Syful Islam
scidev.net
7 November 2011
[DHAKA] Air pollution from soot and aerosol emissions is making cyclones over the Middle East and South Asia more destructive, according to a study.
Natural differences in wind speed and direction over different heights in the atmosphere, known as 'wind shear', normally keep cyclones in check — effectively tearing the storms apart before they reach a certain size.
But emissions from sources such as biomass burning and diesel vehicles have interfered with wind patterns, reducing wind shear and enabling cyclones to grow twice as intense, according to a study published in Nature last week (3 November).
Researchers compared cyclones that occurred between 1979 and 1996 with those between 1997 and 2010. They found that the more recent ones were up to three times more intense, with higher wind speeds — and five of the strongest storms during the period occurred after 1998. Meanwhile, wind shear dropped in this latter period.
Aerosol emissions in the region have grown six-fold since the 1930s, creating a three kilometre-thick layer of pollution over the Indian Ocean, known as the South Asian atmospheric brown cloud, which absorbs sunlight, causing the ocean to cool and affecting wind circulation.
It was already known that soot pollution interferes with monsoons and even causes warming in the region.
"I would say that the effect on cyclones is very strongly linked to the well known effect of these aerosols on the monsoon circulation and rainfall; that is, their propensity to weaken the monsoon circulation and reduce rainfall," Amato Evan, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Virginia, United States, told SciDev.Net.
"We are showing that pollution from human activity — as simple as burning wood or driving a vehicle with a diesel engine — can actually change these massive atmospheric phenomena in a significant way. It underscores the importance of getting a handle on emissions in the region," said Evan in a press release.
"If you live in an area where these very strong cyclones can make landfall, this effect [the destruction due to the cyclone] is absolutely significant," Evan told SciDev.Net. "The historical tropical cyclones in the Arabian Sea that were very intense made landfall in India, Pakistan, Oman, and Iran, in each case with tremendous destruction and loss of life."
Ainun Nishat, vice chancellor of BRAC University, Bangladesh, said that the number of disasters caused by cyclones outside the monsoon period in South Asia has increased significantly in recent years.
"The intensity of cyclonic wind in the Bay of Bengal has increased a lot, which we noticed in cyclones such as Sidr and Aila, both of which caused a lot of destruction."
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/tropical-cyclones-1/news/air-pollution-causing-stronger-cyclones-study-finds.html
Friday, December 2, 2011
Bangladesh backs solar pumps to expand irrigation
By Syful Islam
29 Nov 2011
DHAKA (AlertNet) - The government of Bangladesh is planning to install close to 19,000 solar-powered irrigation pumps by 2016, in a bid to expand the country's irrigated land area and boost food production, while limiting its reliance on fossil fuels.
The initiative is being promoted as an environmentally friendly approach to improving food security for the country’s fast-growing population of 160 million.
The new pumps will run on a combined 150 megawatts (MW) of power generated by solar panels, which is projected to save the government nearly $100 million in fuel-subsidy costs over 20 years.
Today Bangladeshi farmers rely on some 266,000 electrically powered water pumps - which consume around 1,300 MW - to irrigate 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of land.
An additional 1.3 million diesel-run pumps are operated during the peak growing season to irrigate 3.4 million hectares (8.4 million acres) of land, using 900,000 tonnes of fuel, according to Bangladesh’s power and energy ministry.
Once installed, the planned 18,750 solar-powered pumps – which will be managed by farmers' associations - will irrigate an additional 590,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of land for cultivating rice and vegetables, without requiring any grid electricity or diesel fuel.
Eventually the government hopes to switch over some of the land now irrigated with electric and diesel-powered pumps to solar pumps as well – if it can find financing, officials say.
The investment of $800 million needed for the project represents good value, they argue. Expanding irrigation with diesel-powered pumps, which are used mainly in rural areas not connected to the electricity grid, would require the government to subsidise farmers to the tune of $900 million over 20 years - $100 million more than the solar outlay.
LONG-TERM RETURNS
Bangladeshi farmers who depend on diesel-run pumps are permitted to buy diesel fuel at government-subsidised prices if they show official identity cards. The subsidies are a drain on public coffers, particularly as the fuel is usually sold at a lower price than its import cost.
“Solar power is costly (to install), but you will find it cheaper if the calculation is done on a long-term basis. A solar panel carries 20 years of warranty, and after that it can generate power for 20 more years,” said Islam Sharif, executive director of the state-run Infrastructure Development Co Ltd (IDCOL), which is managing the project.
In addition to projected fuel savings, Bangladesh anticipates being able to generate and trade carbon credits worth around $18 million from the project through the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), with the income spread over 20 years, Sharif said.
IDCOL has already installed a dozen solar-powered irrigation pumps out of a total of 100 that will be placed across the country over the next 18 months under a pilot programme.
“After the pilot project is over, we will collect data on water levels across the country, hear the customers’ (farmers’) reaction, and gather other necessary data before starting installation of large numbers of irrigation pumps,” said Sharif.
IDCOL is working to find ways to lower the installation costs so the pumps can eventually be rolled out to the country’s 600 sub-districts, he added.
SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL
Bangladesh’s first solar-powered irrigation pump, with a capacity of 11 KW, was installed in 2009 in the northern district of Naogaon by Grameen Shakti, a micro-finance institution that is supporting the expansion of renewable energy in rural areas.
By comparison, the solar panels on the new pumps will each generate 5-7 KW of electricity. The smaller pumps, with the capacity to irrigate about 20 hectares per unit, can be managed more efficiently than larger models, according to Sharif. Each pump costs between $30,000 and $42,000.
Tapos Kumar Roy, additional secretary at the Ministry of Power, said the success of the pumps installed so far has convinced the government that introducing more could effectively provide clean energy and reduce the cost of diesel subsidies.
“The solar-run pumps will help reduce burning of fossil fuel…limiting the risk of global warming and climate change,” said Roy.
The government estimates that, once all the pumps are in place, their solar panels will save 675 MW hours of electricity per day, cut imports of diesel fuel by 47,000 tonnes per year, saving $45 million annually, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an annual 126,000 tonnes.
Roy said donor agencies, including the Asian Development Bank, as well as non-governmental organisations, micro-finance institutions, private companies and commercial banks, will play a significant role in funding the installation of the pumps, although specific commitments have yet to be finalised.
Abser Kamal, chief executive officer of Grameen Shakti, one of the project's backers, said it is a step towards making the country more self-sufficient in food, as extending irrigation to new areas will enable farmers to harvest more crops per year and boost yields.
“The solar-run pump we installed as a pilot (in 2009) covers irrigation of some 30 hectares of land and provides water at the same cost as that of diesel or electric pumps. Now the solar panels have become cheaper, so their installation cost will come down significantly and the capital (invested) will return comparatively quickly,” he added.
Syful Islam is a journalist with the Financial Express newspaper in Bangladesh. He can be reached at: youths1990@yahoo.com
This story is part of a series supported by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/bangladesh-backs-solar-pumps-to-expand-irrigation
29 Nov 2011
DHAKA (AlertNet) - The government of Bangladesh is planning to install close to 19,000 solar-powered irrigation pumps by 2016, in a bid to expand the country's irrigated land area and boost food production, while limiting its reliance on fossil fuels.
The initiative is being promoted as an environmentally friendly approach to improving food security for the country’s fast-growing population of 160 million.
The new pumps will run on a combined 150 megawatts (MW) of power generated by solar panels, which is projected to save the government nearly $100 million in fuel-subsidy costs over 20 years.
Today Bangladeshi farmers rely on some 266,000 electrically powered water pumps - which consume around 1,300 MW - to irrigate 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of land.
An additional 1.3 million diesel-run pumps are operated during the peak growing season to irrigate 3.4 million hectares (8.4 million acres) of land, using 900,000 tonnes of fuel, according to Bangladesh’s power and energy ministry.
Once installed, the planned 18,750 solar-powered pumps – which will be managed by farmers' associations - will irrigate an additional 590,000 hectares (1.5 million acres) of land for cultivating rice and vegetables, without requiring any grid electricity or diesel fuel.
Eventually the government hopes to switch over some of the land now irrigated with electric and diesel-powered pumps to solar pumps as well – if it can find financing, officials say.
The investment of $800 million needed for the project represents good value, they argue. Expanding irrigation with diesel-powered pumps, which are used mainly in rural areas not connected to the electricity grid, would require the government to subsidise farmers to the tune of $900 million over 20 years - $100 million more than the solar outlay.
LONG-TERM RETURNS
Bangladeshi farmers who depend on diesel-run pumps are permitted to buy diesel fuel at government-subsidised prices if they show official identity cards. The subsidies are a drain on public coffers, particularly as the fuel is usually sold at a lower price than its import cost.
“Solar power is costly (to install), but you will find it cheaper if the calculation is done on a long-term basis. A solar panel carries 20 years of warranty, and after that it can generate power for 20 more years,” said Islam Sharif, executive director of the state-run Infrastructure Development Co Ltd (IDCOL), which is managing the project.
In addition to projected fuel savings, Bangladesh anticipates being able to generate and trade carbon credits worth around $18 million from the project through the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), with the income spread over 20 years, Sharif said.
IDCOL has already installed a dozen solar-powered irrigation pumps out of a total of 100 that will be placed across the country over the next 18 months under a pilot programme.
“After the pilot project is over, we will collect data on water levels across the country, hear the customers’ (farmers’) reaction, and gather other necessary data before starting installation of large numbers of irrigation pumps,” said Sharif.
IDCOL is working to find ways to lower the installation costs so the pumps can eventually be rolled out to the country’s 600 sub-districts, he added.
SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL
Bangladesh’s first solar-powered irrigation pump, with a capacity of 11 KW, was installed in 2009 in the northern district of Naogaon by Grameen Shakti, a micro-finance institution that is supporting the expansion of renewable energy in rural areas.
By comparison, the solar panels on the new pumps will each generate 5-7 KW of electricity. The smaller pumps, with the capacity to irrigate about 20 hectares per unit, can be managed more efficiently than larger models, according to Sharif. Each pump costs between $30,000 and $42,000.
Tapos Kumar Roy, additional secretary at the Ministry of Power, said the success of the pumps installed so far has convinced the government that introducing more could effectively provide clean energy and reduce the cost of diesel subsidies.
“The solar-run pumps will help reduce burning of fossil fuel…limiting the risk of global warming and climate change,” said Roy.
The government estimates that, once all the pumps are in place, their solar panels will save 675 MW hours of electricity per day, cut imports of diesel fuel by 47,000 tonnes per year, saving $45 million annually, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by an annual 126,000 tonnes.
Roy said donor agencies, including the Asian Development Bank, as well as non-governmental organisations, micro-finance institutions, private companies and commercial banks, will play a significant role in funding the installation of the pumps, although specific commitments have yet to be finalised.
