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Combating Flash Flood in Haor Areas: Strategic Adaptation Towards Sustainable Crop Production

Smita Dash Baishakhy
Department of Agricultural Extension Education, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, Bangladesh.

Mohammad Ashraful Islam
Department of Agricultural Extension Education, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, Bangladesh.

Md. Ruhul Amin
Department of Agricultural Extension Education, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, Bangladesh.

Fahmida Husain Choudhury
Department of Agricultural Extension Education, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, Bangladesh.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

In Haor areas of Bangladesh agricultural activities are limited to four-five months of a year due to waterlogged conditions and boro rice is the prominent crop grown within this short time span in the dry season. But farmers often had to face almost total crop failure due to recurrent flash flood events. This paper attempts to evaluate Haor farmers’ adaptation through adopting strategies in securing boro rice from flash flood damage at pre-mature and mature stages. To reach this objective, a pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data from randomly selected 115 Haor farmers from February to May 2020 while Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) were also done as necessary during the research work. Results revealed that cultivation of short duration boro rice variety ranked top followed by practicing varietal diversification and early harvesting of rice (at 80% maturity) as the most significant adaptive strategies in securing boro rice. Obtained results also highlighted the possibilities of attaining desirable resilience through a change in the adaptation behavior of Haor farmers if the identified farming practices are widely promoted and adopted. Hence, any development plans for the Haor area should integrate local knowledge with modern strategies thus resulting in a location-specific sustainable flash flood adaptation policy.

Keywords: Boro rice; Adaptation; Haor; Flash flood; Sustainable farming

Location: Sunamganj district in Bangladesh.

Start Date: 00-02-2020

End Date: 00-05-2020

Program Area: Risk Management in Agriculture

Commodity: Flood

Objectives:

To build community resilience against flash flood damage.

Methodology:

The study was conducted in Sunamganj district, containing 95 Haors, and is one of the severely flash flood-affected districts [3]. Then following the multi-stage sampling technique, the two most severely flash flood-affected Upazilas under Sunamganj district namely Tahirpur and Biswamvorpur were selected purposively and from each Upazila, two villages namely Dakhin Sreepur and Solemanpur from Tahirpur Upazila and Raipur and Bahadarpur from Bishwambarpur Upazila were finally selected as these villages had faced severe flash flood damage in the last years [9]. A total of 115 Haor farmers representing ~11% of the total population from these four villages were selected randomly thus constructing the study population. They were interviewed with the aid of a pre-tested structured questionnaire to collect primary data from February to May 2020. Before conducting a survey, Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) were also conducted in each Upazila to gather qualitative information about different adaptive farming strategies from Upazila Agriculture Officer, Upazila Nirbahi Officer, and model farmers of the respective Upazilas. In this way, twelve strategies were selected as widely adopted by the Haor farmers. Necessary secondary data were also collected from different sources. To quantify farmers’ extent of adoption of selected farming strategies, a four-point Likert scale was modified ranging from 0 to 3 where 0 means no adoption and 3 means highest adoption of an individual strategy [17,18]. Then they were asked to score individual strategies following this Likert scale against the Adoption Index (AI) formula to access the impact and suitability of these adaptive strategies in the locality. Then strategies were finally categorized according to farmers' mean adoption score following the (Mean +/- Standard deviation) approach [19]. The Adoption Index (AI) formula was as follows: AI= A_h ×3 + A_m ×2 + A_l ×1 + A_n× 0. Where AI = Adoption Index

A_h = Number of farmers fully adopted the strategy

A_m = Number of farmers moderately adopted the strategy

A_l = Number of farmers less adopted the strategy

A_n = Number of farmers did not adopt the strategy

The data collected were subjected to analysis using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) software (Version 22). Mainly descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.

Source of Information: Asian Journal of Agricultural and Horticultural Research - 7(1): 29-37, 2020

Article Link (Online Journal): DOI: 10.9734/AJAHR/2020/v7i130087

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Haor wetlands have significant ecological importance and economic contribution to the country. But the recurring flash flood events have become a curse for the local Haor community. Farmers have been fighting a never-ending war against flash flood damage to secure their boro rice production. Therefore, the Government and extension organizations should come forward to develop deliberate strategic policies that can address the crop security needs of the farmers against climatic challenges. Extension agencies also should have to provide input supply and arrange training and demonstration programs on improved practices for the farmers to facilitate their technical adeptness. Moreover, policymakers and development agencies should take targeted actions in accordance with revised priorities for investment and policy creation to improve Haor farmers’ livelihood and to develop the necessary infrastructure and better market environment for them.

Knowledge Management: Journal