In the last few years in mid-western Bangladesh, the trend of planting different types of fruit orchards, like mango, lychee and papaya, has gone up in three districts together commonly known as the High Barind Tract — Rajshahi, Chapai Nawabganj and Naogaon. “Transforming the land from rice and wheat fields to orchards is the easiest option for our livelihood because we do not get enough water to irrigate rice and other crops throughout the year. Moreover, orchards require limited water, but at the same time, they give us better profit,” said Raihan Kabir Ranju, a farmer from Nachole municipality, Chapai Nawabganj district, in western Bangladesh. A study suggested that less water consumption, lower production costs, and higher turnover were the major reasons for transforming the land use in this part of the country. As per the estimation by Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), about 3,000 liters (790 gallons) of water is required to produce 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of boro rice, while wheat and maize require about 400 and 600 l (105 to 158 gal), respectively, for the same quantity. However, for instance, Ranju said, “One acre of papaya orchard can require about one-tenth of the water that boro rice requires. Besides, it provides at least 50% more profit than rice.” Consequently, many farmers have transformed their land from cereal croplands to orchards, ultimately impacting the country’s food production. A study shows that Barind Tract, a region made up mostly of old alluvial soil, has been experiencing less vegetation and…This article was originally published on Mongabay
Article by:
This story first appeared on Mongabay
South Africa Today – Environment
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Mongabay, and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
