Impacts of direct-seeded and early-maturing varieties of rice on mitigating seasonal hunger for farming communities in northwest Bangladesh

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We assessed the impact of combining direct-seeded rice (DSR) and early-maturing varieties (EMVs) on productivity, costs, income and agricultural employment of farmers in two hunger-prone districts of northwest Bangladesh. Analysis included descriptive statistics, comparison of means and regression. The combination of DSR and EMV has a significant positive effect on the income of farmers by US$625 per ha from aman (wet) to boro (dry) seasons. The main reasons for the increase in income were a higher rice yield (US$669 kg/ha) and a reduction in costs (US$44 per ha) due to less labour required in crop establishment in the aman season and a higher yield and income for boro crops. Farmers were able to plant their boro crops earlier and sell their crops at a time when the supply in the market was low and prices were higher. For agricultural labourers, the early aman harvest generates more labour demand (19% in Rangpur and 22% in Nilphamari), with the assumption that 5% of the total rice area was planted using both DSR and EMVs. Direct-seeding and shorter duration rice varieties therefore enable farmers to obtain a higher yield and income while allowing agricultural workers to earn money in the monga months and ensuring efficient use of limited resources for sustainable agricultural production.