, Chittagong-26.2%.

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Water logging

Drought

Flood

Cyclone Storm surge, salinity

Major Events of Climatic Vulnerabilities in Bangladesh

Bank Erosion

Mazumder, 2011

Geographic Features of the Country Dominantly a floodplain Country with

some terraces and hills. Interface of two different environments- Bay

of Bengal to the south and the Himalayas to the north.

About 10% of the country is hardly 1 meter above the Mean Sea Level (MSL), and one-third is under tidal excursions.

Have too much water in monsoon and little water in winter.

Such geographic location and geo-morphological conditions made Bangladesh one of the most vulnerable countries due to Climate Change.

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The Extend of Climate Change Vulnerability Vulnerability to Bangladesh Agriculture Bangladesh a least developed country with predominantly low-lying alluvial plain

most vulnerable to CC- IPCC/UNFCCC; Average temperature has registered an increasing trend of about 10C in May and

0.50C in November during the 14 year period from 1985-1998. The annual mean rainfall exhibits trends in Bangladesh. Decadal rain anomalies are

above long term average since 1960s. Serious and recurring floods have taken place during 2002, 2003, and 2004.

Cyclones originating from the Bay of Bengal have been noted to decrease since 1970 but the intensity has increased.

Frequency of monsoon depressions and cyclones formation in Bay of Bengal has decreased.

Salt water from the Bay of Bengal is reported to have penetrated 100 km or more inland along tributary channels during the dry season.

The precipitation decline and droughts has resulted in the drying up of wetlands and severe degradation of eco-system

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Climate Change Threats to Agriculture

Crop

• Climate change will bring major change in reference growing periods, necessitating restructuring of crops and cropping pattern.

• Crop modeler/World Bank predict 7.4% loss of annual rice production. • Temperature increase will drastically affect wheat area and productivity- decrease of 400

kg /ha for 1o c increase. • All other temperate crops are also susceptible to rise of temperature during Jan-Feb. • Increase in fogginess and relative humidity increase incidence of pest and diseases and

some times causes devastating failure of potato, pulses, etc. Due to unpredicted and erratic rainfall pattern crops yields are expected decrease 30%

in 2100. Production of rice & wheat will reduce 8.8%, and 32% within 2050 respectively. 13% areas of Bagerhat, Khulna & Satkhira of southern coastal districts are salinity

affected which will increase up to 16% in 2050 and 18% in 2100 Livestock

Reduction in the quality and availability of feed and water; Heat and other environmental stresses arising from warmer, drier or more wet

conditions; Preponderance of livestock parasites, pests and disease vector.

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Climate Change Threats to Agriculture (Contd.) Fisheries Most deleterious effect ~ Loss of Floodplains and destruction of habitat; Death rate of shrimp’s fingerlings will increase if the water temperature is more than 32°C (CEGIS). Diseases of fish may increase. Carps culture may reduce due to saline water intrusion in the ponds and open water bodies. Production of sweet water fish will shrink and extinct if the sea level rise. Corals are vulnerable to thermal stress, if the sea surface temperature increases 1-3°c corals bleaching will occur frequently. Habitat damage of Hilsa fish. Mangrove Forest About 75% area of mangrove forest, Sundarban (60007 Sq. km) will submerse if the sea level will increase 45 cm. If the sea level rise 1 m then the islands of Bay of Bengal and whole Sundarban will destroy including its fauna & flora.

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Resilient Farming Practices -Crops Varietal Development Climatic Stress Tolerant Rice Varieties Salt Tolerant Boro: BRRI Dhan 47, 61, 67; Bina dhan-8 & 10 T.Aman: BRRI Dhan 40, 41, 53,54 and

Aus: BRRI dhan 65 Flood Tolerant: Late Monsoon Flood: T.Aman: BR-22 and BR-23; Bina sail Flash Flood: Submergence Tolerant: BRRI dhan 51 and 52; Bina dhan-11 & 12 Drought Tolerant: BRRI dhan 56,57 and 66 Suitable for Monga Area: Short Duration: BRRI dhan 33, 56, 57 and 62; Bina dhan 7 & 16 Wheat

Salt tolerant : Bijoy, BARI Gom-25, BAU-1059 line Heat tolerant : BARI Gom-26

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Resilient Farming Practices –Crops (Contd.) Potato Salt tolerant : BARI Alo-22 CIP Clone -88.163 Sweet Potato Salt tolerant : BARI Mishti Alo-8,9 Pulses Salt & Heat tolerant : BARI Mug- 2,3,4,5,6, BM-01, BM-08 BARI Falon- 1, BARI Sola-9 Oilseeds Short duration & Salt tolerant : BARI Sharisha-14,15 BARI Chinabadam -9, BINA China badam-1, BINA China badam-2, BARI Soyabean-6 BARI Til-2,3,4

Salinity Resistant Jute variety by BJRI: i) HC-2, ii) HC 95,iii) CVL 1 Saline Tolerant Sugarcane variety by BSR: i) ISWARDI-40 16

Resilient Farming Practices-Crops (Contd.) Management Practices Some management practices, such as tillage, mulching, raised bed planting system, floating

techniques of vegetables cultivation; Fertilizer and irrigation recommendation both for drought and coastal saline regions; conducted adaptive trials with some success of strains of Wheat, Maize Potatoes and Leafy

vegetables; Developed Ektibari Ekti Khamar model suited for climate stress conditions; Developed water harvesting technology appropriate for farm water management and soil

conservation practices.

