Land In Bangladesh Research Articles

Optimization and techno-economic assessment of 50 MW floating solar power plant on Hakaluki marsh land in Bangladesh

The development of large-scale, ground-mounted photovoltaic power generation in areas with limited land is extremely difficult, especially in some countries where more than 1,100 people reside per square kilometre. Considering land's utilisation for food production, housing, and industrialisation a priority, floating solar photovoltaic (FSPV) systems, which involve mounting PV cells on a floating device on the surface of a water body, can provide a practical solution for both renewable power generation and the conservation of scarce land. Although some studies emphasise the potential benefits of FSPV, no comprehensive techno-economic and environmental study is reported in the open literature in the context of a country where landmass is nearly impossible to utilise for photovoltaic power generation. Hence, the article focuses on a techno-economic and environmental study of a 50 MW FSPV power plant for a marsh area in an extremely densely populated country using PVsyst simulation tools. The findings of the study show the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of the 50 MW FSPV plant is US$ 0.051/kWh, which is a decent lower compared to US$ 0.087/kWh for fossil fuel-based power plants in the case study nation. Furthermore, the proposed FSPV offers reductions in CO2, water evaporation, and biodiversity conservation in marshlands.

A non-traditional Agrophotovoltaic installation and its impact on cereal crops: A case of the BRRI-33 rice variety in Bangladesh

Traditional Agrophotovoltaic (APV) installation (i.e., basic row layout with minimum or no usage of the space underneath the solar PV panels) is responsible for a vast amount of agricultural land waste as no regular crops are grown under the shade of APV. Bangladesh is no exception to this trend. A primary in-person survey of about 50 solar irrigation pumps (SIPs), i.e., APVs, in Bangladesh, shows that on average, 13.77 decimal or 7,200 sq.ft. of land is used for each APV system installation. If 10,000 SIPs are installed by 2027 in Bangladesh, as targeted by the government through Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) by employing the same procedure, the land wastage would be 1,652 acres. Notably, this is a critical issue for a country like Bangladesh with a scarcity of agricultural lands. According to World Bank data, agricultural land in Bangladesh was about 80% in 1989 and reduced to 76% in 2020 due to population growth and urbanization. Therefore, to reduce agricultural land waste a non-traditional APV installation procedure, along with its shading impact on the BRRI-33 rice variety (a major crop in Bangladesh), has been investigated in this study. The results show that discontinuous sunlight has an insignificant impact on BRRI-33 rice production, and APV might be installed in the cultivating area for irrigation purposes. This non-traditional APV installation has a statistically insignificant impact on rice yield. For instance, the 100 grains’ yield variation was between 1.45 and 4.82%, which is insignificant. Additionally, the APV shade does not negatively impact soil pH level, and shadow helps keep the soil temperature low and ensures less irrigation. Hence, the proposed non-traditional APV installation could achieve sustainable agriculture and energy development through efficient land use at least in the case of the BRRI-33 rice variety.

Bengal Delta, Charland Formation, and Riparian Hazards: Why Is a Flexible Planning Approach Needed for Deltaic Systems?

A comprehensive understanding of the dynamic characteristics of geomorphological, ecological, and human systems is essential to explaining complex charland (mid-channel island) processes and crafting and implementing policy measures. This work demonstrates that the characteristics and outcomes of riparian hazards are determined by the interactive dynamics between hydrogeology and human conditions, which constitutes a novel contribution to the literature in this research area. We further contend that such dynamic social-ecological systems demand a flexible, adaptive management and planning approach. The present research has three key interdisciplinary objectives: (i) to analyze the salient features and characteristics of the geomorphological and riparian systems of the Bengal Delta; (ii) to analyze the evolutionary discourse of the legal systems concerning eroded (diluvion) and accreted (alluvion) land in Bangladesh; and (iii) to assess the characteristics of the coping and adaptation strategies employed by charland inhabitants. The findings of this research reveal that delta-building processes, which are characterized by dynamic shifts in the river channels, along with the erosion and accretion of charlands have made Bangladesh’s land and water systems very dynamic and unstable. The destabilization of these systems increases the inhabitants’ vulnerability to riparian hazards, which consistently results in the displacement of settlers and, consequently, a serious deterioration in their socioeconomic status. At present, Bangladesh does not have an effective institutional framework and structure for resettlement planning; therefore, the formulation of a comprehensive national resettlement policy with adequate flexibility to adapt to changing scenarios is urgently needed.

