Socio-Economic and Biophysical Constraints of Dry Season Cropping in Tidal Floodplain of Bangladesh

Abstract

Cropping intensity and crop yields in tidal floodplain of southern districts of Bangladesh are low. Nearly all farmers grow transplanted aman rice in wet season, but a few farmers (29%) grow dry season crops leaving most land fallow. Based on the results of a survey conducted in two coastal districts in Bangladesh, this paper examines the constraints of growing dry season crops. Majority of the population in the area are engaged in farming; but most of them (77%) fail to earn livelihood through farming. Alternative livelihood strategies of the smallholders are (a) wage earning as labor, (c) farming as share croppers, (d) cultivating land of other landholders on seasonal/annual basis. Tidal flood being deterrent in growing modern varieties, invariably all farmers grow indigenous rice in wet season. Cropping intensity is low (152%). Khesari (Lathyrus sativus) and mungbean (Vigna radiata) are the farmers’ preferred dry season crops, but productivity is low. Delay in rice harvest and slow land drainage delays planting khesari resulting in poor yield. Weeds and insect-pest infestation also keep the mungbean crop yield low. Late planted khesari also gives poor yield. Harvesting mungbean pods is labor intensive that smallholders cannot afford. Yields and monetary return thereof hardly equals production cost. Low yield and consequential poor return are the major causes of farmers being disinterested in dry season cropping.