BRAC aims to increase agricultural and aquacultural productivity in coastal Bangladesh through several strategies. These include converting single cropping areas to double or triple cropping, introducing short-duration rice varieties, stress-tolerant crops and fish varieties, and integrating fish/prawn-rice-vegetable systems in ghers. Technologies are disseminated to over 55,000 farmers across 59 upazilas. Hybrid rice varieties yield up to 9.5 tons/hectare. Integrated ghers provide net profits from 172,558-416,975 taka/hectare. Aquaculture in floodplains involves 257 farmers utilizing 73 acres in 2013, yielding an average 795 kg/hect

1. www.brac.net
INCREASING
AGRICULTURAL
AND
AQUACULTURAL
PRODUCTIVITY
IN
THE
COASTAL
ZONE
OF
BANGLADESH:
BRAC’S
EFFORT
Shankar
K
Biswas
Tausif
Ahmed
Qurashi
Agriculture
and
Food
Security
Program
BRAC
23
October
2014,
Dhaka

2. www.brac.net
The
overall
objecVves
of
the
program:
• To
enhance
produc.vity
by
increasing
agro-­‐aquacultural
cropping
intensity.
• To
ensure
food
security
and
improve
livelihood
of
the
coastal
community.
• To
develop
farmer’s
capacity
in
increasing
climate
change
adapta.on
and
resilience

3. www.brac.net
Technology
disseminaVon
strategy
ü Conver.ng
single
cropping
area
to
double
or
triple.
ü Introducing
short-­‐duraVon
HYV
rice
to
accommodate
high-­‐value
non-­‐rice
crop
in
the
popular
rice-­‐rice
pa?ern
ü Introduc.on
of
stress
tolerant
crop
and
fish
varie.es
to
combat
the
adverse
effect
of
climate
change
ü
Fish/Prawn-­‐rice-­‐vegetable
integra.on
in
gher
fishery

4. www.brac.net
ü Area
reached:
59
Upazilas
(35
coastal
Upazilas)
ü Technology
dissemina.on
ü Capacity
development
of
the
par.cipants
ü Program
supports
for
the
criVcal
inputs
ü Disaster
and
stress
prone
areas
got
priority
ü Graduated
around
55
thousand
parVcipants
by
September
2014
BRAC’S EFFORT

5. www.brac.net
Extending improved rice varieties
Ø Aus:
Hybrid
dhan
Shak.-­‐2,
Sathi,
Alloran
Ø Aman:
HYV
varie.es
Ø Boro:
Hybrid
dhan
Shak.-­‐2,
Sathi,
Alloran,
BRRI
dhan28.
BINA
dhan8
BINA
dhan10
BRRI
dhan41
BRRI
dhan54
BRRI
dhan51
BRRI
dhan52
BINA
dhan7
BRRI
dhan33
BRRI
dhan39
BRRI
dhan56
BRRI
dhan49
BR22

6. www.brac.net
Extending
hybrid
rice
varieVes:
Aus
Hybrid
rice
variety
DuraVon
(days)
Average
yield:
Shak.-­‐2
119
7.32
MT/ha
(Profit:
TK
60,000
–
90,000/
ha)
Sathi
118
Alloran
120
v Area coverage in Aus 2014 more than 1600 hectares in south

7. www.brac.net
ProducVon
cost,
income
and
Profit
of
3
different
varieVes
during
Aus
season’2013

8. www.brac.net
HYV
rice
in
Aman
season
2013
Variety
No.
of
farmer
Growth
duraVon
(days)
Yield
(t/ha)
BINA
dhan7
430
115
6.06
BRRI
dhan33
302
117
5.47
BRRI
dhan39
30
119
5.15
BRRI
dhan41
50
145
5.44
BRRI
dhan49
532
134
5.84
BRRI
dhan51
110
147
5.40
BR22
105
144
5.81
BR11
570
139
6.27
Total
2139
Average:
5.84