Abser Kamal, chief executive officer of Grameen Shakti, one of the project's backers, said it is a step towards making the country more self-sufficient in food, as extending irrigation to new areas will enable farmers to harvest more crops per year and boost yields.
“The solar-run pump we installed as a pilot (in 2009) covers irrigation of some 30 hectares of land and provides water at the same cost as that of diesel or electric pumps. Now the solar panels have become cheaper, so their installation cost will come down significantly and the capital (invested) will return comparatively quickly,” he added.
Syful Islam is a journalist with the Financial Express newspaper in Bangladesh. He can be reached at: youths1990@yahoo.com
This story is part of a series supported by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/bangladesh-backs-solar-pumps-to-expand-irrigation
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Anti-graft group to track Bangladesh climate spending
11 Oct 2011 11:27
By Syful Islam
DHAKA (AlertNet) - Corruption watchdog Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has launched an initiative to track the use of climate change funds in the South Asian nation, following media reports that the government planned to allocate some money to groups that lack the capacity to spend it well.
As an organisation that fights graft, TIB regards monitoring of climate finance expenditure as a key responsibility. “Bangladesh is on the frontline of climate vulnerable nations,” said TIB executive director Iftekhar Zaman. “That’s why it is getting huge funds from developed nations and also spending its own (funds). The money should go into the victims’ hands.”
In recent years, Bangladesh has experienced a growing number of climate-related disasters caused by cyclones, floods, river erosion, droughts and saline intrusion into water supplies and soil. These events – in line with the predicted impacts of climate change – have led to increased poverty and displacement, particularly in coastal areas.
Zaman told AlertNet that TIB - the Bangladesh chapter of Berlin-based Transparency International - is not alleging any irregularities in climate funding at this stage. But it will check out media reports which asserted several months ago that the government had selected incapable and inexperienced NGOs to carry out local projects such as setting up biogas plants and rainwater harvesting.
Traditional research methods will be applied to “follow the money” to ensure it is spent in a transparent and accountable way, Zaman said.
The process will involve all relevant actors, and information will be sought from fund managers. “We will go after (the money), so that any bid to mishandle the funds can be foiled,” he added.
DONORS WARY?
Atiq Rahman, executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), concurred with media reports that the initial selection process for NGO projects to receive money from the $300 million Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF) - which is resourced from the national budget - was distorted.
In response to concerns, the government has said it is still reviewing the NGOs and their proposed projects before making a final allocation of funds.
Rahman stressed that Bangladesh must make clear how it plans to spend money for climate change activities, whether from its own budget or donated by developed countries and international institutions.
“Despite the high vulnerability of Bangladesh to climate change impacts, the donors may not release funds unless their proper use is ensured,” the well-known development expert noted.
In June, TIB expressed solidarity with a list of 10 demands from civil society groups to strengthen accountability and transparency in climate finance, with the aim of securing justice for Bangladeshis already affected by climate change.
“Donors' funds have started to pour in. Besides, the government has allocated a huge sum from the national budget for adaptation and mitigation of climate change impacts. But we see no strategies on fund utilisation,” TIB head Zaman told journalists late last month.
TIB will receive 275,000 euros ($374,000) for its monitoring project from the German environment ministry, which is supporting stronger governance of climate finance in developing nations.
NGO PROJECTS ON HOLD
The manager of the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund, Didarul Ahsan, told AlertNet its board of trustees has so far approved 44 government projects and 53 submitted by NGOs at a combined cost of $75 million.
Most of the government projects have now begun, but the NGO programmes are still on hold.
“Since the media has reported mismanagement in NGO project selection, we are again scrutinising those to ensure transparency,” Ahsan said.
Donors have also pledged $125 million to the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund managed by the World Bank.
So far it has allocated $25m for the construction of cyclone shelters in coastal areas, which is now under way. Two further projects - one to help the agricultural sector adapt to climate shifts and the other in afforestation - are being prepared, according to communications officer Mehrin Ahmed Mahbub.
State minister for environment Hasan Mahmud welcomed TIB’s move to keep track of climate funds. “We are yet to allocate a single penny to NGO projects, which are set to receive between 1 and 2 percent of total BCCTF funds,” he told AlertNet. The negative media allegations are unlikely to be based on accurate investigation, he added.
Mahmud said the national climate trust fund subjects both government and NGO projects to several stages of scrutiny before disbursing any money. “No other funds in Bangladesh follow such procedures,” the minister insisted.
Gareth Price Jones, country director for Oxfam GB, said his organisation also supports the TIB initiative, as it will benefit impoverished communities struggling to cope with climate change.
“Transparency in climate fund management is very much expected from Oxfam,” he said. “It’s Bangladesh’s money. It should be investigated if there is any anomaly. Climate funding is very much essential for Bangladesh.”
Speaking at a recent national consultation on transparency in climate finance governance, Member of Parliament Saber Hosain Chowdhury, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Committee on Climate Change, stressed the need to use climate funds effectively through a coordinated and collective approach.
“In a resource-constrained country like Bangladesh, which is facing adverse impacts from climate change, maximum utilisation of both domestic and external resources should be ensured for better implementation of climate programmes,” the national news agency quoted him as saying.
When allocating climate money, priority should be given to the southwest and coastal regions, which are most vulnerable to climate change impacts such as rising sea levels and increasingly intense storms, the politician said.
Syful Islam is a journalist with The Financial Express newspaper in Bangladesh. He can be reached at: youths1990@yahoo.com
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/anti-graft-group-to-track-bangladesh-climate-spending/
By Syful Islam
DHAKA (AlertNet) - Corruption watchdog Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has launched an initiative to track the use of climate change funds in the South Asian nation, following media reports that the government planned to allocate some money to groups that lack the capacity to spend it well.
As an organisation that fights graft, TIB regards monitoring of climate finance expenditure as a key responsibility. “Bangladesh is on the frontline of climate vulnerable nations,” said TIB executive director Iftekhar Zaman. “That’s why it is getting huge funds from developed nations and also spending its own (funds). The money should go into the victims’ hands.”
In recent years, Bangladesh has experienced a growing number of climate-related disasters caused by cyclones, floods, river erosion, droughts and saline intrusion into water supplies and soil. These events – in line with the predicted impacts of climate change – have led to increased poverty and displacement, particularly in coastal areas.
Zaman told AlertNet that TIB - the Bangladesh chapter of Berlin-based Transparency International - is not alleging any irregularities in climate funding at this stage. But it will check out media reports which asserted several months ago that the government had selected incapable and inexperienced NGOs to carry out local projects such as setting up biogas plants and rainwater harvesting.
Traditional research methods will be applied to “follow the money” to ensure it is spent in a transparent and accountable way, Zaman said.
The process will involve all relevant actors, and information will be sought from fund managers. “We will go after (the money), so that any bid to mishandle the funds can be foiled,” he added.
DONORS WARY?
Atiq Rahman, executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), concurred with media reports that the initial selection process for NGO projects to receive money from the $300 million Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF) - which is resourced from the national budget - was distorted.
In response to concerns, the government has said it is still reviewing the NGOs and their proposed projects before making a final allocation of funds.
Rahman stressed that Bangladesh must make clear how it plans to spend money for climate change activities, whether from its own budget or donated by developed countries and international institutions.
“Despite the high vulnerability of Bangladesh to climate change impacts, the donors may not release funds unless their proper use is ensured,” the well-known development expert noted.
In June, TIB expressed solidarity with a list of 10 demands from civil society groups to strengthen accountability and transparency in climate finance, with the aim of securing justice for Bangladeshis already affected by climate change.
“Donors' funds have started to pour in. Besides, the government has allocated a huge sum from the national budget for adaptation and mitigation of climate change impacts. But we see no strategies on fund utilisation,” TIB head Zaman told journalists late last month.
TIB will receive 275,000 euros ($374,000) for its monitoring project from the German environment ministry, which is supporting stronger governance of climate finance in developing nations.
NGO PROJECTS ON HOLD
The manager of the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund, Didarul Ahsan, told AlertNet its board of trustees has so far approved 44 government projects and 53 submitted by NGOs at a combined cost of $75 million.
Most of the government projects have now begun, but the NGO programmes are still on hold.
“Since the media has reported mismanagement in NGO project selection, we are again scrutinising those to ensure transparency,” Ahsan said.
Donors have also pledged $125 million to the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund managed by the World Bank.
So far it has allocated $25m for the construction of cyclone shelters in coastal areas, which is now under way. Two further projects - one to help the agricultural sector adapt to climate shifts and the other in afforestation - are being prepared, according to communications officer Mehrin Ahmed Mahbub.
State minister for environment Hasan Mahmud welcomed TIB’s move to keep track of climate funds. “We are yet to allocate a single penny to NGO projects, which are set to receive between 1 and 2 percent of total BCCTF funds,” he told AlertNet. The negative media allegations are unlikely to be based on accurate investigation, he added.
Mahmud said the national climate trust fund subjects both government and NGO projects to several stages of scrutiny before disbursing any money. “No other funds in Bangladesh follow such procedures,” the minister insisted.
Gareth Price Jones, country director for Oxfam GB, said his organisation also supports the TIB initiative, as it will benefit impoverished communities struggling to cope with climate change.
“Transparency in climate fund management is very much expected from Oxfam,” he said. “It’s Bangladesh’s money. It should be investigated if there is any anomaly. Climate funding is very much essential for Bangladesh.”
Speaking at a recent national consultation on transparency in climate finance governance, Member of Parliament Saber Hosain Chowdhury, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Committee on Climate Change, stressed the need to use climate funds effectively through a coordinated and collective approach.
“In a resource-constrained country like Bangladesh, which is facing adverse impacts from climate change, maximum utilisation of both domestic and external resources should be ensured for better implementation of climate programmes,” the national news agency quoted him as saying.
When allocating climate money, priority should be given to the southwest and coastal regions, which are most vulnerable to climate change impacts such as rising sea levels and increasingly intense storms, the politician said.
Syful Islam is a journalist with The Financial Express newspaper in Bangladesh. He can be reached at: youths1990@yahoo.com
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/anti-graft-group-to-track-bangladesh-climate-spending/
Natural sediment may shield groundwater from arsenic
Syful Islam
10 October 2011
SciDev.Net
[DHAKA] Contamination of deep groundwater with arsenic from shallower sources may not be as serious as feared — if pumping deep water is limited to domestic use, a study has found.
Exposure to arsenic-contaminated groundwater has been linked to almost one in every five deaths in Bangladesh, and some 100,000 deep wells have been constructed to pump deeper, cleaner water. Recent modelling studies have suggested that these cleaner water sources are also being contaminated — from shallower water seeping down to replenish deeper wells.
But a study published in Nature Geoscience yesterday (9 October) found that natural adsorption of arsenic by sediment — sand in the aquifers — reduces contamination risk in most areas.
