SOURCE: The Hill
Farmers in low-lying regions of Bangladesh are braving rising sea levels by cultivating their crops aboard hand-woven rafts.
Faced with inhospitable growing conditions that could threaten their livelihoods, they are adapting to a climate of surging swamp waters by reviving a relic of the country’s past.
These farmers are returning to a traditional technique in which they plant vegetables — from cucumbers to papaya — on rafts woven from the stalks of invasive water hyacinth.
When floods come — as they now do for eight to 10 months per year — the crops float, rather than drown. Most of the crops are then sold as saplings or young trees.
“These days, the land is under water for a longer time,” one farmer said. “This ancient technique has helped us to earn a living.”
Bangladesh could lose nearly a fifth of its land area and almost a third of its food production by 2030, the International Monetary Fund reported.
As climate conditions become increasingly unstable in the region, floating farms could become a crucial technique for local families.
Already, some 6,000 subsistence growers across Bangladesh’s swampy southwest are now cultivating their crops aboard these rafts.
“It requires less space than conventional farming and does not need pesticides,” local agricultural official Digbijoy Hazra said.
“When we’re fighting … the impact of global warming, floating farming could be the future,” Hazra added.