9. www.brac.net
Boro
rice
Around
1200
farmers
cul.vated
hybrid
and
HYV
in
262
blocks
in
2013
-­‐
2014.
Variety
No.
of
block
Yield
(t/
ha)
Hybrid
dhan
Shak.-­‐2
42
9.45
Hybrid
dhan
Alloran
27
7.71
Hybrid
dhan
Sathi
93
9.54
BRRI
dhan28
100
6.70
Total
262

10. www.brac.net
Extending
of
non-­‐rice
crops:
Maize
Ø Variety:
Pacific
984,
and
Pacific
999
super
Ø In
2013-­‐14,
more
than
10,147
farmers
cul.vated
in
2,572
ha
.
Ø Average
yield
was
8.46
MT/ha
Maize
cul.va.on
in
fallow
char
areas

11. www.brac.net
Extension
of
non-­‐rice
crops:
Sunflower
• Variety:
Hi-­‐Sun
33
• In
2013-­‐14,
11,299
farmers
cul.vated
in
2,844
ha
of
land.
• Average
yield
of
sunflower
was
2.79
MT/ha

12. www.brac.net
Integrated
gher
aquaculture
Ø Coverage:
273
bighas
in
15
Coastal
Upazilla
Ø Direct
Farmers
:
266
Ø Paiern:
Fish/Prawn-­‐rice-­‐vegetable
Ø Net
profit:
172,558
Tk/ha
-­‐
416,975
Tk/ha

13. www.brac.net
Outcome
of
gher
farming
in
2013
Fish:
Golda,
Carp,
Tilapia
Rice:
BR23,
BR10,
BRRI
dhan49
Vegetables:
Bo?le
gourd,
Bi?er
gourd,
Indian
spinach,
Okra,
Cucumber,
Yard
long
been
Name
of
Crop
No
of
farmer
Yield
(t/ha)
Prodn
Cost
(Tk/
ha)
Gross
Income
(Tk/
ha)
Fish
185
1.75
236093
450960
Rice
94
5.3
38934
103172
Vegetables
185
14.44
157087
694265

14. www.brac.net
Aquaculture in floodplain
Ø Aquaculture
in
season
water
bodies
Ø Community-­‐based
par.cipatory
approach
Ø Alterna.ve
source
of
income
Ø Plaform
to
share
profits
equally
Ø
Improving
nutri.onal
security
Ø Making
sustainable
by
the
community

15. www.brac.net
Year No. of location Total water body
(acre)
No. of
farmer
2013 7 73 257
2014 13 160 540
Aquaculture in floodplain

16. www.brac.net
Aquaculture
in
floodplain,
2013-­‐14
Average
produc.on:
795
Kg/ha
Produc.on
cost:
54,584
Tk/ha
Gross
return:
82,926
Tk/ha
Net
profit:
28,342
Tk/ha

17. www.brac.net
SCALE-­‐OUT
OF
G2/IRRI
RESEARCH
FINDINGS
ü Community based Water Management under Polder 30, Khulna
ü Brackish water Aquaculture at Polder 03 Kaliganj, Satkhira
ü Scale out of productive, profitable and resilient agriculture system at
Polder 43/2F, Barguna.
Polder 3
Polder 30
Polder 42/2/F
FRESH
Bay of Bengal

18. www.brac.net
Ø Technology:
CPWF
Research
findings
,suitable
for
the
community.
Ø
Study
conducted
at
community
level
:
Land
users,
Local
water
users
associa.on
and
Public
representa.ves
Ø
Survey
of
farmers
and
FGD
Ø
Cross
visit
of
both
community
and
project
personnel.
Ø
Required
infrastructural
development
(embankment,
mini
sluice
gate
and
drainage)
Ø
demonstrate
early
establishment
of
non-­‐rice
crops
for
safe
harvest
of
the
crops
and
consequently
higher
produc.on
and
income
Ø
Introducing
short
dura.on
and
stress
tolerant
varie.es
(disseminated
by
G2)
Methodology
followed:

19. www.brac.net
Mini Water-shed Technology
Objectives
Overall objective of this study is to work in a pilot
“watershed” area to demonstrate the benefits of
improved water management technique at the
community level
– to adopt improved crop and crop management
practices
– for the safe harvest of the dry season crops to
achieve productivity.

