Climate Smart Best Practice and Technologies in Agriculture: becomes another work area of BCCP
Bangladesh Program to End Modern Slavery (B-PEMS) AugroJatra Climate Change project is implemented by Winrock International (WI) and funded by the US Department of State (USDOS). A precise, informative workshop has held on January 28, 2024 at the AMISDP Conference Room of Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) with selected high officials of DAE. Bangladesh Center for Communication Programs (BCCP) arranged the workshop with support from Winrock International.
The workshop was facilitated by agriculturist Dr. Mazharul Aziz, former government official and a reputed expert of the field. Dr. Md. Shah Kamal Khan, Project Director, Agrometeorological Information Systems Development Project; Dr. Muhammad Emdadul Haque, Project Director, Smallholder Agriculture Competitiveness Project; Khondoker Mohammad Rashed Eftekher, Project Director, Climate Smart Agriculture and Water Management Project; Mr. Md. Rasel Miah, Production Economist (Project Preparation), Planning, Project Implementation & ICT Wing; and Mr. Dhiman Majumder, Monitoring Officer, Adaptation to Climate Change through Climate-Smart Technologies in Khulna Agriculture Region Project, DAE attended the workshop program. All of them actively participated throughout the program and shared their expertise and knowledge to select the best options of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practises appropriate for saline-prone areas, flood-prone areas, and common natural disaster-prone areas of the country. Their remarks helped in validating the best CSA practises and technologies for the target audiences of the B-PEMS AugroJatra Project. Mr. Md. Tanvir Sharif, Specialist – Training and Capacity Strengthening, and Mr. Zahirul Islam, Specialist – Livelihoods and Skill Development, of Winrock International also joined the workshop and shared their thoughtful remarks as appropriate.
Representatives from Winrock International shared brief about the B-PEMS AugroJatra Climate Change Project with the workshop attendees, so that they have a clear understanding of the activities taken by WI. The goal of the project is to reduce the prevalence of human trafficking measurably and substantially in Bangladeshi farming and fishing households vulnerable to climate change. As a pilot program, the project is being initiated in 11 districts that include saline-prone areas and flood-prone areas. Those districts are: Satkhira, Khulna, Bagerhat, Barishal Patuakhali, Shariatpur, Madaripur, Faridpur, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha and Rangpur. Several options for CSA Adaptation were shared during the discussion session of the workshop, so that the participants could identify and validate the best practices as well as technology appropriate for different areas.
CSA adaptation options
Several common CSA adaptation options along with options for salinity-prone areas and options for flood-prone areas were chosen at the validation workshop. Homestead vegetable cultivation; Integrated farming systems; vermicompost; solar irrigation; community best practices, such as: synchronized cultivation; etc. were chosen as common options of CSA. Sorjan cultivation method (raised bed farming); salt-tolerant crop varieties, such as – maize, watermelon, rock melon, sesame, sunflower, etc; rainwater harvesting; mulch cropping; mixed cropping; aile cropping; shifting planting time; etc. practises were selected for salinity-prone areas. The experts also chose a few options for flood-prone areas, which are: cultivating flood/submergence tolerant rice varieties; following cropping patterns; using of floating agriculture technology; etc. the discussion and validating of options would be a great help in developing modules for filed-level facilitators and the beneficiaries of the project.