Determining the role of land resource, cropping and management practices in soil organic carbon status of rice-based cropping systems

Rice-based cropping systems (RBCS) cover the majority of cultivated land in Bangladesh and are the country's primary source of food security. To bolster food security, cropping intensity has increased by 192% in the last 30 years. Concerns have been raised about the sustainability of such cropping increases, particularly for soil productivity and resilience, with many areas reporting low soil organic carbon (SOC). The research assessed the levels of SOC, total nitrogen (TN) and soil pH in RBCS to identify relative importance of the land resource, cropping and management settings on these soil properties and to determine options for sustainable land use intensification. Soil samples (0–30 cm) were collected following stratified random design from a range of RBCS and analyzed for SOC, TN and soil pH. These soil properties were interpreted against previously developed farming system typology of Soil Carbon Improvement Likelihood (SCIL) and the legacy soil datasets. SOC was recorded higher in the stop-go triple cropping (12.00–16.33 g/kg) compared to the triple and double cropping intensities (6.90–8.30 g/kg). The crop-diversified and mustard-rice cropping systems of High SCIL, where there is crop rotational diversity and high residue retention, recorded a higher SOC. However these systems were also located on inherently fertile soil (Floodplain medium highland) compared to the less diverse cropping systems (wheat-rice, veg.-rice and rice-rice) of Medium and Low SCIL. The wheat-rice system had the lowest SOC (5.46 g/kg), which is considered to be a consequence of low crop residue retention and reduced periods of inundation in highland on the Piedmont plain or Terrace. However, the build up of SOC and TN was linked to soil acidification associated with altered fertilizer regime and crop residue removal. Cropping intensity, and in particular, the associated cropping systems and management, were determinants of SOC, depending on which land resource setting and cropping systems were practiced by the smallholders. The types of cropping systems and management options in land resource settings were identified that have the potential for sustainable land use intensification. The implications would be to ensure these cropping systems are conserved, and trade offs contemplated to meet the rising food demand and carbon sequestration goals to counteract smallholder vulnerability to climate change in Bangladesh and South Asian countries.

WOMEN-LED INTEGRATED HOMESTEAD AGRO-FARMING: A DESIGNERLY PERSPECTIVE

A growing population with rising per capita income has intensified the competition for limited land in Bangladesh. As regulation of land use is largely absent in rural areas, agricultural land use is getting indiscriminately converted into non-agricultural uses. This conversion is threatening agro-based food security of the country in general and of the rural households in particular. Regarding this issue, the current government has emphasized the rural homestead as a ‘production unit’ of agro-farming. As an important source of food and nutrition, homestead farming is an integral part of rural settlements where women play a vital role. However, in most of the cases, it is done in an un-integrated and rudimentary manner. As a result, they are unable to yield the maximum from homestead farming. In this context, the research focuses on designing integrated homestead agro-farming based on case studies of two homesteads of a typical village in Batiaghata, Khulna. With an exploratory approach the research methodology is designed with a three-stage framework. Stage I includes investigation of the categories and needs of agro-products focusing on the role of women in production, processing, management and consumption; Stage II includes exploration of existing spatial-morphological patterns and extent of different types of agro-farming; while Stage III includes development of design schemes for integrated homestead agro-farming. Based on the triangulation of findings, this research contributes strategic physical-spatial design considerations for integrated homestead agro-farming towards ensuring household food security in a socially sustainable and agro-ecologically resilient manner.