"Deep groundwater in Bangladesh is at risk from contamination by arsenic from shallow groundwater seeping downwards if not carefully managed," Yan Zheng, who co-authored the study while he was a senior scientist at Columbia University, United States, told SciDev.Net. "The risk is higher if deep groundwater is used for irrigation, which consumes a lot more water than [use for] domestic purposes."
Modelling studies have suggested that the contamination of deep groundwater results from shallower water seeping down to replenish pumped deep water. But these studies did not consider the influence of sediment, which can adsorb arsenic, Zheng and her team say.
They tested this adsorption in the field in Bangladesh, and used their results to estimate the vulnerability of deep groundwater to arsenic pollution from shallower water seeping down.
They found that sediment removes around 70 per cent of arsenic within a day, reducing the risk of contamination of deep groundwater in most, but not all areas; and more so when the water is pumped for domestic use only, rather than irrigation. This suggests that current contamination of deep wells is either natural or comes from individual cases of badly designed wells that allow more seepage, Zheng said.
She added that the recommendation for the policymakers "is not to use deep groundwater for irrigation", and to regularly and systematically monitor water quality in the areas identified as more vulnerable to contamination.
Zheng also said that the agricultural sector should urgently look for sources of surface water to use for irrigation instead of groundwater.
Wais Kabir, executive chair of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, agreed that irrigation leads to higher risk of arsenic contamination of groundwater and said that Bangladesh needs to "change its food habits" and produce crops that need less irrigation.
S M Ihtishamul Huq, the Department of Public Health Engineering's superintendent engineer, told SciDev.Net: "We have to be more cautious while using groundwater for irrigation where the presence of arsenic is much higher."
He suggested changing crop patterns to reduce dependency on groundwater for irrigation. For example, he said: "We cultivate paddy during the winter using the groundwater irrigation. If we instead produce wheat [in] that period we do not need to irrigate much."
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/water/news/natural-sediment-may-shield-groundwater-from-arsenic.html
10 October 2011
SciDev.Net
[DHAKA] Contamination of deep groundwater with arsenic from shallower sources may not be as serious as feared — if pumping deep water is limited to domestic use, a study has found.
Exposure to arsenic-contaminated groundwater has been linked to almost one in every five deaths in Bangladesh, and some 100,000 deep wells have been constructed to pump deeper, cleaner water. Recent modelling studies have suggested that these cleaner water sources are also being contaminated — from shallower water seeping down to replenish deeper wells.
But a study published in Nature Geoscience yesterday (9 October) found that natural adsorption of arsenic by sediment — sand in the aquifers — reduces contamination risk in most areas.
"Deep groundwater in Bangladesh is at risk from contamination by arsenic from shallow groundwater seeping downwards if not carefully managed," Yan Zheng, who co-authored the study while he was a senior scientist at Columbia University, United States, told SciDev.Net. "The risk is higher if deep groundwater is used for irrigation, which consumes a lot more water than [use for] domestic purposes."
Modelling studies have suggested that the contamination of deep groundwater results from shallower water seeping down to replenish pumped deep water. But these studies did not consider the influence of sediment, which can adsorb arsenic, Zheng and her team say.
They tested this adsorption in the field in Bangladesh, and used their results to estimate the vulnerability of deep groundwater to arsenic pollution from shallower water seeping down.
They found that sediment removes around 70 per cent of arsenic within a day, reducing the risk of contamination of deep groundwater in most, but not all areas; and more so when the water is pumped for domestic use only, rather than irrigation. This suggests that current contamination of deep wells is either natural or comes from individual cases of badly designed wells that allow more seepage, Zheng said.
She added that the recommendation for the policymakers "is not to use deep groundwater for irrigation", and to regularly and systematically monitor water quality in the areas identified as more vulnerable to contamination.
Zheng also said that the agricultural sector should urgently look for sources of surface water to use for irrigation instead of groundwater.
Wais Kabir, executive chair of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council, agreed that irrigation leads to higher risk of arsenic contamination of groundwater and said that Bangladesh needs to "change its food habits" and produce crops that need less irrigation.
S M Ihtishamul Huq, the Department of Public Health Engineering's superintendent engineer, told SciDev.Net: "We have to be more cautious while using groundwater for irrigation where the presence of arsenic is much higher."
He suggested changing crop patterns to reduce dependency on groundwater for irrigation. For example, he said: "We cultivate paddy during the winter using the groundwater irrigation. If we instead produce wheat [in] that period we do not need to irrigate much."
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/water/news/natural-sediment-may-shield-groundwater-from-arsenic.html
'Extended life' rice could quadruple yields, cut costs
29 Sep 2011 15:00
Syful Islam
DHAKA (AlertNet) - A Bangladeshi scientist has developed new rice varieties with an extended life cycle that can produce up to three crops from one plant. Their yield could be four times higher than traditional varieties, helping boost food security in South Asia and beyond.
The cultivation method for the multi-crop rice also produces less greenhouse gas emissions than traditional paddy farming, in which plants produce only one harvest, and makes them more resilient to excessive rainfall.
Abed Chaudhury, a genetics expert who has worked with the Australian National Rice Research Institute for the past 20 years, describes the approach - developed in consultation with farmers - as “second life” or “extended life”, and will soon apply to the Bangladeshi authorities for seed certification.
"My target is to transform the annual plant into perennial plant. It saves costs as well as giving high yield," he told AlertNet.
Rice plants usually produce only one crop. After the paddy ripens, farmers harvest the rice, cutting the plant down to a height of around 10 cm and leaving it to rot into the ground.
But if farmers adopt Chaudhury's cutting-edge varieties and techniques, they could harvest rice three times from the same plant in one year. Early tests suggest yields could be more than quadrupled at a very low cost.
According to the scientist, a rice plant normally produces 65 sheaves, or clusters of grains, of which around 40 are mature at first harvest. The rest are wasted when the plant is cut down.
In the initial 130-day growing period, the new paddy varieties grow 85 cm to 1 m tall, as do most other rice types. But when farmers come to harvest the first crop, they leave 35-40 cm in the ground, and apply around half the amount of fertiliser again. The immature sheaves continue growing, and can be harvested in 50-55 days.
On a demonstration field in Bangladesh's northeastern Moulavibazar district, a third crop from the same plants is now being awaited, requiring 45-50 additional days to ripen.
TEST YIELDS QUADRUPLE
With the first crop, Chaudhury and his colleagues harvested 6.4 tonnes of paddy from one hectare of land. They then spread urea fertiliser on the field, and left the immature sheaves to ripen, harvesting some 3 tonnes of paddy. More fertiliser was applied to the remaining sheaves, and a further 3 tonnes of rice are expected.
Yields from traditional paddy varieties are around 3 tonnes a hectare. But the new plants are projected to produce more than 12 tonnes of paddy from the same land area, at comparatively low costs.
"The spending on the second and third (crops) is very minimal,” said Abbas Ali, a farmer in Hazipara village in Moulavibazar district. “You have to spread a very tiny volume of fertiliser only. You do not need to plough the land."
He is growing the new rice on five acres of land, and is now waiting to cut the paddy a second time. So far he’s very happy with the experiment. "I will continue to grow this variety of paddy since it is very profitable due to low cost and high yield,” he said.
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
Ferdous Bappi, manager of Chaudhury's project in Moulavibazar, said the new rice types are neither hybrid nor genetically modified, and are similar to traditional varieties developed by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. The team’s research has not revealed any other varieties with similar characteristics, he added.
Of 10 varieties the project has bred, four have proved suitable for the “extended life” method. “Now we want to spread the method, as well as the varieties, across the country,” said Bappi. “Many people from different parts of the country have already contacted us."
The farming method has environmental benefits, and could contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from rice cultivation, he added. Rice produces substantial amounts of methane due to its semi-aquatic nature and tilling releases it from the land.
"If you follow the 'extended life' method you do not need to plough the land, and there is no chance of greenhouse gas emissions," Bappi explained.
The farming technique also makes the plants more resilient to excessive flooding. Usually, young paddy plants are 15 cm high when transplanted into the land, meaning they rot if submerged in too much rainwater for too long.
"Since, in our method, the crop is harvested keeping 35 cm of the paddy plant in the land, during the second and third sessions, there is no chance of them being swamped or rotten," Bappi said.
Syful Islam is a journalist with the Financial Express newspaper in Bangladesh. He can be reached at: youths1990@yahoo.com
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/extended-life-rice-could-quadruple-yields-cut-costs/
Syful Islam
DHAKA (AlertNet) - A Bangladeshi scientist has developed new rice varieties with an extended life cycle that can produce up to three crops from one plant. Their yield could be four times higher than traditional varieties, helping boost food security in South Asia and beyond.
The cultivation method for the multi-crop rice also produces less greenhouse gas emissions than traditional paddy farming, in which plants produce only one harvest, and makes them more resilient to excessive rainfall.
Abed Chaudhury, a genetics expert who has worked with the Australian National Rice Research Institute for the past 20 years, describes the approach - developed in consultation with farmers - as “second life” or “extended life”, and will soon apply to the Bangladeshi authorities for seed certification.
"My target is to transform the annual plant into perennial plant. It saves costs as well as giving high yield," he told AlertNet.
Rice plants usually produce only one crop. After the paddy ripens, farmers harvest the rice, cutting the plant down to a height of around 10 cm and leaving it to rot into the ground.
But if farmers adopt Chaudhury's cutting-edge varieties and techniques, they could harvest rice three times from the same plant in one year. Early tests suggest yields could be more than quadrupled at a very low cost.
According to the scientist, a rice plant normally produces 65 sheaves, or clusters of grains, of which around 40 are mature at first harvest. The rest are wasted when the plant is cut down.
In the initial 130-day growing period, the new paddy varieties grow 85 cm to 1 m tall, as do most other rice types. But when farmers come to harvest the first crop, they leave 35-40 cm in the ground, and apply around half the amount of fertiliser again. The immature sheaves continue growing, and can be harvested in 50-55 days.
On a demonstration field in Bangladesh's northeastern Moulavibazar district, a third crop from the same plants is now being awaited, requiring 45-50 additional days to ripen.
TEST YIELDS QUADRUPLE
With the first crop, Chaudhury and his colleagues harvested 6.4 tonnes of paddy from one hectare of land. They then spread urea fertiliser on the field, and left the immature sheaves to ripen, harvesting some 3 tonnes of paddy. More fertiliser was applied to the remaining sheaves, and a further 3 tonnes of rice are expected.
Yields from traditional paddy varieties are around 3 tonnes a hectare. But the new plants are projected to produce more than 12 tonnes of paddy from the same land area, at comparatively low costs.
"The spending on the second and third (crops) is very minimal,” said Abbas Ali, a farmer in Hazipara village in Moulavibazar district. “You have to spread a very tiny volume of fertiliser only. You do not need to plough the land."
