By Manoranjan Mondal, Elizabeth Humphreys, TP Tuong Revitalizing the Ganges Coastal Zone Conference 21-23 October 2014, Dhaka, Bangladesh http://waterandfood.org/ganges-conference/

1. Community
water
management:
The
key
to
unlocking
the
produc7on
poten7al
of
the
polder
ecosystems
in
Bangladesh
Manoranjan
Mondal
Elizabeth
Humphreys
T
P
Tuong
SCL

2. M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
J
F
M
A
M
J
T.
Aman
(140-­‐160
d)
Rabi
(130-­‐140
d)
Deep
flooding
at
the
beginning
of
rainy
season
constrains
the
establishment
of
aman
rice
and
adop6on
of
modern
HYV
rice
Prolonged
water
logging
at
the
end
of
rainy
season
delay
establishment
and
risky
harvest
of
rabi
crop
Beginning
of
cyclone
period
Crop
&
water
management-­‐causes
of
low
produc6vity
0
10
20
30
40
End-­‐Jan
Mid-­‐Feb
End-­‐Feb
Mid-­‐Mar
End-­‐Mar
Mid-­‐Apr
End-­‐Apr
Mid-­‐May
End-­‐May
Soil
moisture
(%)
PWP
FC

3. Sesame
seeds
were
broadcast
during
14-­‐28
February
2013

4. Damaged
sesame
field
in
pilot
watershed
on
25
May
2013

5. Major
Ac6vi6es

6. Selec7on
of
the
water
management
unit
6
Sluice
gate

7. River
Sluice
gate
Road
Rural
road
Canal
(khal)
Drainage
canal
Outlet
6
ha
pilot
water
management
unit
on
polder
30
7
• Obtain
the
agreement
to
create
a
hydrologically
separate
watershed
&
operate
the
sluice
gate
systema6cally

8. Construction of drainage outlet and drainage canals
• Constructed
internal
drains/bunds
to
separate
high
and
low
land.
• Constructed
drains
along
the
perimeter
of
the
watershed.
• Constructed
drainage
outlet
.

9. • Obtained
the
agreement
of
the
farmers
to
grow
– HYV
rice
– High
value
and
tradi7onal
rabi
crops
in
the
watershed
area
• Provided
seed
&
training
in
recommended
management
for
rice
and
rabi
crops
• Provided
year-­‐round
coaching
What
we
have
done
to
improve
produc7vity
of
coastal
BD?
9

10. Major
Achievements

11. Rice
submerged
twice
in
2012

12. • Farmers
operated
the
sluice
gate
systema6cally
to
quickly
drain
out
excess
water
during
the
rainy
season
• BUT
couldn’t
drain
on
6me
for
rabi
establishment
because
of
late
maturing
tradi6onal
varie6es
Drainage
during
aman
season

13. 13
Tradi7onal
varie7es
mature
late
(photoperiod
sensi7ve)
HYV
–
ready
for
harvest
Tradi7onal
(local)

14. 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
Rainfall
&
Water
depth
(mm)
Target
drainage
6me
–
but
irriga6on!
because
local
variety
late
maturing
Transplan6ng
Surface
water
gone
but
weather
cold,
foggy,
soil
too
wet
for
6llage
Late
drainage
at
the
end
of
wet
season
soil
too
wet
for
early
rabi
crop
establishment

15. Sunflower
established
on
1st
January
2013,
harvested
before
cyclone
(yield
=
1.5
t/ha)

16. Maize
established
on
24
February
2013
was
in
late
grain
filling
at
6me
of
rains
&
farmer
harvested
5
t/ha
(~
1/2
fer6liser
rate!)

17. Rainfall
at
Kismat
Fultola,
Ba7aghata,
Khulna
Rabi
season
2012-­‐13
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
1-­‐Dec
1-­‐Jan
1-­‐Feb
1-­‐Mar
1-­‐Apr
1-­‐May
1-­‐Jun
Rainfall
(mm)

18. Damaged
Sesame
field
in
pilot
watershed

19. Damaged
mungbean
field
in
pilot
watershed

20. Damaged
sunflower
field
in
pilot
watershed
on
31
May
2013

21. HYV
Rice
(Recommended
mngt)
Traditional
+
HYV
Rice
(Farmers’
mngt)
Stocked
FISH
in
6
ha
–
both
areas
(Tilapia,
Mola)
Aman
2013:
Selected
1
ha
sub-­‐pilot
21

22. Aman
Rice
in
2013:
~
5-­‐6
t/ha
from
HYV

23. Early
establishment
of
rabi
crops
in
2013-­‐14
at
Kismat
Fultola,
Khulna

24. Wheat
in
pilot
watershed
at
Kismat
Fultola,
Ba6aghata,
Khulna,
Rabi
season
2012-­‐13

25. Good
growth
of
early
established
sunflower
in
rabi
season
2013-­‐14

26. Yield
of
Maize
and
Sunflower
at
Kismat
Fultola,
Ba6aghata,
Khulna,
Rabi
season
2013-­‐14
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Maize
Sunflower
Yield
(t/ha)

27. Rainfall
at
Kismat
Fultola,
Ba7aghata,
Khulna,
Rabi
season
2013-­‐14
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
1-­‐Dec
1-­‐Jan
1-­‐Feb
1-­‐Mar
1-­‐Apr
1-­‐May
1-­‐Jun
Rainfall
(mm)

28. Poor
growth
of
late
established
sesame
due
to
lack
of
soil
moisture
and
rainfall
in
rabi
season
2013-­‐14

29. Challenges

30. • Soil
drying
• Tillage
equipments
• Soil
cracking
• Fer6lizer
applica6on
–
N
topdressing
• Water
quality
None
address
produc7on
issues
with
WUA??
Major
Challenges

31. Soil
drying
is
a
major
problem:
Perched
WT
is
high,
low
EV,
slow
internal
drainage
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Soil
moisture
(%)
PWP
Field
Capacity

32. • Land
was
ready
for
plowing
in
mid-­‐February
2013
• But
– Small
tractor
owners
increased
price
(x2)
of
6llage
when
they
knew
the
farmers
wanted
to
prepare
the
land
early
&
quickly.
– Farmers
had
to
wait
for
more
than
a
week
for
big
tractor
to
come
down
from
further
north
(Jessore)
where
agriculture
is
intensified
for
land
prepara6on.
Tillage
for
rabi
crop
cul7va7on

33. No
7ll
seems
good,
but
soil
cracked
-­‐
damaged
roots
and
ineffec7ve
N
topdressing

34. 0
5
10
15
20
25
Water
Salinity
(dS/m)
Saline
irriga7on
water
Canal
water
EC
at
Kismalultola,
Khulna

35. Concluding
Remarks
• An
individual
cannot
successfully
modify
their
cropping
system
schedule
and
adopt
improved
agricultural
technologies
in
coastal
polders
due
to
the
prevailing
hydrology.
• Requires
community
coordina6on
at
a
range
of
scales
–
within
small
hydrological
units,
within
a
sub-­‐
polder,
and
at
the
sub-­‐polder
scale.
– Many
considered
the
catchment
is
hydraulically
separated
– In
reality
it
is
not
in
polders

36. Concluding
Remarks
• Further
engagement
with
polder
communi6es
is
needed
to
determine
– how
to
empower
them
with
the
ability
to
adopt
improved
cropping
systems
selected
by
them
from
the
suite
of
available
op6ons
– how
to
address
social
and
environmental
challenges
for
higher
produc6vity
and
farm
income
.

37. THANK
YOU
SCL