Development of Storm Surge Inundation Model and Database for Enhanced Climate Services in Bangladesh

Bangladesh's vulnerability to storm surge and success in reducing their impacts on the coastal communities are well-known. However, global warming is expected to increase both the frequency and the intensity of tropical cyclones. Also, the country still lacks in good quality data and information that can offer enhanced services to effectively design coastal defense systems and adapt to climate changes. This study developed a storm surge inundation model and database using the available tropical cyclones' database and simulated inundation for the past 31 cyclones in the Bay of Bengal, near the coastal regions of Bangladesh. The model uses a suite of Delft3D hydrodynamic and Delft Dashboard cyclone models. The model was calibrated and validated for two major cyclones, namely Sidr and Aila, using the available data for different bed roughness, track sources, and wind drag coefficient conditions. The results suggested that spatially varying bed roughness and wind varying drag conditions provide a more reliable prediction of inundation over the coast. The results also show that historical track data from Indian Meteorological Department optimize the model performances. The inundation database indicates that depending on the intensity and location, tropical cyclones can cause the maximum inundation of 1–5 m in the coastal lands of Bangladesh. More than 70% of the storms lead to the maximum inundation of more than 2 m, and about 25 and 7% of the storms can cause the maximum inundation of more than 3 and 4 m, respectively. The study also discusses the potential applications and shares insights on the implications of the inundation database that can offer improved information for enhanced climate services in Bangladesh. The database can be advanced with information about sectoral loss and damage as well as citizen science that will not only provide necessary information to design coastal protection structures and emergency measurements but also contribute to build long-term climate adaptation plans in the data-scarce region.

Economic Feasibility of Solar Irrigation Pumps: A Study of Northern Bangladesh

Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world. With a total population of around 165 million, the country has constantly been facing food security challenges and other problems. Therefore, increasing food production is one of the feasible solutions to this challenge, and proper agricultural land use for food production bears critical importance. Adopting sustainable irrigation systems and viable technologies would be vital for ensuring efficient use of agricultural land in Bangladesh to safeguard the country's food security. Solar irrigation pumps (SIPs) can be a reliable option in this regard. However, Bangladesh has experienced a prolonged growth rate of SIP installation in the last decade. The countryhas set a target to install 10000 SIPs by the year 2027, albeit it is a tiny share of the 1.57 million conventional irrigation pumps operating in the country. This study aims to investigate the economic feasibility of the SIPs operating in the northern region of Bangladesh in terms of estimating financial feasibility and environmental benefits. The study is mainly based on primary data collected from the users of SIPs from two Upazilas of Dinajpur and Rangpur districts. A total of 14 SIPs, categorized into large, medium, and small pumps, are selected randomly from the available SIPs in the study areas. The financial analysis reveals that small SIPs are the most profitable option (20% IRR) for investment. Large SIPs are moderately profitable (10% IRR), and their profitability can be improved (10.50% IRR) by introducing additional uses of solar energy. However, medium SIPs are the worst (5% IRR) option for investment. In the study areas, large and medium SIPs are designed for the 'fees for service model', and small SIPs are designed for the 'fees for ownership model'. It is found that the 'fees for ownership model' is more profitable than the 'fees for service model'. Moreover, the net environmental benefit for all SIPs is found almost equal to the given subsidy for installing them. Also, the net environmental benefit per kilowatt peak (kWp) is highest for the small SIPs. This paper recommends that additional use (e.g., husking, grinding, supply excess electricity to grid, and so on) of solar energy can improve the profitability of investmenton SIPs. Further, the government should continue giving grants for installing SIPs and promote 'fees for ownership model' (small SIPs) for personal use. It would speed up the dissemination rate of SIPs and help increase the country's agricultural production and improve the environmental conditions.