He is growing the new rice on five acres of land, and is now waiting to cut the paddy a second time. So far he’s very happy with the experiment. "I will continue to grow this variety of paddy since it is very profitable due to low cost and high yield,” he said.
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
Ferdous Bappi, manager of Chaudhury's project in Moulavibazar, said the new rice types are neither hybrid nor genetically modified, and are similar to traditional varieties developed by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. The team’s research has not revealed any other varieties with similar characteristics, he added.
Of 10 varieties the project has bred, four have proved suitable for the “extended life” method. “Now we want to spread the method, as well as the varieties, across the country,” said Bappi. “Many people from different parts of the country have already contacted us."
The farming method has environmental benefits, and could contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from rice cultivation, he added. Rice produces substantial amounts of methane due to its semi-aquatic nature and tilling releases it from the land.
"If you follow the 'extended life' method you do not need to plough the land, and there is no chance of greenhouse gas emissions," Bappi explained.
The farming technique also makes the plants more resilient to excessive flooding. Usually, young paddy plants are 15 cm high when transplanted into the land, meaning they rot if submerged in too much rainwater for too long.
"Since, in our method, the crop is harvested keeping 35 cm of the paddy plant in the land, during the second and third sessions, there is no chance of them being swamped or rotten," Bappi said.
Syful Islam is a journalist with the Financial Express newspaper in Bangladesh. He can be reached at: youths1990@yahoo.com
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/extended-life-rice-could-quadruple-yields-cut-costs/
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Plastic bottles could clean arsenic-contaminated water
Syful Islam
www.scidev.net
7 September 2011
[DHAKA] Chopped up plastic bottles covered in a common chemical may be a simple and inexpensive method for removing arsenic from drinking water.
A team of chemists at Monmouth University, United States, found that bits of plastic coated with cysteine, a common molecule found in foods, bind to arsenic.
"Laboratory experiments have shown that the method has the potential to be very efficient and very cost effective," Tsanangurayi Tongesayi, lead author of the study and an assistant professor at the university told SciDev.Net.
"The method uses plastics which are cheap and locally available," he added. "[It] is eco-friendly because it involves recycling of plastic bottles [and] is also safe because the chemical ingredients used are not toxic."
In Bangladesh alone some 35 million people are exposed to arsenic contamination from drinking water, according to the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), and estimates say around 100 million in the developing world are affected.
Arsenic has been linked to a variety of health problems from stomach pains and blindness to various cancers — one in five deaths in Bangladesh has been linked to arsenic exposure.
Tongesayi presented his team's findings last week (31 August) at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. The researchers showed that the method can reduce the arsenic content from 20 parts per billion (ppb) — two times higher than the safe standard set by the US Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water — to 0.2 ppb.
Tongesayi said they were now looking for a commercial partner to scale up the process.
But Guy Howard, the UK Department for International Development's Research and Evidence Representative in South Asia, said: "Simply looking for a commercial partner is not the key to scaling up". The technology first has to be shown to work in field conditions, which may vary a lot and where other chemical species compete with arsenic for adsorption sites, he said.
He added that the technology also needs to be shown to be acceptable to potential users, who must understand how to use it and when to replace filters, for example. Some previous technologies that worked in the lab, have failed at these two steps, Howard said.
"Finally such a technology has to pass regulatory requirements — some scientists appear to believe these do not exist in countries like Bangladesh. The reality is quite the reverse — Bangladesh has a very stringent technology verification process and technologies are only accepted for wide deployment once this is passed," he said.
Shudhir Kumar Ghosh an engineer at the DPHE said the new method has good prospect in Bangladesh since it will use low cost plastic bottle and the easily available chemical.
He added that there are already various methods in use to remove arsenic from drinking water in Bangladesh, including six chemical-based technologies — half of those invented locally.
Such methods can be useful at a household level but need constant monitoring of the presence of the chemical and arsenic in water, Kumar Ghosh said.
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/land-water-pollution/news/plastic-bottles-could-clean-arsenic-contaminated-water.html
www.scidev.net
7 September 2011
[DHAKA] Chopped up plastic bottles covered in a common chemical may be a simple and inexpensive method for removing arsenic from drinking water.
A team of chemists at Monmouth University, United States, found that bits of plastic coated with cysteine, a common molecule found in foods, bind to arsenic.
"Laboratory experiments have shown that the method has the potential to be very efficient and very cost effective," Tsanangurayi Tongesayi, lead author of the study and an assistant professor at the university told SciDev.Net.
"The method uses plastics which are cheap and locally available," he added. "[It] is eco-friendly because it involves recycling of plastic bottles [and] is also safe because the chemical ingredients used are not toxic."
In Bangladesh alone some 35 million people are exposed to arsenic contamination from drinking water, according to the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), and estimates say around 100 million in the developing world are affected.
Arsenic has been linked to a variety of health problems from stomach pains and blindness to various cancers — one in five deaths in Bangladesh has been linked to arsenic exposure.
Tongesayi presented his team's findings last week (31 August) at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. The researchers showed that the method can reduce the arsenic content from 20 parts per billion (ppb) — two times higher than the safe standard set by the US Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water — to 0.2 ppb.
Tongesayi said they were now looking for a commercial partner to scale up the process.
But Guy Howard, the UK Department for International Development's Research and Evidence Representative in South Asia, said: "Simply looking for a commercial partner is not the key to scaling up". The technology first has to be shown to work in field conditions, which may vary a lot and where other chemical species compete with arsenic for adsorption sites, he said.
He added that the technology also needs to be shown to be acceptable to potential users, who must understand how to use it and when to replace filters, for example. Some previous technologies that worked in the lab, have failed at these two steps, Howard said.
"Finally such a technology has to pass regulatory requirements — some scientists appear to believe these do not exist in countries like Bangladesh. The reality is quite the reverse — Bangladesh has a very stringent technology verification process and technologies are only accepted for wide deployment once this is passed," he said.
Shudhir Kumar Ghosh an engineer at the DPHE said the new method has good prospect in Bangladesh since it will use low cost plastic bottle and the easily available chemical.
He added that there are already various methods in use to remove arsenic from drinking water in Bangladesh, including six chemical-based technologies — half of those invented locally.
Such methods can be useful at a household level but need constant monitoring of the presence of the chemical and arsenic in water, Kumar Ghosh said.
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/land-water-pollution/news/plastic-bottles-could-clean-arsenic-contaminated-water.html
Friday, September 2, 2011
Bangladesh and the Netherlands to share flood research
Syful Islam
28 July 2011, DHAKA
Flood-prone Bangladesh and the Netherlands are planning to exchange research findings and share experience on managing floods, which are projected to worsen because of climate change.
Floods wreak havoc in Bangladesh every year. Last week's floods killed at least four people and stranded an estimated 20,000, according to the Associated Press.
A five-year research programme worth €700,000 (US$1 million) will aim to strengthen the capacity of institutions and communities to deal with moderate and extreme floods. The programme was announced last month (27 June) and will be hosted by the Wageningen University and the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
It will allow the scientists to share experiences and come up with a framework that will link disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and flood management. Funds will go towards four PhD research projects that will analyse flood policies and strategies in the two countries, and one project aimed at putting research findings into practice though local workshops.
So far, both countries have had mixed experiences with building embankments on coastal deltas to reclaim low-lying land.
Bangladesh's coast is a flat plain into which sediment-laden rivers drain. Engineers built embankments to keep seawater out of the deltas and to protect against storm surges, Shah Alam Khan, professor at the Institute of Water and Flood Management and a co-leader of the new programme, told SciDev.Net.
But the embankments stopped rain water draining out, causing heavy waterlogging. Local communities eventually started breaking open the embankments to let the accumulated water out. This community-driven process was later adopted as government policy.
"The consequences of the polder [land protected by an embankment] system were not considered when the technology was adopted," Khan said. "Tidal flooding is a natural process in Bangladesh which was barred through [setting up] polders, leaving the overall ecosystem of the area in a dire state."
Large parts of the Netherlands are below the sea level and are also protected by embankments. But there, too, the embankments caused drainage problems as the land got silted up.
To solve the problem, the Netherlands adopted policies on river management by cutting embankments to allow tidal flooding for up to five years. This helped drain out excess water.
Khan said that engineers' efforts on tidal management have not yielded uniform results in all areas, and exchanging knowledge with the Netherlands could help them improve river management.
The research project dubbed 'Communities and institutions for flood resilience: enhancing knowledge and capacity to manage flood risk in the Bangladeshi and Dutch Deltas'', is funded by WOTRO, a Dutch funding organisation for research on global issues.
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/bangladesh-and-the-netherlands-to-share-flood-research-1.html
Climate-friendly kilns could reduce Bangladesh's emissions
Syful Islam
8 July 2011, DHAKA
Bangladesh, which emits relatively fewer polluting gases but is projected to be highly vulnerable to global warming, has embarked on a drive to introduce environment-friendly brick-making technology to curb gaseous emissions.
The UN Development Fund (UNDP) last month (22 June) announced financial and technical support for large-scale adoption of its improved brick-making technology to help the country cut emissions and improve efficiency. The UNDP will invest in 16 demonstration kilns by the end of 2014.
Bangladesh has some 8,000 traditional kilns making 8.66 billion bricks worth US$ 450 million annually. The sector grew by over eight per cent during the last decade, but also contributed three million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually due to "outmoded, inefficient and poorly constructed kilns and the use of substandard fuels such as high sulphur coal, tyres and wood energy in the kilns to fire clay into bricks," a UNDP release said.
It is projected to grow by five per cent each year, burning more than a million tonnes of coal annually and emitting 8.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2014.
The new technology is based on the German ‘Hoffman kiln’ developed in the mid-19th century to bake clay. In 1999, China improvised the German technology into the more environment-friendly 'hybrid Hoffman kiln' (HHK), in which coal and clay are injected into a chamber and mixed to form raw, wet bricks, which are later dried.
The hybrid approach burns 95 per cent of the fuel, is more efficient and emits fewer polluting gases to produce high quality, lower cost bricks.
The UNDP improvised the HHK further by enlarging the drying chamber to suit Bangladesh's coal quality and clay moisture.
UNDP project manager Khondker Neaz Rahman told SciDev.Net that pilot tests initiated in January 2010, in Dhamrai town near Dhaka, showed the new approach producing 40,000 bricks daily, compared to 25,000-30,000 bricks using Chinese technology.
Private brick makers and development experts have welcomed the new technology. Pallab Kumar Moholnobish, project manager of ECO Brick Ltd., Dhamrai, said he can now produce bricks round the year, using less coal — 14 tonnes to make 100,000 bricks, compared to 24 tonnes in the older kilns.
Kiln operators can also earn carbon credits — a provision under the United Nations Framework on Convention for Climate Change that allows countries or groups that reduce their emissions to earn ‘credits’ for carbon dioxide reduced, and trade them in for cash.
