Floating Vegetable Gardening (FVG) as a Sustainable Agricultural System in Bangladesh: Prospects for Kaptai Lake, Rangamati, Chittagong Hill-Tracts

Abstract

Agriculture is one of the most important contributors to Bangladesh’s GDP. Having a large number of wetlands (> 50 percent) and their susceptibility to a climate change impacts, however, presents a case for modification of traditional agricultural systems. Many communities have already developed indigenous floating cultivation methods as an adaptive strategy to reduce their vulnerability due to possible climate change. Floating Vegetable Gardening (FVG)- an age-old indigenous farming practice in Bangladesh, can play a vital role in this regard, particularly in the waterlogged areas. Basically, FVG is a unique hydroponics production system constructed with aquatic weeds, (especially water hyacinth- Eichhornia crassipe), which have been developed in the flood-prone areas of Bangladesh, especially suitable for the poor and smallholder farmers. Effective adaptation actions and knowledge transfer would provide farmers with added resilience and coping ability in circumstances of a changed climate system. This paper deals with a proved indigenous agricultural practice in the wetlands of Bangladesh as an alternative source of sustainable rural livelihoods. An attempt has been made to explore and identify a potential, eco-friendly and productivity-enhancing technology i.e. ‘floating vegetable gardening’, most suitable for the poor and smallholder farmers in the South and South-East Asia. This is an empirical study based on both primary and secondary data, which has been conducted in the Kaptai Lake area, Rangamati, Chittagong Hill Tracts. The initial outcome of this study includes a solid information base of the technology with clear insights on its various segments including constraints, issues and challenges faced by the farmers in their adaptation of the technology and knowledge transfer. The paper is expected to contribute to the on-going regional attempts for the alleviation of poverty through sustainable agriculture.

Keywords: Floating vegetable gardening, climate change adaptation