Optimization and Techno-Economic Assessment of 50 Mw Floating Solar Power Plant on Hakaluki Marsh Land in Bangladesh

Optimization and Techno-Economic Assessment of 50 Mw Floating Solar Power Plant on Hakaluki Marsh Land in Bangladesh

Determinants of Crop Diversification in Bangladesh: An Econometric Analysis

This study aims to investigate the factors that influence household behaviour in cultivating the diversified crops on their cultivable land in Bangladesh. Cragg’s alternative tobit model has been applied to a unique rural household level dataset to find the catalysts of crop diversification. The results obtained portrayed a mixed impression of crop diversification in the country. The estimated results have revealed that the male head of household, the accessibility of information, a greater number of farming parcels and the availability of hired labour seem to govern the decision of a farming household to participate in non-rice crop production, while factors such as the total amount of land, agricultural extension service and irrigation facilities influence rice cultivation. Moreover, the findings obtained from the same Cragg’s alternative tobit model estimation for the Aman, Boro and Aus seasons have also revealed a similar depiction of crop diversification in Bangladesh.

The relationships between economic growth and cropland changes in Bangladesh: An evidence based on annual land cover data

Bangladesh is experiencing rapid economic progress since 1990s, at the same time, facing acute shortage of agricultural land. Using 19 years (2000-2018) time series remote-sensing data and Random Forest machine learning algorithm in Google Earth Engine (GEE), this study classifies the land covers in Bangladesh; determines the trend of land cover changes using least-square growth rate model; and finds the associations between the trends of cropland and growth of socio-economic factors using correlation and regression analysis. The annual average area of cropland decline is 29271 hectare, which is higher than the absolute changes of other major land covers, such as forest (25932 hectare) and built-up area (1649 hectare). With the annual growth of urban population (3.81%) and gross domestic product (GDP) (6.28%), the predicted declining rate of cropland is estimated 0.29%, which is very close to the observed annual declining rate (0.28%). However, the partial effects of urban population and GDP could not be detected. Therefore, the study infers that urbanization and economic growth in Bangladesh are happening simultaneously. As a result, the joint determination of both phenomena can explain the degradation of agricultural land in Bangladesh.

Scope of using ICT for knowledge management on adaptation to climate change in agriculture

The char land of Bangladesh is vulnerable to climate change. There are changes in extreme weather events. Impact of climate change resulted feminization of agricultural practices. Number of development interventions have been taken to skill the rural community to take adaptation action on agriculture. Development interventions taken in the char land of Dimla, Nilphamari were studied from June 2018 to December 2019 to identify the capacity of climate change adaptation interventions using the information and communication technology to empower women. Mobile Phone Use Index study found that nearly three-fourth of rural female farmers were capable to manage knowledge on climate change adaptation if their access to device was ensured. Inclusion of women in the technology playing a very important role towards transformative leadership. Nearly 85% of the women farmers have high environmental awareness; likely to be contributory to adaptation knowledge management. Community themselves identified them more resilient comparing with areas where promotion of technology is not supported. Institutes with the capacity of information technology promotion could be the hub of resilience knowledge management for women, but external supports are required there. Self-motivation supported by project intervention has created notable capacity of a good number of women who could be the mentor of women transformative leadership towards resilience.
 Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. Tech. 10(2): 1-6, December 2020

Effect of Different Application Methods of Zinc and Boron on Growth and Yield of Cabbage

Zinc and boron are the most important trace nutrients for crop production. In recent years, cultivable lands in Bangladesh suffer deficiency of these elements. This research aimed to find out a suitable and effective application method to improve the overall soil nutrient up-gradation for crop production. Here, the treatments were control (T0), soil application of zinc (T1), soil application of boron (T2), foliar application of zinc (T3), foliar application of boron (T4), soil application of zinc and boron (T5), soil application of zinc with foliar application of boron (T6), soil application of boron with foliar application of zinc (T7), and foliar application of zinc and boron (T8). The source of zinc @ 3 kg ha-1 and boron @ 2 kg ha-1 as a basal dose were zinc sulphate and borax, respectively. The foliar application of zinc and boron was done at 45 and 60 days after transplanting @ 1% and the source were chelated zinc and solubor boron, respectively. The result of the experiment was concerning the highest plant height, plant spreading, the number of leaves, stem length, stem diameter, fresh weight of loose leaves, head diameter, head thickness, dry matter content of head, and yield. The highest yield of cabbage was found with the treatment foliar application of zinc and boron (T8). The results of this investigation revealed that the application methods of zinc and boron positively affect the growth and yield of cabbage whereas foliar application of these nutrients always makes higher growth parameters with yield.