Atiq Rahman, chairman of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, Dhaka, observed that the HHK would help reduce emissions as much of the dust, heat and gases remain within the chambers and are not released into the air.
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/climate-friendly-kilns-could-reduce-bangladesh-s-emissions.html
8 July 2011, DHAKA
Bangladesh, which emits relatively fewer polluting gases but is projected to be highly vulnerable to global warming, has embarked on a drive to introduce environment-friendly brick-making technology to curb gaseous emissions.
The UN Development Fund (UNDP) last month (22 June) announced financial and technical support for large-scale adoption of its improved brick-making technology to help the country cut emissions and improve efficiency. The UNDP will invest in 16 demonstration kilns by the end of 2014.
Bangladesh has some 8,000 traditional kilns making 8.66 billion bricks worth US$ 450 million annually. The sector grew by over eight per cent during the last decade, but also contributed three million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually due to "outmoded, inefficient and poorly constructed kilns and the use of substandard fuels such as high sulphur coal, tyres and wood energy in the kilns to fire clay into bricks," a UNDP release said.
It is projected to grow by five per cent each year, burning more than a million tonnes of coal annually and emitting 8.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2014.
The new technology is based on the German ‘Hoffman kiln’ developed in the mid-19th century to bake clay. In 1999, China improvised the German technology into the more environment-friendly 'hybrid Hoffman kiln' (HHK), in which coal and clay are injected into a chamber and mixed to form raw, wet bricks, which are later dried.
The hybrid approach burns 95 per cent of the fuel, is more efficient and emits fewer polluting gases to produce high quality, lower cost bricks.
The UNDP improvised the HHK further by enlarging the drying chamber to suit Bangladesh's coal quality and clay moisture.
UNDP project manager Khondker Neaz Rahman told SciDev.Net that pilot tests initiated in January 2010, in Dhamrai town near Dhaka, showed the new approach producing 40,000 bricks daily, compared to 25,000-30,000 bricks using Chinese technology.
Private brick makers and development experts have welcomed the new technology. Pallab Kumar Moholnobish, project manager of ECO Brick Ltd., Dhamrai, said he can now produce bricks round the year, using less coal — 14 tonnes to make 100,000 bricks, compared to 24 tonnes in the older kilns.
Kiln operators can also earn carbon credits — a provision under the United Nations Framework on Convention for Climate Change that allows countries or groups that reduce their emissions to earn ‘credits’ for carbon dioxide reduced, and trade them in for cash.
Atiq Rahman, chairman of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, Dhaka, observed that the HHK would help reduce emissions as much of the dust, heat and gases remain within the chambers and are not released into the air.
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/climate-friendly-kilns-could-reduce-bangladesh-s-emissions.html
Bangladesh aims for big growth in solar energy by 2015
31 Aug 2011
By Syful Islam
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AlertNet) - Rural areas of Bangladesh are to see an increase in solar electricity generation as part of an ambitious plan to boost the provision of power from renewable sources.
The government has set a target of generating 500 megawatts (MW) of green energy – almost ten times the current amount – by 2015, in an attempt to narrow the gap between current supplies of grid electricity and the needs of the country’s 160 million people.
Only 49 percent of Bangladesh’s population has access to electricity from the national grid. Fossil fuels account for almost all the current capacity of 5,500 MW, with renewable sources – mostly solar power – contributing just 55 MW.
The government says there are environmental and developmental imperatives behind its search for alternative energy sources.
“Burning fossil fuel emits greenhouse gases into the air, contributing to the warming of the globe. (And) fossil fuels are depleting very quickly which is a threat to future power generation,” said Tapos Kumar Roy, additional secretary of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.
SOLAR HOME SYSTEMS
Solar home systems (SHS) are the main weapon in the government’s renewable energy armoury, because they can operate independently of the national grid. More than one million such solar systems have already been installed in rural areas where there is no other source of electricity.
Mosharraf Hosein Khokon, a resident of Brammonchak village in Bangladesh’s southeastern Chandpur district, spent 20,000 taka (about $270) to buy a solar home system. He sees little prospect of his village being connected to the national grid in the near future, so solar energy is a great help.
“The SHS system is helping us to light our four rooms. Now young members of our family can study with light from SHS, and we can watch television too,” said Khokon.
Roy said the government has identified about 30 remote sub-districts where grid expansion is not possible in the next 10 to 15 years.
“So we have no alternative to renewable energy to meet the government’s social commitment of electricity for all by 2020,” he said.
Since November 2010, the government has mandated the installation of roof-top solar panels on all new high-rise buildings, and it currently has other solar power projects under development with a total capacity of 35 MW.
Under the plan, 340 MW of new capacity will be generated from systems installed on residential, commercial and industrial buildings, as well irrigation pumps, mini-grid systems and solar parks.
Solar power systems installed on the rooftops of local government buildings, railway stations, and rural health and educational institutions will provide the balance.
WILLPOWER AND SUBSIDIES
Experts predict that the Bangladeshi government will need considerable political willpower and financial subsidies to increase its stake in green energy.
Rezwan Khan, chairman of the technical standards committee of the Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), a state-run organization promoting renewable energy, noted that producing electricity from renewable sources is much more expensive than from fossil fuels.
He said that the ability to trade carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol may make it possible for the government to manage the high costs of renewable energy generation.
“But at the initial stage the government will have to provide a huge subsidy,” Khan said. He added that the government’s plan would only be viable if it promotes green energy without considering the economic costs.
At the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Tapas Kumar Roy conceded that the cost of electricity from renewable sources is quite high, but said that solar power is still popular in rural areas for lighting, especially when compared to the cost of kerosene for lamps.
INVESTMENT NEEDED
The government believes investments totalling $2.24 billion will be required to reach its solar power target. It is seeking about $1.6 billion dollars in financing from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other development partners. The plan calls for the remainder to be funded by the government and the private sector.
Roy said that the ADB will hold an international workshop in Dhaka with other donor agencies in late September or early October to try to secure funds for the renewable energy programme.
The government is looking to generate green power from other sources also. An Indian company has proposed a pilot wind power project with a capacity of 15 MW, and private sector financing is in the pipeline for further wind projects with the potential to generate up to 200 MW.
The government is also studying the possibility of constructing geothermal power plants in the country’s northern Panchagarh district.
Abser Kamal, chief executive officer of Grameen Shakti, a pioneering organization in the renewable energy field in Bangladesh, said the government’s goal of generating 500 MW from renewable sources was possible but agreed that it would require huge a financial commitment.
Grameen Shakti has installed some 650,000 solar home systems across the country over the past 16 years.
Ruhul Quddus, head of the Rural Services Foundation, a Bangladeshi charity, said that the government was promoting renewable energy by providing soft loans. Twenty-nine organizations have partnered with IDCOL to install over one million solar home systems across the country. The total is expected to reach 1.5 million by 2015.
“We are going forward gradually. Though the initial investment is quite high, there is a huge prospect for solar energy in Bangladesh,” Quddus added.
Syful Islam is a journalist with The Financial Express newspaper in Bangladesh. He can be reached at: youths1990@yahoo.com
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/bangladesh-aims-for-big-growth-in-solar-energy-by-2015
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Bangladesh set to receive carbon credits for composting
By Syful Islam
13 Jul 2011 14:14
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AlertNet) – Bangladesh is getting involved in carbon credit trading with the certification of a recycling plant that converts organic waste into compost.
“We collect some 100 tonnes of vegetable waste from two city markets daily and recycle it in our plant in the city’s suburbs through composting. If that waste had been dumped in the landfill it could have emitted huge (amounts of) methane gas,” explained Iftekhar Enayetullah, director of Waste Concern, a Bangladeshi social enterprise.
Waste Concern built and operates the recycling plant in Narayanganj, a suburb of Dhaka, in partnership with World Wide Recycling, a Dutch company. The plant, which began operations in November 2008, currently produces 15,000 tonnes of compost annually, which is sold inexpensively to rural farmers.
Certification of the plant under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is expected by the end of July. The Kyoto Protocol commits most industrialised nations to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, in part by investing in emissions-reduction projects in developing countries.
Under the CDM, projects receive credits that can be traded with industrialised countries, giving the richer countries credit toward their own emissions reduction goals and poorer countries cash.
GERMANY TO BUY CREDITS
Waste Concern will receive credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 9,500 tonnes a year. The company expects to trade its carbon credits with KfW, the German government’s development bank, and expects to receive $136,000 a year.
The money will be invested in dramatically expanding the plant’s processing capacity to 700 tonnes of waste per day.
Enayetullah said that expansion so far has been hampered by acute power shortages, which have compelled the company to use a diesel generator to run the plant, limiting the overall annual emissions reduction to 95 percent of the original target of 10,000 tonnes.
Waste Concern says the Dhaka plant has created employment for 800 people and reduced the city’s costs for waste removal.
According to the company, its composting model can be adapted for rural and urban areas, including slums, to process anything from three tonnes or more of organic waste daily.
The government and development agencies hope that such projects can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate environmental damage, and promote economic development.
The Asian Development bank plans to replicate the organic waste composting model in four other cities in Bangladesh, and the Department of the Environment is developing five similar projects in cities and municipalities.
Waste Concern is developing strategies for municipal solid waste management in several other Asian countries, including Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Vietnam, as well as in Africa.
Bangladesh’s state-run Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) also is close to receiving certification under the CDM for its solar power system for rural homes.
IDCOL assistant director Farzana Rahman said that the company has installed some 950,000 systems through its partner organizations across the country, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 220,000 tonnes annually.
A typical home system generates enough electricity from solar energy to power four lightbulbs, a television and a fan. Rahman said that an IDCOL biogas programme is also awaiting certification under the CDM.
Syful Islam is a journalist with The Financial Express newspaper in Dhaka. He can be reached at: youths1990@yahoo.com.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/bangladesh-set-to-receive-carbon-credits-for-composting
Monday, May 23, 2011
Bangladesh sees surge in small-scale solar power
11 May 2011 17:22
Source: Alertnet
By Syful Islam
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AlertNet) – Power-hungry Bangladesh has doubled the number of homes with solar-generated electricity systems to 800,000 over the last year.
Demand for the systems is growing as the country curbs new connections to its overburdened power grid and as costs for the solar panels come down, according to a range of non-profit groups now providing them across the country.
“You can call it a green revolution since our combined efforts are helping light remote villages and reduce carbon emissions,” said Abser Kamal, chief executive officer of Grameen Shakti, an organization that promotes the use of renewable energy in Bangladesh, in part by installing solar home systems and providing market-rate small loans to help people purchase them.
The company hopes to install an additional half million of the systems this year, largely in rural areas, he said in a telephone interview with AlertNet.
The systems use solar cells to convert sunlight to electricity. A typical $300 home unit allows the user to power light bulbs, a television and a fan.
