Noakhali farmers now produce great grass instead of food crops

03 January, 2015

Syful Islam (RTNN): Many farmers in Nokhali district have started producing great grass (hogla pata) instead of cultivating food crops in some lands as part of their effort to get adapted to the impacts of climate change.

They said cultivating great grass in salinity-affected and water-logged lands is possible while other crops can hardly grow there.

The increased salinity in soil, nearly six months long water-logging each year, and lack of irrigation facility had put the farmers in Ramharitalu village of Noakhali Sadar upzila in immense difficulties with farming. In many lands of this area even the stress-tolerant rice varieties are not suitable for cultivation.

The salinity and water-logging in lands had increased in the recent years as the impacts of climate change have started to be more visible. Noakhali, a South Eastern Bangladeshi district, represents an extensive flat, coastal and delta land, located in tidal flood plain of the Meghna river delta. Climate change-induced disastrous events often hit the district and seawater frequently enters the land.

Once the farmers of the village had been producing a handsome volume of rice and other food crops, which is badly affected in the recent years. So, the farmers have turned to producing great grass as it can tolerate stresses.

Earlier, great grass was being produced in these lands naturally and poor people of the village produced different household items with those as an extra income. Since salinity and water-logging have affected rice and other food crop production there, farmers have started to produce great grass as main crop as this can withstand stresses.

Nearly ten years back Abul Bashar of Ramharitalu village started great grass business. He collected great grass from the locality and sold the same at nearby Khalifar hat and Rab market.

He established a small cottage farm five years back and appointed scores of workers, mainly women, to prepare different types of household products from great grass.

Mr Bashar now sells those products even in capital city of Dhaka among the owners of different handicraft shops. Being encouraged by Bashar’s success some 12,000 men and women of Nokhali Sadar upzila now produce eye-catching household items and sell those at nearest markets and other towns.

Bashar said producing food crops in the saline-affected and water-logged lands was not profitable and “we had been losing crops frequently”. “As a result we had no option but to find out a stress-tolerant crop and we found cultivating great grass to be a suitable option.”

“Cultivation of great grass has brought financial solvency to many farmers in Noakhali district,” said Mr Bashar.

Nurul Alam Masud, chief executive of Noakhali based Participatory Research Action Network (PRAN), said great grass is a water-borne tree which once grew naturally near the rivers and seashores.

“Nowadays farmers cultivate great grass commercially and its farming is expanding fast in Noakhali district. You don’t need to take care of great grass a lot and no fertilisers nor pesticides are needed for its cultivation,” he said adding presently more and more new lands are coming under great grass farming as farmers get good return from it.

Mr Masud said with impacts of climate change having started putting adverse effects, farmers themselves are finding out ways to get adapted with the changed situation.

http://www.english.rtnn.net//newsdetail/detail/1/4/60815#.VKjUXih0io4