Evaluation of Fuel Properties of Sal (Shorea robusta) Seed and Its Oil from Their Physico-chemical Characteristics and Thermal Analysis

ABSTRACT In search of alternative and eco-friendly sources of fuel, biofuel received enormous attention over the world. Although Bangladesh is a land of biomass and natural resources, an intensive study of the potential use of these resources for biofuel production has not yet been reported. Shorea robusta, commonly known as ‘Sal tree’, is the major plant of Sal forest which covers about 10% of the total forest land of Bangladesh. In this study, fuel properties of the seeds obtained from Sal tree were assessed from its proximate and ultimate analysis. Oil from Sal seed was extracted via solvent extraction process using n-hexane as solvent. The oil content in the seed was found 15.39% (when the coat and kernel of the seeds extracted together) and 20.16% (when only Kernel of the seeds was extracted), respectively. GC-FID analysis of the oil detected the presence of stearic acid (49.38%), oleic acid (34.69%), arachidic acid (8.56%), and palmitic acid (7.35%). The elemental composition of the oil was found C = 75.9%, H = 13.5%, N = 3.6%, S = 0.06%. Different physico-chemical parameters e.g., acid value, iodine value, saponification value, peroxide value, refractive index, and viscosity of the oil were also determined. The higher heating value of the Sal seed and its oil were found 17.99 MJ/kg and 41.61 MJ/kg, respectively. The pyrolysis and the combustion characteristics of the seed and extracted oil were evaluated via Thermogravimetric Analysis. The Sal seed and its oil would be a promising feedstock for commercial biodiesel, pyro-oil, and soap production in Bangladesh.

Parametric Assessment of Seasonal Drought Risk to Crop Production in Bangladesh

Droughts are more damaging when they occur during crop growing season. This research assessed the spatial distribution of drought risks to crops in Bangladesh. Catastrophe theory-based weighting method was used to estimate drought hazard, exposure, and risk by avoiding potential human bias. Ten major crops, including eight different types of rice, wheat, and potato, were selected for evaluation of drought risk. Results showed that 32.4%, 27.2%, and 16.2% of land in Bangladesh is prone to extreme Kharif (May-October), Rabi (November-April), and pre-Kharif (March-May) droughts, respectively. Among the major crops, Hybrid Boro rice cultivated in 18.2% of the area is found to be highly vulnerable to droughts, which is followed by High Yield Varity (HYV) Boro (16.9%), Transplant Aman (16.4%), HYV Aman (14.1%), and Basic Aman (12.4%) rice. Hybrid Boro rice in 12 districts, different varieties of Aman rice in 10 districts, and HYV Boro rice in 9 districts, mostly located in the north and northwest of Bangladesh, are exposed to high risk of droughts. High frequency of droughts and use of more land for agriculture have made the region highly prone to droughts. The methodology adopted in this study can be utilized for unbiased estimation of drought risk in agriculture in order to adopt necessary risk reduction measures.

An Investigation of Success and Failure Factors of Street Food Sector Entrepreneurs in Sylhet

Street food sector is rapidly growing large informal sector in Sylhet, the holy land of Bangladesh. This study attempts to investigate the success and failure factors of entrepreneurs in the street food sector of Sylhet. The study was descriptive in nature and both qualitative and quantitative data were used. In this study, a total of 50 entrepreneurs of street food business were interviewed on the basis of convenience sampling (non-probability sampling technique) from Sylhet district. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from the entrepreneurs with a face to face half an hour interview. Mean, mode, percentile, standard deviation were used in the data analysis. The findings of the study divulge that most of the entrepreneurs of street food sectors are young and male. The study also depicts that lack of experience of the entrepreneurs is the main failure factor of this sector. Along with this insufficient capital, a large amount of bribe, intense competition, undefined location are the key failure factors of this sector. On the other hand, the key success factors include easy formation, lower startup cost, less paperwork, fewer employees. The study also interprets that the government has less regulation in this sector, which is also a crucial success factor in this sector. For the development of this sector, the local government authority should provide some specific location for this sector. A large amount of bribe in this sector also needs to be controlled. The banks and other financial institution should provide SME loan to the entrepreneurs. The study will helps local government authority, policymakers, academician and interested persons to get a better insight into this sector. Keywords: Street food sector, entrepreneurs, success and failures factors, Sylhet. DOI : 10.7176/EJBM/11-9-01 Publication date :March 31 st 2019

