The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Rice-fish farming has huge potentials to help the country achieve food security and reshape its agro-landscape, as it has enabled many farmers in three districts to earn 218 percent higher net return than that of single Boro cultivation, according to a survey.

The farm household survey conducted in Kishoreganj, Comilla and Chandpur districts found that farmers earned a net return of Tk 49,714 per hectare for integrating fish culture with Boro rice against the net return of single Boro rice of Tk 11,179. This shows a 218 percent higher net return from rice-fish farming than that of single Boro rice cultivation.

"It (rice-fish farming) also reduced 77 per cent and 51 per cent pesticide and weeding costs respectively. Similar trend was also observed in case of Aman rice and rice-fish farming," the study says. Rice-fish farming is an organic method that combines rice and fish production while maximising labour and rice-field resources. A three-member team of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Gazipur conducted the survey, 'Adoption and Productivity of Rice-Fish Farming in Bangladesh', to assess the productivity and profitability of rice-fish production at the farm level and determine the factors affecting rice-fish output.

The study says with a population of 137 million and growing at 1.48 percent a year, Bangladesh faces an uphill battle in meeting the food needs of its huge population. "Therefore, increased food production in the flood-prone ecosystem from rice-fish culture could play a vital role in reducing malnutrition, increasing household income and helping the country achieve food security."

In Asia, China boasts a history of 1700 years in rice-fish-farming practice. As rural areas in China have been industrialised in recent years, rice-fish farming has drawn attention. In China, rice-fish farming is no longer limited to the household economy and to production for personal or family consumption. It is now part of farmland improvement, soil improvement, and environmental protection, according to available information.

Rice-fish farming is no longer a sole agro-production practice, but an agro-cultural pattern. Therefore, it has been listed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as one of the Globally Important Ingenious Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS).

This integrated system of farming has huge potentials in Bangladesh. It can enable the country to produce an estimated 400,000 tonnes of fish a year worth US$300 million on 40,000 hectares of land, says WorldFish Centre.

According to experts, rice-fish farming provides a sustainable alternative to rice monoculture, if farmers can take full advantage of the natural productivity of the rice field ecosystem. They said the aim should be to reduce the resource use, avoid overuse of agrochemicals and improve production efficiency through increased recycling of nutrients and matter. Integrated pest management (IPM) strategies should thus be adopted as a necessary complement to fish farming practices.

About environmental protection, the experts said fish wastes and the extra feed given to fish, including vegetable waste and rice bran, increase the amount of organic fertilizer in the field. As a result, farmers need less chemical fertilizer, leading to an improved environment.

They said there is also less use of pesticides and insecticides, as fish can play a significant role in controlling many pests and diseases of rice. They eat weeds and algae that carry diseases, act as hosts for pests and compete with rice for nutrients. There is thus also less need for weeding and plowing. Fish also feed on flies and other small insects.

Self-sufficiency in food is of paramount importance for Bangladesh, as many small farmers cannot grow enough to sustain themselves round the year. One or two bad harvests can plunge a family into debts it can never hope to repay. Raising fish offers a solution to these problems, contributing to income and food.

Fish is a major source of protein in Asia, supplying 46 percent of the total animal protein in Bangladesh and as much as 75 per cent in Indo-China.

In the floodplains of Bangladesh, 70 per cent of households catch fish for income or food. They are poor, largely landless and survive on less than Tk 100 a day. Fish is the major-and often the only-source of animal protein for them.