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AsuccessfulsalttolerantricevarietyinSreefalkathiVillageRiceToday

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AsuccessfulsalttolerantricevarietyinSreefalkathiVillage
M.G.Neogi|Aug6,2015
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OriginallypublishedintheDailyObserverBangladesh,27January2015

Coastalareasaremostlyaffectedbyclimatechangeandnaturaldisasterssuchasstormsandfloodsand
abioticstressessuchasdroughtandsalinity.Asaresult,farmersarelosingtheirinterestinricecultivation,
beingaffectedbythesenaturalcalamitiesagainandagain.Theimpactofclimatechangeonriceproduction
seemstobenegativeand,thus,alarming.ItisamajorthreattoBangladesh,andparticularlyraisestherisk
tofoodsecurityinthecountry.Theconceptofclimatechangeisstillrelativelynewtothepeopleof
Bangladeshandawarenessisverylow.Ontheotherhand,thenationaleconomystronglydependson
agricultureandnaturalresources,whicharenowsusceptibletoclimatechangeandsealevelrise.

http://ricetoday.irri.org/asuccessfulsalttolerantricevarietyinsreefalkathivillage/

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Afarmerstandsinthemiddleofafieldshowingsalttolerantricevariety(left)anddamaged
nonsalttolerantricevariety(right).
Increasedsalinityduringthedryseasoninthecoastalbelthampersriceproductioninareasthatwereonce
suitableforgrowingrice.Farmersriceproductionislowintheboroseasonbecauseofhighsalinity
intrusion.Hence,poorfarmersintheseareassuffer,sincecultivatingriceistheonlywaytofeedtheirfamily
members.AccordingtotheSoilResourceandDevelopmentInstitute(SRDI),around0.74millionhectaresof
landarebeingcultivatedinthecoastalregion,outofwhicharound0.38millionhectaresarenowsalt
affected,wheresalinityisincreasingyearafteryear.Outof0.38millionhectaresofsaltaffectedland,a
surveyindicatesthataround0.33millionhectaresareaffectedbysaltupto12dS/m,whereastheremaining
areasareevenmoreaffectedthanthat.Inearlierdays,farmersusedtocultivatericeinthedryseason(boro)
andobtainaverygoodyieldandincome.But,inrecenttimes,becauseitwasdifficulttogainhighyields
becauseofincreasedsalinityandseverescarcityoffreshwater,farmersincoastalareashaveleftbororice
cultivation.Asaresult,around0.3millionhectaresoflandnowremainfallowinthecoastalregion.
WevisitedSreefalkathi,avulnerablesalinepronevillagethatwasaffectedbyCycloneAilain2009.
SreefalkathiisinIshwaripurUnionunderShyamnagarUpazilaofSatkhiraDistrict,andisoneofthemost
saltaffectedareasinthecoastalregion.Atotalof1,308farmerfamiliesresideinthevillagewhererice
farmingistheonlysourceoflivelihood.Mostofthevillagershavesomeland,inwhichtheycultivateonly
amanriceinthemonsoonseason.BeforeCycloneAila,farmersusedtocultivatetwotothreecropsinayear
andearnareasonableincomefromagriculture.But,becauseofthetropicalstorm,theirlandbecametoosalty
thattheyfailedtohaveanyreasonableharvestsinthedryseasonafterthat.Almosteveryyear,duringthe
boroseason(NovembertoMay),salinityincreasesinthesoilofthisvillageandawhitefilmofsaltcovers
thepaddyfields.Thismeansthatthesoilcontainssaltandthisisathreattocropproduction.Climateexperts
predictedthattheincreasingamountofsaltinthesecroplandswillcausetheareaslandscapetobecome
barreninthenearfuture.
Inordertoovercomethisadversesituation,theInternationalRiceResearchInstitute(IRRI),underajoint
collaborationwiththeBangladeshRiceResearchInstitute(BRRI)andBangladeshInstituteofNuclear
Agriculture(BINA),developedfoursalttolerantricevarietiesfortheboroseason.Undercollaborationwith
IRRI,BINAdevelopedBinadhan8andBinadhan10,whereasBRRIdevelopedBRRIdhan47and
BRRIdhan55.Allthesefourvarietiesthathavethecapacitytofightsalinitycansurviveupto10
dS/meterofsalinity.Thesevarietieshavestartedreachingthefarmersthroughgovernmentandinternational
agencieslikeIRRI.Thesevarietieshaveayieldpotentialof57tonsperhectareatnormalconditionsinnon
http://ricetoday.irri.org/asuccessfulsalttolerantricevarietyinsreefalkathivillage/

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salineareas,whereasyieldwillbefromaround3to5tonsperhectareinsalineproneareas,dependingon
thedegreeofsalinity.
In201213,IRRI,throughtheStressTolerantRiceforAfricaandSouthAsia(STRASA)andUSAID
(UnitedStatesAgencyforInternationalDevelopment)projects,establishedahugenumberofdemonstration
trialsanddistributedsmallseedpacketsoffoursalttolerantricevarietiestothefarmersthroughthe
governmentsDepartmentofAgriculturalExtension(DAE)andlocalpartnerNGOs,aswellaslocalprivate
seedproducers.Nakshikantha,apartnerNGOofIRRI,providedtrainingoncultivation,seedproduction,and
seedpreservationofsalttolerantricevarietiestoselectedfarmersofSreefalkathiforfourdemonstration
trials.Theydidthisthroughlocalagriculturalextensionofficials,who,ontheotherhand,providedtheseeds
ofsalttolerantricevarietiesBinadhan8andBinadhan10andotherinputsaccordingly.Theyalsoprovided
miniseedpacketstootherfarmersinthesamevillage.