Over half the households in Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries, lack a connection to the national power grid, according to government statistics. The country’s power plants can generate about 4,200 megawatts of electricity but demand is more than 5,500 megawatts a day, meaning many would-be users regularly lack power.
The government has committed to producing at least 5 percent of the country’s power through renewable sources by 2015, and 10 percent by 2020. As part of that effort, Solarium Power Limited (SPL), a private firm, has been given permission to install an 18-megawatt solar power plant expected to cost 2 billion taka ($27 million). The plant is expected to cut Bangladesh’s carbon emissions by 100,545 tonnes a year.
But home-based solar panels are also playing a role. Groups like Grameen Shakti that are helping install the systems hope to bring them to a total of 35 million users in Bangladesh by 2015. Last year, Grameen Shakti installed 200,600 of the household solar units.
“The demand for (the) system is rising enormously,” said Ruhul Quddus, the head of Rural Services Foundation, a Bangladeshi development charity that is also installing the solar units. “Each month we are connecting 35,000 new households. It has huge potential in the remote villages which have no possibility to be connected to the national power grid for 50 years at its current rate of expansion.”
The home solar units also are providing a new source of income for some Bangladeshi families, particularly in rural areas, he said.
“With a small (solar home) connection one can power four lamps and one black and white television set. Some people use one or two lines and lend the rest (of the power) to others to earn money,” Quddus said.
A typical home solar system costs 20,000 taka ($300), with users paying 15 percent of the cost as a down payment and the rest over 36 months at an interest rate of 6 percent.
The government-owned Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) is supporting the program by providing credit at 5 to 8 percent interest to the charities installing the systems.
Monir Hossain, chief of SolarEn, a foundation launched last year to expand the solar home systems to urban areas, said poor people are now particularly interested in solar energy because the monthly installment payment for a home system are cheaper than the cost of a month’s worth of kerosene and candles.
“The monthly kerosene bill for four lamps stands at 1,600 taka ($23) whereas the installment for a (solar unit) is only 750 taka ($11). This is cutting their costs by almost half and also reducing carbon emissions, saving the environment,” he said.
Solar power use is surging in urban areas in part because the government has stopped providing new connections to the national power grid as a result of continuing power shortages. Recently, solar power systems were installed in the prime minister’s office, the Central Bank building and the new offices of Grameenphone, a telecom giant.
Solar power is also being used increasingly for heating, irrigation, mobile phone base stations and small three-wheel vehicles. Realtors are becoming interested on solar energy since they have no other choice after being refused national grid connections for their newly built projects.
Jamshed Ahmed, a resident in Noakhali district who purchased one of the solar home systems, told Bangladesh’s national news agency that the connection has improved his life.
“My seven-member family and our neighbors can now enjoy TV programmes at home regularly. Now we can become aware of the country's current affairs,” he said.
Syful Islam is a journalist with the Financial Express newspaper in Bangladesh. He can be reached at youths1990@yahoo.com
Source: Alertnet
By Syful Islam
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AlertNet) – Power-hungry Bangladesh has doubled the number of homes with solar-generated electricity systems to 800,000 over the last year.
Demand for the systems is growing as the country curbs new connections to its overburdened power grid and as costs for the solar panels come down, according to a range of non-profit groups now providing them across the country.
“You can call it a green revolution since our combined efforts are helping light remote villages and reduce carbon emissions,” said Abser Kamal, chief executive officer of Grameen Shakti, an organization that promotes the use of renewable energy in Bangladesh, in part by installing solar home systems and providing market-rate small loans to help people purchase them.
The company hopes to install an additional half million of the systems this year, largely in rural areas, he said in a telephone interview with AlertNet.
The systems use solar cells to convert sunlight to electricity. A typical $300 home unit allows the user to power light bulbs, a television and a fan.
Over half the households in Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries, lack a connection to the national power grid, according to government statistics. The country’s power plants can generate about 4,200 megawatts of electricity but demand is more than 5,500 megawatts a day, meaning many would-be users regularly lack power.
The government has committed to producing at least 5 percent of the country’s power through renewable sources by 2015, and 10 percent by 2020. As part of that effort, Solarium Power Limited (SPL), a private firm, has been given permission to install an 18-megawatt solar power plant expected to cost 2 billion taka ($27 million). The plant is expected to cut Bangladesh’s carbon emissions by 100,545 tonnes a year.
But home-based solar panels are also playing a role. Groups like Grameen Shakti that are helping install the systems hope to bring them to a total of 35 million users in Bangladesh by 2015. Last year, Grameen Shakti installed 200,600 of the household solar units.
“The demand for (the) system is rising enormously,” said Ruhul Quddus, the head of Rural Services Foundation, a Bangladeshi development charity that is also installing the solar units. “Each month we are connecting 35,000 new households. It has huge potential in the remote villages which have no possibility to be connected to the national power grid for 50 years at its current rate of expansion.”
The home solar units also are providing a new source of income for some Bangladeshi families, particularly in rural areas, he said.
“With a small (solar home) connection one can power four lamps and one black and white television set. Some people use one or two lines and lend the rest (of the power) to others to earn money,” Quddus said.
A typical home solar system costs 20,000 taka ($300), with users paying 15 percent of the cost as a down payment and the rest over 36 months at an interest rate of 6 percent.
The government-owned Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) is supporting the program by providing credit at 5 to 8 percent interest to the charities installing the systems.
Monir Hossain, chief of SolarEn, a foundation launched last year to expand the solar home systems to urban areas, said poor people are now particularly interested in solar energy because the monthly installment payment for a home system are cheaper than the cost of a month’s worth of kerosene and candles.
“The monthly kerosene bill for four lamps stands at 1,600 taka ($23) whereas the installment for a (solar unit) is only 750 taka ($11). This is cutting their costs by almost half and also reducing carbon emissions, saving the environment,” he said.
Solar power use is surging in urban areas in part because the government has stopped providing new connections to the national power grid as a result of continuing power shortages. Recently, solar power systems were installed in the prime minister’s office, the Central Bank building and the new offices of Grameenphone, a telecom giant.
Solar power is also being used increasingly for heating, irrigation, mobile phone base stations and small three-wheel vehicles. Realtors are becoming interested on solar energy since they have no other choice after being refused national grid connections for their newly built projects.
Jamshed Ahmed, a resident in Noakhali district who purchased one of the solar home systems, told Bangladesh’s national news agency that the connection has improved his life.
“My seven-member family and our neighbors can now enjoy TV programmes at home regularly. Now we can become aware of the country's current affairs,” he said.
Syful Islam is a journalist with the Financial Express newspaper in Bangladesh. He can be reached at youths1990@yahoo.com
Early warning system aims to save fishermen's lives
18 Apr 2011 16:36
Source: alertnet // Syful Islam
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AlertNet): Mamtaz Begum still remembers the day 12 years ago when her husband Ansar set off from his village of South Tetulbaria, in Bangladesh’s Barguna district, for a seven-day fishing trip.
“It was a sunny day and there was no sign of storm. So my husband along with his colleagues began the trip to the sea,” she said.
But a sudden storm arose in the Bay of Bengal and the trawler carrying 24-year-old Ansar and other fishermen sank. All the men drowned, leaving Begum a widow in her early 20s, with children to care for and a precarious future.
“My husband’s disappearance left us in the sea,” she said. “We are now leading a very poor life.”
Serious storms off the coast of Bangladesh are increasing in frequency, endangering the lives and livelihoods of Bangladeshi fishermen. According to Ahsan Uddin Ahmed, executive director of the Dhaka-based Centre for Global Change (CGC), between 140,000 and 160,000 households of coastal Bangladesh depend on fishing for their livelihood.
Ziaul Hoque Mukta, a policy manager for Oxfam in Bangladesh, said that in each of the past three years the country experienced 10 to 14 storms significant enough to earn a Signal III warning level, which indicates the likelihood of very rough and potentially dangerous seas. Thirty years ago, just four or five such warnings were issued each year, he said.
“The increased number of dangerous signal storms indicates that (an) unstable situation has risen in the sea,” Mukta said. An Oxfam study suggests this is likely due to climate change, he said.
To address the growing problem, the Centre for Global Change and Oxfam, along with CARE Bangladesh and the Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods have teamed up with Airtel Bangladesh Ltd for a venture that aims to use the latest telecom technologies to make coastal fishermen less vulnerable to sudden storms.
Working together, staff at the rural livelihoods campaign and at the Centre for Global Change will look for signs of rough seas and try to generate warnings 48 hours in advance of incoming serious storms. Airtel then will use newly constructed telecommunication towers to disseminate recorded warnings through digital telecom devices supplied to each fishing boat.
If a boat is caught in rough seas and capsizes, Airtel will be able to track its position and forward the information to the Bangladesh navy and coast guard. The new system is due to begin operating at the start of the rainy season, which typically begins in mid-June.
Accurate storm warnings are essential to help fishermen maximize profits while remaining safe, experts say. Many fishermen take high-interest loans from money-lenders to purchase fuel and provisions for two-week trips. If a Signal III warning is issued by the government’s Disaster Management Bureau, they are required to return to shore.
TOUGH CHOICES
Curtailing a trip can lead to a loss of income and drive fishermen into debt, but ignoring a signal can endanger their lives. More advance warning of coming storms could help them avoid such binds.
Ahmed, who directs the Centre for Global Change, cites the loss of life from super-cyclone Sidr, which struck the Bay of Bengal and coastal regions of Bangladesh in November, 2007, as an example how the tensions between protecting incomes and protecting lives can be difficult to resolve.
Before Sidr hit, taking more than 3,000 lives in coastal Bangladesh, many fishermen had repeatedly abandoned fishing trips, accepting financial losses, in response to bad weather during the monsoon season. By the time that the warning for Sidr came, many cash-strapped fishermen “remained in the sea with a hope that the warning would be proven false,” Ahmed said. For some, taking such a chance was a fatal mistake, he said.
Former fisherman Barek Dafader, of South Tetulbaria, fell into poverty after he lost two of his three fishing boats to a 2005 storm. The unreliability of storm forecasting played a role in his decision to stay at sea after a warning had been issued.
“The signals were found (to be) wrong many times. That’s why I didn’t return with my two trawlers even after the signal was given” during the 2005 storm, he said.
Dafader had to sell his remaining boat in order to repay his debts and support the seven members of his family. He is currently unemployed.
“I was working on other trawlers, but now my children don’t allow me to go to the sea since they don’t want to lose me,” he said.
Oxfam’s Mukta explained that the initiative with Airtel aims to increase the frequency of updates on storms, so that fishermen can make better-informed decisions about whether to start their return journey.
“This may help them save their lives and livelihoods,” Mukta noted.
Syful Islam is a journalist with the Financial Express newspaper in Bangladesh. He can be reached at youths1990@yahoo.com
Source: alertnet // Syful Islam
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AlertNet): Mamtaz Begum still remembers the day 12 years ago when her husband Ansar set off from his village of South Tetulbaria, in Bangladesh’s Barguna district, for a seven-day fishing trip.
