Abstract
The study examined the farming practices and livelihood status of farm households in seven districts of Southern Bangladesh. Majority of the farmers in non-saline and saline areas followed the cropping pattern of Fallow – Aman rice – Pulses and Fallow – Aman rice – Fallow, respectively. Cropping intensity was higher in non-saline areas (220.0%) compared to saline areas (101.7%). Profitability of major crops was much higher in non-saline areas compared to saline areas. Based on the poverty indicators, the proportion of deprived households was 41.7 and 56.0% in non-saline and saline areas, respectively. The study recommended that in saline areas, rain water reservoirs should be developed in cooperative way and availability of electricity use should be facilitated to use light irrigation pumps in the crop field from the nearest fresh water reservoir. In addition, canal reform should be done and leasing arrangement of water canals should be stopped to get farmers’ access for irrigation purpose. Moreover, salt-tolerant and short duration pulse and wheat should be introduced in order to improve livelihood of saline farm households in Bangladesh.
 SAARC J. Agri., 17(2): 227-238 (2019)
Highlights
The coastal zone of Southern Bangladesh has a significant place in the country’s economy (Ahsan, 2013)
In the non-saline areas, majority of the farmers followed the cropping patterns of Fallow – Aman rice – Pulses, Fallow – Aman rice – Boro rice and Aus rice – Aman rice – Pulses whereas in saline areas, most of the farmers followed the cropping patterns of Fallow – Aman rice – Fallow, Fallow – Aman rice – Pulses and Fallow – Aman rice – Chili/Maize/Rabi crops. These cropping patterns reveal that there is a lack of dry season crops in the study areas
The present study has been undertaken to understand the context for practice change in dry season cropping in Southern Bangladesh
Summary
The coastal zone of Southern Bangladesh has a significant place in the country’s economy (Ahsan, 2013). 40 million people of the coastal areas of Bangladesh depend on agriculture (BBS, 2015). In this region, agricultural activity centres on the annual cropping of monsoonal rice. Cropping in the dry rabi season is conditioned by land topography, drainage, soil salinity and irrigation availability (ACIAR, 2011). Dry-season cultivation is limited by the profitability of traditional. Around one third of the farmers in the coastal areas are cultivating only one crop in a calendar year, i.e., Aman rice during monsoon while most of the cultivable lands remain almost barren in dry season (Hossain, 2016). Pulses and wheat can contribute to diversification of ricebased systems productivity in Southern Bangladesh
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