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Farmers’ Resilient Practices

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Supplementary irrigation Raised-bed cultivation in saline area Floating Cultivation

Floating fish cum vegetable growing Rain water harvesting Tall and aged seedling transplanting

i) Flooded Situation: In T. Aman cultivation - Use aged seedlings for survival in the flooding condition, - transplant seedlings thickly in flood free land and transfer to the main field after flood water

recession, - transfer old seedlings from established crop field to land from where flood water recedes lately Cultivate quick growing vegetables, millets, maize etc; ii) Drought Situation: Kharif Season (Aman Crop) Dig small tank or ditch at corners of the land and hold flood water to give supplementary

irrigation by indigenous methods or hose pipe. ; Avoid drought in pick period by early or delayed planting; Rabi Season Use deep tillage and plant seedlings or sow seeds at deeper layer of the soil; Adjust crop calendar to escape drought; Use mulches in high value crops like tomatoes, Potatoes Practice Relay cropping; grow shade trees crops in the crop field; Irrigate at critical growth stage (tillering and panicle initiation stage of wheat, tuberization stage of

potatoes )

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Farmers’ Resilient Practices

iii) Tidal Zone Crop Cultivation Cultivate saline tolerant crops such as groundnut, water melon, knolkhol, maize,

potatoes, millets , Salinity tolerant local or modern crop varieties Practice low-cost irrigation method like use of sewing, treadle pump and other simple

technologies for irrigation Cultivate vegetables on raised beds, dyke or on floating beds, Produce fruits and vegetables in the homestead area, Cultivate beans, gourds, okra and other vegetables on the embankments surrounding

prawn Ghers or ponds, Practice rice-fish-vegetables cultivation in the same plot of land, Use ditch and dyke and sorjan system of planting to avoid saline water flooding, iv) Waterlogged areas • Boro rice cultivation by pumping out water; • Aquatic vegetables

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Farmers’ Resilient Practices

Fisheries Netting of fish pond or Ghers, Use of shifting techniques for fish culture (transferring stock from dense pond to

field) Practice case culture in household ponds or in small water bodies; Culture brackish fish species/strains developed by Fishery research, Practice prawn fish poly-culture in fresh water Ghers (ponds), Shrimp fish poly-culture in fresh water Ghers (ponds), Crab fattening Livestock Rearing livestock in the homestead area (tala model), Rearing local adaptive species (sheep, buffalos, duck ) best suited in the region,

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Farmers’ Resilient Practices-Fisheries & Livestock

Initiatives on Good Practices for LULUCF • Co-management practices in protected area of IPAC (FD & CSOs) focuses

on i) Stakeholder & Institutional capacity ii) developing innovative training courses and iii) integrated participatory co-management.

• Arrannyak Foundation initiatives in CHT community based conservation and restoration of forest.

• GoB and some DPs started carbon trading activities including awareness building, capacity development, carbon stock assessment.

• Some initiatives of FD/IPAC on capacity building for REDD+.

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Revisiting NAPA & BCCSAP

• NAPA & BCCSAP identified few priority activities and programs on agricultural adaptation;

• These are small in number and too general in nature. • Adaptation programs must be for specific situations and locations during

the preparation of NAP; • Participatory adaptations program for diversified locations on different

commodities should be developed and implemented; • There should be some means of up scaling the farmers resilient practices

through location specific adaptation;

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Strategies for Climate-Smart Farming Practices Building institutional and individual capacity for assessment of loss and damage in the

whole agriculture sector; Ensuring access to global resources for rehabilitating loss & and damage in the sector; Un-earth the famers’ innovations and document into an inventory for upgrading and

up-scaling in different Hot-spots; Expanding On-farm climate-smart activities and participatory adaptation trials on all

agro-ecological niches to address the harsh of Climate Change; Setting of Climate Change Field Schools (CCFSs) in all climate vulnerable regions for

mass transfer of technologies and upgrading of farmers’ innovations; Launching coordinated and joint programs involving field level GOs (DAE, DoF, DLS

and FD), Local government institutions , NGOs and Private Sector organizations for reconstruction of damages to agriculture due to CC:

All long-term structural measures to combat the threats of CC must be based on people’s opinion and its ownership must be built ahead of implementation.

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Working Ahead As Bangladesh economy and food security is largely dependent on sustainable

agricultural practices, climate change vulnerability must be addressed by: Assessing loss and damage in the sector; Generating climate-smart technology packages; Adopting farmers’ participatory approaches for up-scaling management practices; Strategically and wisely utilizing all resources available for climate change R & D.

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LET US BUILD OUR TEAM AND FIGHT FOR WINNING THE BATTLE

Thanks

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