Agricultural Research Management Information System

Home
Research Summary
Search
About Us
- ARMIS
- Brochure
Contact Us
Report
User Request
Data Input
Help
- Operation Manual
  - PDF
  - Video
- Program Area & Commodity
We have reached 37600 number of research entries at this moment.

- Logout

Research Detail

Home
Research
Detail

Agricultural Adaptation Measures to Combat Salinity Problem in Southwestern Bangladesh

J. Ferdous
Research Officer, Climate Change Lab, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh

M. A. Habib
Research Officer, Climate Change Lab, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh

M. T. U. Rahman
Professor
Dept. of Civil Engineering, Military Institute of Science and Technology, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

Agricultural practices in coastal Bangladesh are under threat due to the effects of salinity intrusion into the soil layers and freshwater scarcity. This study aims to investigate the extent of usage of adaptation measures to combat the salinity intrusion and freshwater scarcity problem from the perceptions of farmers through a questionnaire survey, targeting farmers (N=300) from 15 random locations of Tala and Shyamnagar Upazilas. Measures such as applying gypsum (77% in Tala and 80% in Shyamnagar) and shifting to shrimp culture (74% in Tala and 83% in Shyamnagar) got a high response. On the other hand, use of low water-consuming crops got the least popularity among the farmers. There is still a significant scope of implementing agricultural adaptation measures in both the study areas. Independent t-test and Mann-Whitney ‘U’ test were carried out on the perceptions and it has been observed that the opinions of the respondents of the two areas had no significant statistical differences.

Keywords: Salinity, Water salinity, Soil salinity, Salinity intrusion

Location: Tala and Shyamnagar Upazilas of Satkhira district, Bangladesh

Start Date: 00-00-2016

End Date: 00-00-2016

Program Area: Crop-Soil-Water Management

Commodity: Water salinity, Soil salinity

Objectives:

The objective of this study is to explore the extent of usage of the agricultural adaptation measures to combat the effect of salinity intrusion in Tala and Shyamnagar Upazilas of Satkhira district.

Methodology:

To collect the primary data regarding the farmers’ perception of agricultural adaptation measures, a field trip was organized during Mach 2016. Perceptions of the farmers to what extent do they applied agricultural adaptation practices were collected by a semi-structured questionnaire. The adaptation practices included in the questionnaire were more focused on reducing water usage in agricultural activities, as in-field observation concluded the presence of water scarcity in the study area. The questionnaire format was kept as simple as possible for better and quick understanding of the farmers keeping their literacy level in concern. General information on the type of farmers was collected prior to the questionnaire survey to finalize the samples for the questionnaire survey. It was ensured that all types of farmers participated in the questionnaire survey. 95% confidence interval and ±5% level of precision was used for calculating the sample size of the study area and the approximate sample size was 300. Among the respondents, there were 105 owners, 27 owner-cum tenants and 18 tenants in Shyamnagar and 100 owners, 35 Owner-cum tenants and 15 tenants in Tala Upazila. With the semi-structured questionnaire, 300 farmers of different categories had been interviewed. For an effective and participatory collection of perceptions from the farmers, the local government representatives from Shyamnagar and Tala enlightened the research team and helped with his knowledge of the local communities and agricultural lands. Four focus group discussions have been arranged in four Unions of two Upazilas, Nagarghata, and Tala of Tala Upazila and Gabura and Shyamnagar of Shyamnagar Upazila. Around 10-12 members were present in each FGD. Chairmen and some of the members of Union Parishads and some representatives from local NGOs were present in the discussion. The overall salinity condition and its consequences on the agricultural practice of the area were the key topics of the discussions. The Upazila Nirbahi Officers (chief executive of an Upazila) of the two Upazilas have been interviewed also. An Independent t-test was carried out using IBM SPSS 20.0 software on the perceptions. This was to observe whether the opinions of the respondents of the two areas had any significant statistical differences or not. Mann-Whitney ‘U’ test was also carried out to further bolster the fact of statistical differences. If the ‘p-value’ of the equal variance independent ‘t’ test is larger than the value of 0.05, then it can be said that the perceptions of the respondents in the two Upazilas did not differ significantly. On the other hand, the critical value for the Mann-Whitney ‘U’ test is dependent on the number of options (N). The critical value is 13 when N is 8 and 17 when N is 9. If the obtained value is greater than the critical value, then it means that the response of the farmers in the two Upazilas does not vary significantly. If the statistical differences are not significant then the risk reduction measures can be applied commonly to both locations due to the fact that both areas are exposed to or are suffering from the same type of hazards.

Source of Information: Proceedings on International Conference on Disaster Risk Management, Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 12-14, 2019

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Agricultural practices in the southwestern coastal Bangladesh have been affected significantly due to scarcity of irrigation water free of salinity. To sustain agriculture in these crisis prone areas, farmers’ perception is a useful tool in designing adaptation measures. The farmers’ perceptions reflected their concern regarding salinity intrusion and contamination and unavailability of fresh irrigation water. Measures such as retention irrigation, composting and manuring and reuse of sullage water are some of the self-driven adaptation measures that the farmers are practicing in the study area, but certainly not in large numbers. Rather adaptation techniques such as switching to shrimp farming and applying gypsum to soil layers were found more popular in the study areas. Vigorous practice of shrimp farming may in turn affect the overall ecological diversity of the study area and might result in monoculture. So, an integrated and well-coordinated agricultural adaptation measures should be immediately taken into concern for this area.

Knowledge Management: Journal