“It was a sunny day and there was no sign of storm. So my husband along with his colleagues began the trip to the sea,” she said.
But a sudden storm arose in the Bay of Bengal and the trawler carrying 24-year-old Ansar and other fishermen sank. All the men drowned, leaving Begum a widow in her early 20s, with children to care for and a precarious future.
“My husband’s disappearance left us in the sea,” she said. “We are now leading a very poor life.”
Serious storms off the coast of Bangladesh are increasing in frequency, endangering the lives and livelihoods of Bangladeshi fishermen. According to Ahsan Uddin Ahmed, executive director of the Dhaka-based Centre for Global Change (CGC), between 140,000 and 160,000 households of coastal Bangladesh depend on fishing for their livelihood.
Ziaul Hoque Mukta, a policy manager for Oxfam in Bangladesh, said that in each of the past three years the country experienced 10 to 14 storms significant enough to earn a Signal III warning level, which indicates the likelihood of very rough and potentially dangerous seas. Thirty years ago, just four or five such warnings were issued each year, he said.
“The increased number of dangerous signal storms indicates that (an) unstable situation has risen in the sea,” Mukta said. An Oxfam study suggests this is likely due to climate change, he said.
To address the growing problem, the Centre for Global Change and Oxfam, along with CARE Bangladesh and the Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods have teamed up with Airtel Bangladesh Ltd for a venture that aims to use the latest telecom technologies to make coastal fishermen less vulnerable to sudden storms.
Working together, staff at the rural livelihoods campaign and at the Centre for Global Change will look for signs of rough seas and try to generate warnings 48 hours in advance of incoming serious storms. Airtel then will use newly constructed telecommunication towers to disseminate recorded warnings through digital telecom devices supplied to each fishing boat.
If a boat is caught in rough seas and capsizes, Airtel will be able to track its position and forward the information to the Bangladesh navy and coast guard. The new system is due to begin operating at the start of the rainy season, which typically begins in mid-June.
Accurate storm warnings are essential to help fishermen maximize profits while remaining safe, experts say. Many fishermen take high-interest loans from money-lenders to purchase fuel and provisions for two-week trips. If a Signal III warning is issued by the government’s Disaster Management Bureau, they are required to return to shore.
TOUGH CHOICES
Curtailing a trip can lead to a loss of income and drive fishermen into debt, but ignoring a signal can endanger their lives. More advance warning of coming storms could help them avoid such binds.
Ahmed, who directs the Centre for Global Change, cites the loss of life from super-cyclone Sidr, which struck the Bay of Bengal and coastal regions of Bangladesh in November, 2007, as an example how the tensions between protecting incomes and protecting lives can be difficult to resolve.
Before Sidr hit, taking more than 3,000 lives in coastal Bangladesh, many fishermen had repeatedly abandoned fishing trips, accepting financial losses, in response to bad weather during the monsoon season. By the time that the warning for Sidr came, many cash-strapped fishermen “remained in the sea with a hope that the warning would be proven false,” Ahmed said. For some, taking such a chance was a fatal mistake, he said.
Former fisherman Barek Dafader, of South Tetulbaria, fell into poverty after he lost two of his three fishing boats to a 2005 storm. The unreliability of storm forecasting played a role in his decision to stay at sea after a warning had been issued.
“The signals were found (to be) wrong many times. That’s why I didn’t return with my two trawlers even after the signal was given” during the 2005 storm, he said.
Dafader had to sell his remaining boat in order to repay his debts and support the seven members of his family. He is currently unemployed.
“I was working on other trawlers, but now my children don’t allow me to go to the sea since they don’t want to lose me,” he said.
Oxfam’s Mukta explained that the initiative with Airtel aims to increase the frequency of updates on storms, so that fishermen can make better-informed decisions about whether to start their return journey.
“This may help them save their lives and livelihoods,” Mukta noted.
Syful Islam is a journalist with the Financial Express newspaper in Bangladesh. He can be reached at youths1990@yahoo.com
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Climate shifts spur fish bonanza on Bangladesh coast
07 Feb 2011 15:12
Source: AlertNet // Syful Islam
By Syful Islam
DHAKA (AlertNet) - Fishermen are finding unexpectedly large quantities of Bangladesh's national fish Hilsa in coastal estuaries out of season, a trend scientists believe is caused by the impacts of climate change and pollution on their breeding patterns.
The silvery Hilsa fish, popular for its tasty flesh, normally migrates from the Bay of Bengal into Bangladeshi rivers between June and October, where it breeds.
In winter, fishing communities in the southern coastal district of Barguna often suffer from hunger as the government bans river fishing between November and May to help Hilsa minnows mature. Families struggle to get by, despite receiving financial assistance from the state.
This year is different. Azhar Ali, a trader waiting at Machkhali fishing station for boats to return from the estuaries, explains that Hilsa fish went for 350-400 taka ($5-$6) per kilo in the peak season, but now, unusually for the off season, they are selling for 200-250 taka per kilo because there are so many around.
Naznin Begum, the wife of a Machkhali fisherman, is happy that her husband is getting a good catch at this normally lean time of year, because it gives them the rare assurance of having enough to eat. "Every year in this period, our rice pots remain empty. Children shout for food. But this year we have no such tension (thanks to) God's kindness," she explains.
For the past two weeks, fishing stations in this remote coastal district have been bustling with fishermen and traders. Boats have been returning from the estuaries full of large Hilsa, and traders have been snapping them up for clients in the capital Dhaka and other parts of the country.
Sagir Alam, head of the Patharghata Fish Traders Association, says his members are transporting fish worth 15 million taka (around $211,000) each day. But he admits it's a puzzling situation. "We can't imagine such large Hilsa fish during the winter. But now we are getting fish of 1 to 1.5 kg each. We are little bit mystified."
WARMING SEAS
Scientists say the recent surge in Hilsa fish out of season is one sign of the growing effects of climate change on ocean ecology.
Dr Sultan Mahmud of the fisheries faculty at Patuakhali Science and Technology University explains that rising sea temperatures are disrupting breeding patterns, and are contributing to a shift in the mating and migration of the Hilsa fish.
The Bay of Bengal has four fishing grounds, but recently Hilsa fish have been found outside these zones. Mahmud and his university colleagues plan to launch intensive research on the issue soon.
Climatic variability is affecting the fish's growth and reproductive cycle, according to Mahmud. The large fish being found in estuaries out of season may be coming in from the deep sea for late breeding.
"This is a sign of climatic pressure on the bay. The effect will also put pressure on other sea mammals," he notes, adding that the whole food chain is being impacted.
The Hilsa fish isn't the only species being affected by environmental changes linked to global warming, including more intense monsoon rains and tropical cyclones.
Last October, Olive Ridley turtles on Saint Martin's island laid eggs three months earlier than usual. And, in December, fishermen in the Bay of Bengal caught unusually large volumes of Red Snapper fish over a period of several days.
RIVER ECOSYSTEMS UNDER STRESS
Extreme weather and pollution are compounding the shifts out at sea. The Hilsa fish is losing considerable stretches of its river breeding grounds, as many rivers have changed course and narrowed due to siltation caused by droughts and reduced water flow upstream.
River ecosystems are also being damaged by the dumping and run-off of untreated sewage, fertilisers, pesticides and industrial chemicals.
Fishermen used to catch Hilsa in many Bangladeshi rivers, including the Padma, Jamuna and Meghna. But as many dry up into thin canals during the summer months, the fish can no longer head hundreds of kilometres upstream, which they naturally do to breed.
The building of dams and barrages upstream is also preventing their normal migration, cutting their numbers upstream. The loss of their spawning grounds seems to be driving the fish to breed too early or too late, and in rivers much closer to the sea.
Abdur Rashid, 65, a fisherman in Bishkhali in Borguna district, says he hasn't seen this many Hilsa fish during the winter in the 50 years he has been working.
"Usually, we can't fish in this period as the government doesn't allow us to go to the river. We starve with family members, and struggle to survive," he explains. "This year the scenario is totally different. We are getting a huge volume of Hilsa fish and can earn money to buy food."
Fishermen Md Aslam, Alamgir Sarder and Sagir Hosen agree, saying they would expect to find only young fish at this time of year. For them, what's happening now is a "miracle".
But some worry this new phenomenon could bring trouble. "We may not get adequate Hilsa fish next season," frets fisherman Ahmad Hosen. "I am afraid there may be danger in the offing."
Patuakhali university expert Mahmud echoes his concern. "Getting Hilsa fish in winter is not only astonishing but also alarming," he says. "Climate change could be the knock-out punch for many species which are already under stress from habitat loss."
Syful Islam is a journalist with the Financial Express newspaper in Bangladesh. He can be reached at youths1990@yahoo.com.
Source: AlertNet // Syful Islam
By Syful Islam
DHAKA (AlertNet) - Fishermen are finding unexpectedly large quantities of Bangladesh's national fish Hilsa in coastal estuaries out of season, a trend scientists believe is caused by the impacts of climate change and pollution on their breeding patterns.
The silvery Hilsa fish, popular for its tasty flesh, normally migrates from the Bay of Bengal into Bangladeshi rivers between June and October, where it breeds.
In winter, fishing communities in the southern coastal district of Barguna often suffer from hunger as the government bans river fishing between November and May to help Hilsa minnows mature. Families struggle to get by, despite receiving financial assistance from the state.
This year is different. Azhar Ali, a trader waiting at Machkhali fishing station for boats to return from the estuaries, explains that Hilsa fish went for 350-400 taka ($5-$6) per kilo in the peak season, but now, unusually for the off season, they are selling for 200-250 taka per kilo because there are so many around.
Naznin Begum, the wife of a Machkhali fisherman, is happy that her husband is getting a good catch at this normally lean time of year, because it gives them the rare assurance of having enough to eat. "Every year in this period, our rice pots remain empty. Children shout for food. But this year we have no such tension (thanks to) God's kindness," she explains.
For the past two weeks, fishing stations in this remote coastal district have been bustling with fishermen and traders. Boats have been returning from the estuaries full of large Hilsa, and traders have been snapping them up for clients in the capital Dhaka and other parts of the country.
Sagir Alam, head of the Patharghata Fish Traders Association, says his members are transporting fish worth 15 million taka (around $211,000) each day. But he admits it's a puzzling situation. "We can't imagine such large Hilsa fish during the winter. But now we are getting fish of 1 to 1.5 kg each. We are little bit mystified."
WARMING SEAS
Scientists say the recent surge in Hilsa fish out of season is one sign of the growing effects of climate change on ocean ecology.
Dr Sultan Mahmud of the fisheries faculty at Patuakhali Science and Technology University explains that rising sea temperatures are disrupting breeding patterns, and are contributing to a shift in the mating and migration of the Hilsa fish.