Measuring the efficiency of collective floodplain aquaculture of Bangladesh using Data Envelopment Analysis

This study measures efficiency of collective floodplain aquaculture enterprises (FPAs) practiced in floodplains composed of private lands in Bangladesh using data envelopment analysis (DEA). We concentrate on a management system that was initially developed by landowners in the Daudkandi sub-district in 1984. With gradual spread of this management system two important internal variations have emerged in terms of (1) organizational composition that resulted from the investment-based participation of an NGO, and (2) mode of managing aquaculture operation that resulted from leasing out the aquaculture operation instead managing it by themselves in some FPAs. Taking consideration of these two variations, and using four inputs and one output, we measure the technical, scale, mix and overall efficiency of 15 FPAs selected from five districts. While 11 FPAs are technically efficient, only six are overall efficient. On average, NGO-collaborated FPAs (NFPAs) are more efficient (78.27%) than landowners-managed independent FPAs (IFPAs) (75.96%). However, IFPAs are only found in the Daudkandi region, where there are more efficient IFPAs than NFPAs. On the other hand, while lease-based operations show better average efficiency (79.56%), self-managed operations have more efficient units. We also find that the intensive use of inputs in most older FPAs does not make them more efficient, despite their higher fish yield, than relatively newer FPAs. Given the poverty, food security and nutrition linkage of floodplain aquaculture and continuous attempts to increase fish yield, the FPAs along with development partners and government agencies, should take account of efficiency-related aspects in policies and practice.

USING MULTI-TEMPORAL REMOTE SENSING DATA TO ANALYZE THE SPATIO-TEMPORAL PATTERNS OF DRY SEASON RICE PRODUCTION IN BANGLADESH

Abstract. Remote sensing in the optical domain is widely used in agricultural monitoring; however, such initiatives pose a challenge for developing countries due to a lack of high quality in situ information. Our proposed methodology could help developing countries bridge this gap by demonstrating the potential to quantify patterns of dry season rice production in Bangladesh. To analyze approximately 90,000 km2 of cultivated land in Bangladesh at 30 m spatial resolution, we used two decades of remote sensing data from the Landsat archive and Google Earth Engine (GEE), a cloud-based geospatial data analysis platform built on Google infrastructure and capable of processing petabyte-scale remote sensing data. We reconstructed the seasonal patterns of vegetation indices (VIs) for each pixel using a harmonic time series (HTS) model, which minimizes the effects of missing observations and noise. Next, we combined the seasonality information of VIs with our knowledge of rice cultivation systems in Bangladesh to delineate rice areas in the dry season, which are predominantly hybrid and High Yielding Varieties (HYV). Based on historical Landsat imagery, the harmonic time series of vegetation indices (HTS-VIs) model estimated 4.605 million ha, 3.519 million ha, and 4.021 million ha of rice production for Bangladesh in 2005, 2010, and 2015 respectively. Fine spatial scale information on HYV rice over the last 20 years will greatly improve our understanding of double-cropped rice systems, current status of production, and potential for HYV rice adoption in Bangladesh during the dry season.

