Baishakhy Smita Dash, Islam Mohammad Ashraful, Kamruzzaman Md
Department of Agricultural Extension Education, Sylhet Agricultural University, Bangladesh.
Heliyon. 2023 Feb 27;9(3):e14011. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14011. eCollection 2023 Mar.
Climate change resultant hazards have become a major threat to farming, food production systems and agricultural sustainability globally. Like many other countries, Bangladesh is also the prey of climate change extremities. Haor wetlands of this country, a major rice growing area, are subjected to extreme climate tremors where millions of inhabitants lose their boro rice production due to recurring flash flood events. This study examined the barriers to adapt rice farming to recurring flash floods in the haor wetlands of Bangladesh. The ways of overcoming barriers to adapt rice farming to recurring flash floods in the haor wetlands of Bangladesh were also explored during the research work. The research was conducted in the Sunamganj district of Bangladesh and data was collected through a mixed-method approach. A survey was conducted with 115 haor farmers and FGD and key informant interviews were conducted with 32 and 4 respondents respectively. The results showed that the lack of availability of submergence tolerant variety (a rice variety that can survive and continue growing after being completely submerged in water for several days) is the major barrier to farmers' adaptation to flooding events followed by limited market access and lack of access to inputs. A total of 85% of respondents reported encountering moderate to severe barriers to adapt to flash flooding. Besides, some socio-economic traits, including annual family income, extension media exposure, and perception on climate change have been identified to be influencing farmers' adaptation behaviour to adapt their rice farming system to recurring flash flood events. This study elaborated pathways and suggested policy recommendations to adapt to flash flooding and to ensure sustainability in the agricultural system in the haor wetlands of Bangladesh.
气候变化带来的危害已成为全球农业、粮食生产系统和农业可持续性的重大威胁。与许多其他国家一样，孟加拉国也是气候变化极端情况的受害者。该国的豪尔湿地是主要的水稻种植区，遭受极端气候冲击，数百万居民因反复发生的山洪暴发事件而损失冬稻产量。本研究调查了孟加拉国豪尔湿地水稻种植适应反复发生的山洪暴发的障碍。在研究过程中，还探索了克服孟加拉国豪尔湿地水稻种植适应反复发生的山洪暴发障碍的方法。研究在孟加拉国苏纳甘杰区进行，数据通过混合方法收集。对115名豪尔农民进行了调查，分别对32名和4名受访者进行了焦点小组讨论和关键信息访谈。结果表明，缺乏耐淹品种（一种在完全淹没在水中数天后仍能存活并继续生长的水稻品种）是农民适应洪水事件的主要障碍，其次是市场准入有限和缺乏投入渠道。共有85%的受访者表示在适应山洪暴发方面遇到中度至重度障碍。此外，一些社会经济特征，包括家庭年收入、推广媒体曝光率和对气候变化的认知，已被确定会影响农民调整其水稻种植系统以适应反复发生的山洪暴发事件的适应行为。本研究阐述了适应山洪暴发的途径，并提出了政策建议，以确保孟加拉国豪尔湿地农业系统的可持续性。
