Monsoons are a significant marker of life in Bangladesh, spanning the months of June to October, and most areas of the country receive an average of 79 inches of rainfall a year.[1] Running through the country are many rivers, the largest and most well-known being the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna. Bangladesh is susceptible to flooding through combinations of these factors, be they monsoon floods during the monsoon season, bank floods from the rivers crisscrossing the country, or basic rain-fed floods.[2] Because of these conditions, the people of the country whose main source of food is the crops harvested through subsistence farming are not able to rely on their labor to provide for their nutrition. During months of July to October, when Bangladesh is the most susceptible to major flooding, village farms have no work and family income vanishes for 6 months for many families.[3] Not only is farming impossible during floods, but in some areas of Bangladesh, the land can be sandy and infertile, making even the dry season a struggle for income for some.[4]
Source: Practical Action[4]
Figure 1: As water hyacinth is collected, the garden begins to take shape.[4]
Floating gardens are rafts with agricultures that can overcome these problems for many citizens of Bangladesh. This farming method has been implemented in several different locations and has successfully resulted as a method of food production as well as income. Floating agricultures begin as masses of plant matter, usually local weeds, with enough to pack a raft from .6 to 1 meter deep. One such example is water hyacinth, an extremely fast growing weed found in many part of the world, but many other plants can be used. The plants are overlaid with bamboo cut to the length of the planned raft, commonly made to be 8×2 meters, and then are packed and woven into a buoyant raft that floats on the water. Soil, compost, and cow dung are added on top of the raft and provide an ideal environment for crops to grow.[4]
Source: Practical Action[4]
Figure 2: The floating garden with its earth layer.[4]
These gardens can be tended in ways that make them extremely advantageous compared to those on the ground. When the land is flooded (oftentimes for many months), these gardens will rise above the water level to keep the crops from drowning. They can be guided to different locations depending on their needs, such as sun and shade, while being tethered so they don’t float away. However, these are not resistant to stress caused by tides and when in the presence of constant current, face the risk of disintegration due to erosion, and some might risk rodent infestation in the rafts themselves.[5]
In a previous implementation of this technique, there have been low initial costs and high long-term repayment in both food and money. In the Gaibandha district of Bangladesh, Tara Begum’s family owned .2 acres of sandy, infertile land after being displaced with her husband and family seven times due to the river erosion. In 2005, she was trained in the method of floating gardens and had an initial cost of 500 taka (6USD) and profited 4000 taka (48USD) by the end of the year. She was able to garner interest in the other people in her village who saw her success and could train them.[4] Another implementation of this method in the Pabna district showed that a single structure, which could be shared by five to 10 village women, would have an initial cost of 10,000 taka (120 USD), which can be split among those who combine efforts, and profited 130,000 taka (1566 USD).[3]
Source: Practical Action[4]
Figure 3: Tara Begum – “This has made a great difference to my life. Now I have enough food in the floods and I can give some to help my relatives as well”. [4]
Floating gardens not only answer many problems that Bangladesh is facing due to climate change, but they are effective and cost efficient. Their benefits in increasing crop yield and allowing farmers to farm during flood season are compounded by an increase in food security for the entire country. The government of Bangladesh should subsidize the initial costs of implementing floating gardens in agricultural areas that routinely flood, such as those in the delta regions, and farmers should be educated about the benefits of this practice.
By Lydia Morales
References
- Bangladesh. (2007). Weather Online. Retrieved from www.weatheronline.co.uk
- Rahman, Md. Mizanur, et al. (2012). Flood Management In The Flood Plain of
Bangladesh. Academia, Retrieved from www.academia.edu.
- Yee, Amy. (2014). The Floating Gardens of Bangladesh. The New York Times. Retrieved
from www.nytimes.com
- Floating Gardens in Bangladesh. (2005). Practical Action, 1–4. Retrieved from fao.org
- Linham, Matthew M, and Robert J Nicholls. (2010). Floating agricultural systems. Climate
Tech Wiki, Retrieved from www.climatetechwiki.org