20. www.brac.net
Field visit: Sharing experience
Experiencing
the ‘Water Shed
Technology’ by
BRAC-G5 staff and
community

21. www.brac.net
Community
based
Water
Management
under
Polder
30,
BaVaghata,
Khulna
• Total
Land
Area:
38.42
acre
(15.6
ha)
• No.
of
par.cipants:
55
•
Introduced
variety:
Ø
Sesame-­‐
BARI
.l-­‐4
Ø
HYV
Aman
Rice
(BRRI
dhan41,
BRRI
dhan49)

22. www.brac.net
G5
-­‐
Brackish
water
Aquaculture
at
Polder
03,
Kaliganj,
Satkhira
v No.
of
par.cipants:
31
v Total
water
body:
54.50
acre
(22
ha)
Introduced
Species/
Variety
Ø
Local
Magur
(Clarious
sp),
Ø
Vietnamese
Koi
(Anabus
sp)
Ø
Monosex
Tilapia
Ø
Vagetables

23. www.brac.net
Scale
out
of
producVve,
profitable
and
resilient
agriculture
system
Polder
43/2F,
Barguna
•
Land
coverage:
13.62
acre
•
Farmer
:
22
•
Introduced
variety
Ø
Aus
:
Hybrid-­‐Alloron
Ø
Aman:
BRRI
dhan
52
Aus

24. www.brac.net
Scale-out at Polder 43/2F
• Input provide:
Ø Hybrid/ HYV rice seed
Ø Irrigation pump machine
Ø Critical operational inputs
• Aus yield: 7.9 mt/ha

25. www.brac.net
Developed
and
Demonstrated
Cropping
Paierns
in
different
Regions
of
Bangladesh
Cropping
Paierns
Demonstrated
Districts
Boro
–
Aman
-­‐
Sunflower
Khulna,
Bagerhat,
Satkhira,
Pirojpur
Fallow
-­‐
Aman
–
Maize
Fallow
-­‐
Aman
–
Sunflower
Aus
–
Aman
–
Sunflower
Potuakhali,
Barguna
Boro
-­‐
Aman
-­‐
Sunflower

26. www.brac.net
Crop Intensification
Information taken from 481
farmer’s from 13 different
Upazila 324 acre of land

27. www.brac.net
Obstacles
• Water
stagna.on
(30-­‐50
cm
for
>
2-­‐3
month)
in
rainy
season.
•
Lack
of
fresh
water
in
dry
season.
• The
farmer
community
used
to
cul.vate
local
rice
variety
which
is
difficult
to
change.
• Adverse
climate
hampers
both
the
produc.on
and
harves.ng
of
Rabi
crop.
• Sluice
gate
opera.on
is
done
according
to
the
requirement
of
the
whole
Polder
area,
which
may
not
be
in
favour
of
our
project
area.

28. www.brac.net
Obstacles contd.
• The
water
management
system
within
the
Polder
area
doesn’t
work
properly
due
to
faulty
sluice
gates
and
sil.ng-­‐
up
of
internal
canals.
• Among
all
the
farmers
in
a
block
some
farmers
want
to
use
local
variety.
• In
coastal
zone
many
land
owners
are
not
involved
in
agro-­‐
based
profession
and
they
lease
their
land
to
the
landless
or
poor
farmers.
These
lease
farmers
have
to
obey
the
instruc.ons
of
landlords
regarding
variety
selec.on.

29. www.brac.net
RecommendaVons
Ø
Upda.ng
of
Sluice
gate
opera.on
system
Ø
Dragging
of
canals
Ø
Introduc.on
of
short
dura.on,
stress
tolerant
and
high
yielding
varie.es
Ø
Raising
awareness
among
the
community
• Distribu.on
of
comm.
Materials
•
Issue
based
training/
mee.ngs,
• Campaigns
Ø
Strengthening
network
among
all
related
stakeholders

30. www.brac.net
Thank you
Thanks