Planning and Costing Agriculture's Adaptation to Climate Change in The
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Planning and costing agriculture’s adaptation to climate change in the salinity-prone cropping system of Bangladesh Khandaker Mainuddin, Aminur Rahman, Nazria Islam and Saad Quasem, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies October, 2011 Planning and costing agriculture’s adaptation to climate change in the salinity-prone cropping system of Bangladesh Contacts: Khandaker Mainuddin (Senior Fellow), Aminur Rahman, Nazria Islam and Saad Quasem, Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BACS), House #10, Road #16A, Gulshan 01, Dhaka 1212 • Tel: (88-02) 8852904, 8852217, 8851986, 8851237 • Fax: (88-02) 8851417 • Website: www.bcas.net • Email [email protected] International Institute for Environment and Development, IIED, 80-86 Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X 8NH, UK • Tel: +44 (0)20 3463 7399 • Fax: +44 (0)20 3514 9055 • Email: [email protected] Citation: Mainuddin, K., Rahman, A., Islam, N. and Quasem, S. 2011. Planning and costing agriculture’s adaptation to climate change in the salinity-prone cropping system of Bangladesh. International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London, UK. This report is part of a five-country research project on planning and costing agricultural adaptation to climate change, led by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and the Global Climate Adaptation Partnership (GCAP). This project was funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) under the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Policy Research Programme. All omissions and inaccuracies in this document are the responsibility of the authors. The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the institutions involved, nor do they necessarily represent official policies of DFID - 1 - Planning and costing agriculture’s adaptation to climate change in the salinity-prone cropping system of Bangladesh Table of contents Acronyms and abbreviations .................................................................................................... 4 Executive summary .................................................................................................................. 5 1. Introduction to agriculture in Bangladesh ............................................................................. 9 1.1 The significance of agriculture in Bangladesh ............................................................... 9 1.1.1 Agriculture and the Bangladesh economy ............................................................... 9 1.1.2 Food security in Bangladesh ................................................................................. 10 1.2 The policy environment ................................................................................................ 11 1.2.1 Institutions ............................................................................................................ 11 1.2.2 Policies ................................................................................................................ 13 2. Background to the study .................................................................................................... 17 2.1 Climate change and agriculture in Bangladesh ........................................................... 17 2.2 Aims and objectives of the study ................................................................................. 17 2.3 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 17 3. The production system in salinity-prone areas of Bangladesh .......................................... 22 3.1 The farming systems of Bangladesh ........................................................................... 22 3.2 Agricultural land and soil salinity ................................................................................. 22 3.2.1 Soil salinity classifications ..................................................................................... 24 3.3 Crops in Bangladesh ................................................................................................... 25 3.3.1 Major crops .......................................................................................................... 25 3.3.2 Minor crops .......................................................................................................... 26 3.4 Cropping in Bangladesh: seasons and patterns .......................................................... 27 3.4.1 Rainfed crops ....................................................................................................... 27 3.4.2 The cropping seasons .......................................................................................... 27 3.4.3 Cropping patterns ................................................................................................. 28 3.5 Exposure of the agricultural system to climate change ............................................... 31 3.5.1 Climate change impacts on agriculture .................................................................. 31 3.5.2 Direct impacts of climate change on agriculture ..................................................... 33 3.5.3 Indirect impacts of climate change on agriculture .................................................. 37 4. Planning and costing adaptations for salinity-prone rice production .................................. 38 4.1 Background information on the case study area ......................................................... 38 4.2 Importance of agriculture to the case study populations ............................................. 38 4.2.1 Household income and expenditure ...................................................................... 40 4.3 Farming practices in the case study system ................................................................ 41 4.3.1 Land holdings ....................................................................................................... 41 4.3.2 Cropping patterns and the seasonal calendar ....................................................... 42 - 2 - Planning and costing agriculture’s adaptation to climate change in the salinity-prone cropping system of Bangladesh 4.3.3 Current adaptations to high levels of soil salinity .................................................... 44 4.4 Vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change ................................................. 45 4.4.1 Exposure .............................................................................................................. 45 4.4.2 Impacts ................................................................................................................ 49 4.5 Agricultural adaptation to climate change .................................................................... 50 4.5.1 Current coping measures ..................................................................................... 50 4.5.2 Future climate change adaptation measures ......................................................... 53 4.6 Costs of adapting to climate change ........................................................................... 53 4.6.1 Awareness of saline-resistant adaptations ............................................................ 58 4.7 Roles and responsibilities of institutional actors ............................................................. 60 4.7.1 Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) .......................................................... 60 4.7.2 Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) ......................................................... 61 4.7.3 Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), headquarters ..................... 62 4.7.4 BINA, Satkhira ..................................................................................................... 64 4.7.5 Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) ....................................................... 64 4.7.6 Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) ............................... 65 4.7.7 Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) ............................................................................... 65 5. Key messages and conclusions ......................................................................................... 67 5.1 Key messages ............................................................................................................. 67 5.2 Conclusions ................................................................................................................. 67 References ............................................................................................................................. 69 - 3 - Planning and costing agriculture’s adaptation to climate change in the salinity-prone cropping system of Bangladesh Acronyms and abbreviations AR4 The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007 BARC Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council BARI Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute BBS Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics BCAS The Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies BCCSAP Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (2009) BDT Bangladesh Taka (currency) BINA Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture BJRI Bangladesh Jute Research Institute BMDA Barind Multi-purpose Development Authority BRRI Bangladesh Rice Research Institute CCCM Canadian Climate Change Model DAE Department of Agricultural Extension DAM Department of Agricultural Marketing DCRMA Disaster and Climate Risk Management in Agriculture project DFID Department