All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Coastal farmers in Bangladesh give up shrimp farming for agriculture to combat salinity

Sirajul, from Satkhira’s Shyamnagar upazila, resumed rice cultivation two years ago, after having stopped it for two decades. During these two decades, he commercially farmed shrimp in a marine water enclosure — locally called gher — which initially seemed profitable. However, after gradually facing a loss from aquaculture, the 53-year-old, whose family have been rice farmers professionally for generations, switched back to agriculture.

He tells Mongabay that the shrimp production dwindled due to viral outbreaks, while excessive soil salinity barred him from cultivating other crops around the shrimp enclosure.

Like Sirajul, many smallholder farmers in Bangladesh’s coastal districts, especially in the southwest, like Satkhira, Khulna and Bagerhat, are turning back to agriculture as an adaptation strategy to combat climate change impacts due to rising sea-level and temperatures.

Instead of a monoculture of shrimp, they now cultivate aman rice during the peak monsoon season, and different fruits like watermelon, oil seeds like sunflower and mustard, maize, various vegetables, boro rice, and other crops during the dry season, optimizing the alluvial lands around the year. “Now, I cultivate rice during the monsoon season and vegetables or fruits in the dry season on the same land that was exposed to high salinity earlier,” Sirajul says.

Source: Coastal farmers in Bangladesh give up shrimp farming for agriculture to combat salinity

Empowering Kids Through Environmental Clubs – FunWritings

Energizing and Empowering Kids
When teachers start environmental clubs at schools they are energizing and empowering their students to create a bright future for themselves. Students will be more willing to take care of the environment and pay more attention to their communities. They will be more aware of the many important issues like how e waste and plastic waste are polluting the environment, as these are some problems that are being faced in the world in these modern days…

Source: Empowering Kids Through Environmental Clubs – FunWritings