The Bay of Bengal has four fishing grounds, but recently Hilsa fish have been found outside these zones. Mahmud and his university colleagues plan to launch intensive research on the issue soon.
Climatic variability is affecting the fish's growth and reproductive cycle, according to Mahmud. The large fish being found in estuaries out of season may be coming in from the deep sea for late breeding.
"This is a sign of climatic pressure on the bay. The effect will also put pressure on other sea mammals," he notes, adding that the whole food chain is being impacted.
The Hilsa fish isn't the only species being affected by environmental changes linked to global warming, including more intense monsoon rains and tropical cyclones.
Last October, Olive Ridley turtles on Saint Martin's island laid eggs three months earlier than usual. And, in December, fishermen in the Bay of Bengal caught unusually large volumes of Red Snapper fish over a period of several days.
RIVER ECOSYSTEMS UNDER STRESS
Extreme weather and pollution are compounding the shifts out at sea. The Hilsa fish is losing considerable stretches of its river breeding grounds, as many rivers have changed course and narrowed due to siltation caused by droughts and reduced water flow upstream.
River ecosystems are also being damaged by the dumping and run-off of untreated sewage, fertilisers, pesticides and industrial chemicals.
Fishermen used to catch Hilsa in many Bangladeshi rivers, including the Padma, Jamuna and Meghna. But as many dry up into thin canals during the summer months, the fish can no longer head hundreds of kilometres upstream, which they naturally do to breed.
The building of dams and barrages upstream is also preventing their normal migration, cutting their numbers upstream. The loss of their spawning grounds seems to be driving the fish to breed too early or too late, and in rivers much closer to the sea.
Abdur Rashid, 65, a fisherman in Bishkhali in Borguna district, says he hasn't seen this many Hilsa fish during the winter in the 50 years he has been working.
"Usually, we can't fish in this period as the government doesn't allow us to go to the river. We starve with family members, and struggle to survive," he explains. "This year the scenario is totally different. We are getting a huge volume of Hilsa fish and can earn money to buy food."
Fishermen Md Aslam, Alamgir Sarder and Sagir Hosen agree, saying they would expect to find only young fish at this time of year. For them, what's happening now is a "miracle".
But some worry this new phenomenon could bring trouble. "We may not get adequate Hilsa fish next season," frets fisherman Ahmad Hosen. "I am afraid there may be danger in the offing."
Patuakhali university expert Mahmud echoes his concern. "Getting Hilsa fish in winter is not only astonishing but also alarming," he says. "Climate change could be the knock-out punch for many species which are already under stress from habitat loss."
Syful Islam is a journalist with the Financial Express newspaper in Bangladesh. He can be reached at youths1990@yahoo.com.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Drought-tolerant rice variety to help farmers in northern Bangladesh
11 Jan 2011
By Syful Islam
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AlertNet) – Bangladesh is about to get its first drought-tolerant rice variety, which should play a key role in helping drought-affected farmers in northern Bangladesh deal with increasingly variable summer weather, scientists say.
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), with the help of two Bangladeshi organizations, has successfully tested the rice, which can survive up to 27 days without water, the scientists say.
“The existing rice varieties in Bangladesh wither and die after 10 to 12 days if water is not available in the land. But this variety has been tested successfully in such extreme situations,” M.G. Neogi, head of agriculture at the Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS), told AlertNet.
In 2010, Bangladesh witnessed the lowest rainfall in 15 years, a change experts characterized as an impact of global climate change.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department recorded 47,000 mm of rainfall in June, July, August and September 2010, compared to 56,000 mm in the same period of the last year, 60,000 mm in 2008 and 66,000 mm in 2007. The measurements are countrywide averages.
Drought affected about 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) of land in Bangladesh’s Barindra and other northern districts during the July to September period, according to M.A. Bari, country manager for the Stress-Tolerance Rice for Poor Farmers in Africa and South Asia (STRASA) project in Bangladesh.
SUCCESS IN AREAS TOO DRY FOR RICE
Neogi said tests of the new rice variety were even successful in Panchagar district, where rice normally can’t be grown as a result of lack of rainfall.
The rice is suitable to grow in the July to September cropping period, though can’t be grown in winter as it is intolerant of cold, he said.
He urged that the rice be widely introduced immediately to help farmers deal with worsening climate-related drought, particularly in already dry areas.
The technical committee of the National Seed Board is still scrutinizing the variety following an application by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute for its release.
The variety was first developed in 2008 by IRRI in the Philippines, with the financial support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Under the Stress-Tolerant Rice for Poor Farmers in Africa and South Asia project, the rice was tested in India, Cambodia and Nepal.
In Bangladesh, the rice has produced 3.5 tonnes of rice per hectare in test plots. Existing rice varieties can produce up to 4.5 tonnes per hectare but only if there is no drought, experts said.
India has already released the rice variety under the name ‘Shahabagi’ in 2009, and it is now grown on 235,000 hectares of Indian farmland.
Before sending the new variety to farmers in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute carried out its own tests over the 2008 to 2010 period. The rice was also tested by 36 farmers in eight districts of Rangpur division, who said they were happy with the results.
FARMER TESTS
Farmer Mosharraf Hosen of Tupamari village in Nilphamari district cultivated the drought-tolerant variety on two acres of land during the last July to September growing season. He harvested 960 kilograms of rice from the land, compared to 800 kilograms from his regular rice variety, and said the new variety required less fertilizer, cutting his costs.
“Usually I had to use 80 kilograms of fertilizer. … But I needed only 44 kilograms of fertilizer to cultivate the drought-tolerant rice in the same volume of land,” said Hosen, who is a father of four children.
Agricultural scientists bought most of his successful crop of the new rice as seed, he said.
“But I kept some seeds to cultivate in the next dry season since it does not need irrigation and I can save money,” he said.
Mahafuz, a farmer in Kathalbari village in Kurigram district, said he usually had to irrigate his rice paddies during dry periods with low rainfall. But there was no need to irrigate the land for cultivating drought-tolerant rice, he said.
His wife Rabeka Sultana. also cultivated the rice variety on her one acre of land and harvested nearly 1,600 kilograms of rice.
Hamid Mia, a scientist with IRRI in Bangladesh, said the new rice is similar in many ways to currently used varieties, and can be cultivated in any part of the country apart from land affected by excessive salinity.
“During the last few years we noticed adverse affects from drought on rice yields in northern districts. But the drought-tolerant variety tested this year in the area remained unaffected during the season,” he said.
“This tiny country has lot of diversity, in kinds of land and weather. So we need to introduce various kinds of rice varieties (capable of dealing) with different conditions,” he said.
Syful Islam is a freelance journalist in Bangladesh. He can be reached at youths1990@yahoo.com.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/drought-tolerant-rice-variety-to-help-farmers-in-northern-bangladesh/
By Syful Islam
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AlertNet) – Bangladesh is about to get its first drought-tolerant rice variety, which should play a key role in helping drought-affected farmers in northern Bangladesh deal with increasingly variable summer weather, scientists say.
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), with the help of two Bangladeshi organizations, has successfully tested the rice, which can survive up to 27 days without water, the scientists say.
“The existing rice varieties in Bangladesh wither and die after 10 to 12 days if water is not available in the land. But this variety has been tested successfully in such extreme situations,” M.G. Neogi, head of agriculture at the Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS), told AlertNet.
In 2010, Bangladesh witnessed the lowest rainfall in 15 years, a change experts characterized as an impact of global climate change.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department recorded 47,000 mm of rainfall in June, July, August and September 2010, compared to 56,000 mm in the same period of the last year, 60,000 mm in 2008 and 66,000 mm in 2007. The measurements are countrywide averages.
Drought affected about 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) of land in Bangladesh’s Barindra and other northern districts during the July to September period, according to M.A. Bari, country manager for the Stress-Tolerance Rice for Poor Farmers in Africa and South Asia (STRASA) project in Bangladesh.
SUCCESS IN AREAS TOO DRY FOR RICE
Neogi said tests of the new rice variety were even successful in Panchagar district, where rice normally can’t be grown as a result of lack of rainfall.
The rice is suitable to grow in the July to September cropping period, though can’t be grown in winter as it is intolerant of cold, he said.
He urged that the rice be widely introduced immediately to help farmers deal with worsening climate-related drought, particularly in already dry areas.
The technical committee of the National Seed Board is still scrutinizing the variety following an application by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute for its release.
The variety was first developed in 2008 by IRRI in the Philippines, with the financial support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Under the Stress-Tolerant Rice for Poor Farmers in Africa and South Asia project, the rice was tested in India, Cambodia and Nepal.
In Bangladesh, the rice has produced 3.5 tonnes of rice per hectare in test plots. Existing rice varieties can produce up to 4.5 tonnes per hectare but only if there is no drought, experts said.
India has already released the rice variety under the name ‘Shahabagi’ in 2009, and it is now grown on 235,000 hectares of Indian farmland.
Before sending the new variety to farmers in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute carried out its own tests over the 2008 to 2010 period. The rice was also tested by 36 farmers in eight districts of Rangpur division, who said they were happy with the results.
FARMER TESTS
Farmer Mosharraf Hosen of Tupamari village in Nilphamari district cultivated the drought-tolerant variety on two acres of land during the last July to September growing season. He harvested 960 kilograms of rice from the land, compared to 800 kilograms from his regular rice variety, and said the new variety required less fertilizer, cutting his costs.
“Usually I had to use 80 kilograms of fertilizer. … But I needed only 44 kilograms of fertilizer to cultivate the drought-tolerant rice in the same volume of land,” said Hosen, who is a father of four children.
Agricultural scientists bought most of his successful crop of the new rice as seed, he said.
“But I kept some seeds to cultivate in the next dry season since it does not need irrigation and I can save money,” he said.
Mahafuz, a farmer in Kathalbari village in Kurigram district, said he usually had to irrigate his rice paddies during dry periods with low rainfall. But there was no need to irrigate the land for cultivating drought-tolerant rice, he said.
His wife Rabeka Sultana. also cultivated the rice variety on her one acre of land and harvested nearly 1,600 kilograms of rice.
Hamid Mia, a scientist with IRRI in Bangladesh, said the new rice is similar in many ways to currently used varieties, and can be cultivated in any part of the country apart from land affected by excessive salinity.
“During the last few years we noticed adverse affects from drought on rice yields in northern districts. But the drought-tolerant variety tested this year in the area remained unaffected during the season,” he said.
“This tiny country has lot of diversity, in kinds of land and weather. So we need to introduce various kinds of rice varieties (capable of dealing) with different conditions,” he said.
Syful Islam is a freelance journalist in Bangladesh. He can be reached at youths1990@yahoo.com.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/drought-tolerant-rice-variety-to-help-farmers-in-northern-bangladesh/
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