Atmospheric rivers over the Bay of Bengal lead to northern Indian extreme rainfall

ABSTRACTAtmospheric rivers (ARs), filamentary patterns of strong water vapour fluxes, play a prominent role in global poleward moisture transport and have profound impacts on extreme rainfalls (ERs). Previous AR research has mainly focused on the mid‐latitude regions, whereas the characteristics of ARs in low latitudes and their relationship with local ERs remain largely unknown. This study investigates the spatiotemporal characteristics of ARs over the Bay of Bengal and their relationship with ERs after landing on the northern Indian subcontinent using the ERA‐Interim reanalysis data. During the study period from 1979 to 2011, a total of 149 ARs have been identified, which feature a bimodal temporal pattern with more events observed in May and October. The AR axes generally stretch northeastwards over the bay and land in Bangladesh and Burma. A total of 24% of ARs occurring during tropical cyclones implies a possible connection between them, in addition to the similar intra‐annual distribution. In summer, as the tropical cyclones are weak and the northward water vapour flux decreases due to topographic blocking of the Western Ghats, it is less likely to form intensified water vapour pathway, though the atmospheric humidity is high in the study region. Furthermore, a close correlation between ARs and ERs is manifested. A large proportion of ARs would lead to ERs, with a small fraction of ERs occur after ARs. In addition, although persistent ARs constitute the majority of identified events, rainfall intensity will not be enhanced by the increase in AR duration. This study enriches the knowledge of AR characteristics in low latitudes and provides new pathways to understand the hydrological cycles in the Indian Peninsula and the Bay of Bengal.

Do shocks affect men's and women's assets differently? Evidence from Bangladesh and Uganda

AbstractUsing panel data, this article tests whether shocks affect men's and women's assets differently in Bangladesh and Uganda. Across countries, covariate and idiosyncratic shocks have different effects on men's, women's and jointly owned assets. Jointly held land and assets were better insured against food price increases in Bangladesh, unlike jointly held assets and wives’ assets in Uganda. Weather shocks affect husbands’ and wives’ assets differently in both countries. Reflecting contextual differences, illness shocks negatively affected wives’ land in Bangladesh, while death reduced husbands’ non‐land assets. In Uganda, fuel price increases eroded husbands’ landholdings, while drought shocks reduced wives’ assets. Ugandan husbands’ assets were better protected against covariate shocks than wives’ assets.

Farmers’ knowledge, attitude and practices of moringa as nutritional and medicinal food in ‘Mymensingh’ region of Bangladesh

All plant parts, especially leaves and pods of the moringa (Moringa spp.) tree are rich in protein, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals of nutritional and medicinal value. Moringa is usually grown in the homestead, along road-sides, and on fallow land in Bangladesh. Tender pods of moringa are predominantly used as vegetables although utilisation of other plant parts has sparsely been reported in Bangladesh. However, no systematic study has so far been made on farmers' knowledge, attitude and practices of moringa as nutritional and medicinal food in Bangladesh. Hence, a survey was conducted on this aspect in two villages of 'Boira' union of 'Mymensingh' district of Bangladesh from August 1 to September 15, 2015. Data were collected from 59 farmers out of 209 (28% of farming population) growing moringa, through personal interview schedules. Results revealed, on average, an age of 36.7 years, an education level of grade 6, a family size of 5.5, a farm size of 0.37 ha, an annual income of 1662.5 US$, social mobility score of 6.6, knowledge on propagation practices of 11.8, knowledge on nutrition and utilisation score of 6.9 (max. score 27), attitude score of 27 (max. score 48) and uses score of moringa of 10.8 (max. score 50). The results indicate that there is potential of growing an increased number of trees and improving knowledge on nutrition and uses in the locality. Further, farmers were asked about use of pods and leaves (5-0 scale: 5-very high and 0-no use). Farmers were categorized as low, medium and high users ( 4, respectively). Highest number of farmers (71.2%) with >4 score used tender pods as vegetables, while for leaves low, medium and high users shared a percentage of 30.5, 30.5 and 39.0%, respectively. This signifies that there is potential of improving the knowledge of uses of moringa plant parts. Further, respondents had inadequate knowledge on balanced protein, availability of abundant minerals and vitamins, and medicinal properties of moringa leaves. Hence, the findings allow the conclusion that there are ample opportunities to increase knowledge on nutrition as well as uses of moringa leaves in Mymensingh region of Bangladesh.