Alltheselectedhouseholdsthathaveirrigationfacilitiesestablishedtheirdemonstrationtrialssidebyside
theirtraditionalricevarietiestounderstandtheirpotentialdifferences.Mr.TapanKarmakar,anofficerof
Nakshikantha,tooktheleadtofollowupandmonitorsuchplotstogetherwithlocalgovernmentagricultural
officialsandIRRIfieldstaff.Salttolerantricecultivationisonlypossibleinsalineproneareaswheresurface
waterisavailableinnearbypondsandcanals.Scarcityofirrigationwaterisstillabigproblemincultivating
riceinmostofthesecoastalareas.
Duringthegrowingstageofthericeplant,itwasfoundthatthenumberoftillerswaslessinthetraditional
(nonsalttolerant)ricevariety,comparedtothesalttolerantricevariety.Also,inthefloweringstage,itwas
observedthatasignificantnumberofpaniclesinthetraditionalriceplantswerewhiteningwithpartially
emptygrains,whichresultinpooryield.Thesamescenariowasobservedinthelastcoupleofyears.Rice
scientistsconfirmedthatthishappensbecauseofincreasedsalinity.However,intheadjacentplot,where
farmerscultivatednewlydevelopedsalttolerantricevarietiessuchasBinadhan8andBinadhan10,there
werenosuchsymptomsandtheyshowedverygoodperformance.Attheendoftheseason,theproduction
broughtarevolutionamongallthefarmersofthearea.Itwasbeyondtheirdreamthatsuchabumpercrop
couldbegrownintheboroseasonafterCycloneAila.Theaverageyieldofthefourfarmersdemonstration
trialswas4tonsperhectare,whichwasquitesatisfactoryinsaltaffectedareas.
Theneighboringfarmersinthatareaweresurprisedtoseesuchproduction.Thisencouragedtheentire
farmerscommunitytogoforbororicecultivationagainwiththesesalttolerantricevarieties.The
demonstrationfarmerssavedseedsfortheirownuse,whilemanyotherfarmersobtainedseedsfromthemfor
thenextseason.
TheprojectorganizedapromotionalcampaigninthevillagewhereDAE,NGOs,localelites(consideredthe
villageleaders,electedchairmanandmemberofunionparishad,teachers,seniorpeopleinthevillage)and
morethanahundredfarmersobservedthesignificantdifferencesbetweentraditionalandnewlydeveloped
salttolerantricevarieties,andrealizedtheoutstandingperformanceofthesalttolerantricevarietiesintheir
saltylands.Inthecampaign,theprojectpersonnelandlocalelitesrequestedthatthedemonstrationfarmers
notconsumetheseedsofthesalttolerantricevarietiesthisyear,buttosellanddistributethemtotheir
neighbors,relatives,andotherfarmersfordisseminationinthecommunity.Withthat,theconcernedNGO
andcommunityleaderstooktheresponsibilityofdissemination.
In201314,thepicturewascompletelydifferent.IRRIdidnotprovideanyinputstothisvillage,butjusthad
aclosefollowupalongwithpartnerNGOsandlocalagriculturalofficials.Around68farmerfamiliesof
Sreefalkathi,thosethathaveirrigationfacilities,choseBinadhan8andBinadhan10fortheircapacityto
yieldwellinsaltylands.Allofthemsuccessfullyharvestedthecropandwereensuredofahigheryield.
FarmersofSreefalkathiarenowhappytoreceivethesetwovarieties,whichcangroweasilyintheirsalt
affectedlands.
Mr.TapanKarmakarmentionedthatmostofthefarmhouseholdsinthisvillagereceived/purchasedseedsof
thesetwosalttolerantricevarietiesthisyear.Insupportofthis,theNGOwillmanageirrigationfacilitiesin
anywaybydiggingwaterreservoirsnearthefarmerslands.Heexpectedthatthewholevillagecommunity
willgoforbororicecultivationwiththisnewlydevelopedriceseeds.Ifitispossibletobringfallowlandin
http://ricetoday.irri.org/asuccessfulsalttolerantricevarietyinsreefalkathivillage/

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thecoastalregionunderricecultivationthroughsalttolerantricevarieties,itwillbepossibletoproduceat
leastonemilliontonsmoreofrice,whichwillnotonlyensurefoodsecurityatthehouseholdandcommunity
level,butalsoatthenationallevelforourfuturegeneration.
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1Commentsofar.Feelfreetojointhisconversation.

1.
suryabhaskarNovember26,2015at12:38amReply
ItisthebestresearchdoneforthesakeoffarmersandIaminterestedtotrailthisvarietyinmySaline
landifitisavailable

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