"Scuba rice" - adron.sr

In Bangladesh, hunger and povertyare part of the sad reality. Here,in one of the poorest and mostdensely populated nations inthe world, millions of people sufferfrom severe hunger each year. Thestreets of Dhaka City are dotted withmen, women, and children beggingfor alms. In the north, however,life is even harder. In five districts(Rangpur, Nilphamari, Kurigram,Gaibandha, and Lalmonirhat) 7 hoursaway from the country’s capital, afamine known as monga occurs fromSeptember to November each year.Monga (hunger months) occursafter the previous season’s food hasrun out, before the transplanted riceis harvested in December. Millionsof rural families who rely mostlyon farm work for their livelihoodare jobless and cannot afford to buyfood in the market. In Rangpur, onefarmer shared that he simply tries tosleep off the pangs of hunger duringthis period. He gets up only when heneeds to check his field and if he hasmoney to buy food in the market.A team from the IrrigatedRice Research Consortium (IRRC)journeyed to these districts inOctober 2007 to learn more aboutthe yearly famine and to see howEasing thePlight of theHungrysome management options couldhelp soften the blow on the people.The IRRC is a regional partnershipprogram of the International RiceResearch Institute (IRRI), with 11countries committed to developingrice-growing technologies anddisseminating these to farmersacross South and Southeast Asia(see Hungry for knowledge, pages32-33 of Rice Today Vol. 7, No. 2).The IRRC teamed up with theBangladesh Rice Research Institute(BRRI) and a local alliance calledthe Northwest Area Local Forum,which is composed of governmentby Trina Leah Mendoza and David JohnsonMonga (hunger months) occurs every year in Bangladesh.Researchers revisited the country in 2008 to find out howsome farming technologies were able to help families copeduring these tough timesA farmer takes a break from weeding his field and eats lunch brought byhis wife. For many farming families, lunch consists of just rice and curry.institutions and nongovernmentorganizations (NGOs), includingRangpur Dinajpur Rural Service,Solidarity, Intercooperation, andGrameen Atto Unnayn Sangstha.Together, they are promotingearlier harvests through the useof a shorter-duration rice variety(BRRI dhan 33), direct seeding,and weed control options.Compared with the traditionalpractice of transplanting, with directseeding of rice, seeds are sowndirectly into an unflooded field,either as dry or “wet” pregerminatedseeds. But, without the flooding ofA mother feeds her daughtersrice and curry for lunch.trina leah mendoza (2)fields, weeds are a major problem,and timely and appropriateweed management is essentialto avoid drastically low yields.On two visits to these districtsin Bangladesh, Florencia Palis, IRRIagricultural anthropologist and IRRCsocial scientist, interviewed landlessand marginal farmers about theirhardships during monga and howthey cope during these tough times.Joshna, a 35-year-old farmerfrom Nilphamari, used to transplantrice in her small upland and lowlandfields (a combined area of less thanone-third of a hectare). In 2006, sheharvested a meager 243 kilograms ofrice from her upland field sown withSwarna, a traditional variety. Butfloods damaged her lowland fields.Heavily in debt, Joshna sold her twogoats and a few small trees for woodto be able to buy food for her family.Ironically, while Bangladeshifarmers suffer from annual floods,they also rely heavily on monsoonrains to prepare the land for rice.If the rains are too late or too little,farmers may not be able to plantthe crop on time. Transplantingespecially requires large quantities ofwater to flood the fields. For Joshna,there was not enough rainfall toquench the thirst of her fields.In 2007, Joshna decided to trydry direct seeding using a lithao (atraditional hand-drawn tool) to sowthe short-duration BRRI dhan 33.This decision changed her family’slife. At harvest time, her fieldsyielded 560 kilograms of rice andgained an additional US$50 grossincome. Now, her family no longergoes hungry. Joshna was able to payher debts and buy a pregnant cow.Most Bangladeshi families considercows very special investments thatprovide them with milk and cowdung (manure) for fertilizer. Asidefrom being able to buy meat andfish, Joshna is able to send herchildren to school and buy themother things such as notebooks,books, clothes, pencils, and bags.Following the establishmentand dissemination of rice-growingtechnologies among the farmers inBangladesh, the IRRC came backDr. Flor Palis, IRRI agricultural anthropologist, interviews farmer Joshna Rahni about her struggles duringmonga and how direct seeding using an early-maturing variety has changed her family’s life. Md. AnarulHaque (far right), a BRRI staff member, and Dr. M.A. Mazid (far left), head of the BRRI Rangpur station,translate for Dr. Palis.in July 2008 to probe deeper intohow these technologies benefitedthe farmers. They saw how thingshave improved and found out thatthe farmers are now singing a happytune. These changes were capturedin the video Easing the plight ofthe hungry, available in English(http://snipurl.com/d2018) andBengali (http://snipurl.com/d2ufv).Moreover, other than Joshna,Panchu and his family also benefitedfrom these technologies. At first,Panchu’s wife was hesitant to trydirect seeding in their small fieldin Rangpur. But Panchu convincedher that, if they tried direct seedingusing BRRI dhan 33, they couldmake use of the growing seasonand eventually harvest three cropssuch as rice, potato, and maize.True enough, they saw good yieldsat harvest time and appreciated thebenefits of direct seeding. Now, theyworry less about what they are goingto eat next or where they can getmoney for their children’s needs.Other farmers tried thetechnologies for the same reasons:they can harvest earlier, sell at ahigher price, and grow crops suchas potato, maize, and chickpea.IRRI agricultural economistand IRRC team member AreleneMalabayabas trained localinterviewers to collect rice and othercrop production data from 200farmers through household surveys.BRRI dhan 33 direct-seeded duringthe aman (wet) planting season fromJune to July is harvested 30–37 daysearlier on average than transplantedlong-duration varieties. The earlyharvest generated employment ofabout 60–63 person-days per hectare,which means that landless laborerscan earn wages during monga.Direct seeding of an earlymaturingvariety combined withproper weed management has helpedease the suffering during monga.This has increased people’s accessto an early food supply, createdjobs for the landless, and generatedincome for farmers to buy food fortheir families, and has significantlyimproved the quality of their lives.The Bangladeshi government hasadopted these approaches andtechnologies for a national programfor monga mitigation with a 3-year (2008-10) action plan.Linking governmentorganizations with NGOs that haveactive programs in the countrysideand working closely with farmers’groups and rural communities haveimproved technology transfer.Thanks to these developmentsand the active participation of thelocal partners, the farmers leadhappier and healthier lives as theyno longer worry about where to findfood and employment when mongacomes.Ms. Mendoza is a communicationspecialist with the IRRC. Dr. Johnsonis a senior weed scientist in IRRI’sCrop and Environmental SciencesDivision.md. ahadat hossain32 Rice Today April-June 2009 Rice Today April-June 2009 33