TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE COAST Efforts in Promoting Eco-friendly and Climate Resilient Agriculture Technologies

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1. Vermi Compost: An organic, eco-friendly low cost alternative to chemical fertilizerThe agricultural of Bangladesh needs about 3375.52 thousand metric tons of fertilizer every year. About 87% of total fertilizer demand of the country is fulfilled. Local manufacturers provide 77% and the rest 23% is imported from abroad. Bangladesh does not have any posibility to increase its land area, thus to increase food production Bangladesh heavily depends on irrigation facilities together, HYV and greater use of fertilizer. Other inputs like pesticides are also playing vital role. However, there are huge concerns over the environmental problems resulting using chemical fertilizers, pesticides etc. Vermi compost can be one solution to chemical fertilizer!

April 2017

COAST Trust mainly works in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that, Bangladesh will lose about 17 percent of its land area due to sea level rise. This 17% land is mainly the coastal areas. As a people’s centric coastal NGO, COAST is trying to enhance its program participants’ skills to face the challenge of climate change. COAST is providing technical and financial supports to the coastal peo-ple in mainly adapting two types of technologies to survive: i) adaptive and ii) Mitigation,

which is contributing in climate change mitigation process.

The eco-friendly technologies discussed in this paper are mainly supporting in climate mitigation. To minimize shortage of water, farmers are using the Alternative Wetting and

Drying (AWD) i.e., Porous Pipe method to reduce water usage for irrigation. They are using Leaf Color chart (LCC) to minimize the use of urea fertilizer; the Sex Pheromone

method for pest control to reduce chemical usage. COAST is promoting these eco-friendly and alternative agricultural technologies in the coastal area, mainly in Bhola and Cox’s

Bazar as a community based climate adaptation strategy.

COAST also promoting some alternative livelihood options to adapt with the changed situation. Agricultural lands are being reduced due to erosion, salinity intrusion and sea level rising. So, communities are integrating some livelihood options like poultry chain,

mini hatchery with rice husk method, model breeding, chicken and duck rearing, crab fat-tening, fishing in cage system, sea weed culture etc.

A Brief Intrioduction of the Eco-Friednly and Climate Resilient Agriculture Technologies COAST is Promoting

April 2017

Vermicompost (or vermi-compost) is the product of the composting process using various species of worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and other earthworms, to create a heterogeneous mixture of decomposing cow dung, vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and vermicast. This process of producing vermi compost is called vermicomposting. Vermicompost contains water-soluble nutrients and is an excellent, nutrient-rich organic fertilizer and soil conditioner. It is used in farming and small scale sustainable, organic farming.

COAST Trust is providing training, financial and technical support to farmers interested to promote vermi compost. COAST is also

helping farmers in marketing their products. COAST ensures the quality of farmers’ prod-uct and selling in market with a brand name.

So far 220 small scale farmers have been engaged with the process and they are doing very well in terms of getting profit and pro-

moting the idea among others.

Major advantages of Vermi-Compost ;Organic and all natural;Environmentally friendly;Increase productivity up to 20-25%;Can provide 80% of essentials ingredients to crops. ;Increase soil fertility & increase resistance to pests attacks;Increase resistance to disease attacks & increased flowering;Increased water holding capacity of soil by up to 30%;Production reduces greenhouse gas emissions such as methane and nitric oxide (produced in landfills or incinerators when not composted or through methane harvest

Major advantages of Vermi-Compost ;Organic and all natural;Environmentally friendly;Increase productivity up to 20-25%;Can provide 80% of essentials ingredients to crops. ;Increase soil fertility & increase resistance to

Vermi compost can be used for the following purposes:;Best in saline land;Can be used in producing all types of corps and vegetables;In Producing fruits

;In fish cultivation in ponds

Methods of vermicomposting

Vermicromposting is done by various methods, among them bed and pit methods are more common.

;Bed method : Composting is done on the pucca / kachcha floor by making bed (6x2x2 feet size) of organic mixture. This method is easy to maintain and to practice

;Pit method: Composting is done in the cemented pits of size 5x5x3 feet. The unit is covered with thatch grass or

any other locally available materials. This method is not preferred due to poor aeration, water logging at bottom, and more cost of production

Process of vermicomposting

Following steps are followed for vermicompost preparation;Vermicomposting unit should be in a cool, moist and shady site;Cow dung and chopped dried leafy materials are mixed in the proportion of 3: 1 and are kept for partial decomposition for 15 – 20 days.;A layer of 15-20cm of chopped dried leaves/grasses should be kept as bedding material at the bottom of the bed.;Beds of partially decomposed material of size 6x2x2 feet should be made ;Each bed should contain 1.5-2.0q of raw material and the number of beds can be increased as per raw material availability and requirement.;Red earthworm (1500-2000) should be released on the upper layer of bed ;Water should be sprinkled with can immediately after the release of worms ;Beds should be kept moist by sprinkling of water (daily) and by covering with gunny bags/polythene

;Bed should be turned once after 30 days for maintaining aeration and for proper decomposition.;Compost gets ready in 45-50 days.;The finished product is 3/4th of the raw materials used.

Harvesting

When raw material is completely decomposed, it appears black and granular. Watering should be stopped as compost gets ready. The compost shout be kept over a heap of partially decomposed cow dung so that earthworms could migrate to cow dung from compost. After two days’ compost can be separated and sieved for use.

Cost and benefit analysis

For a household based samall scale vermi compost unit, total annual cost is 2950, and annual sale can be 12800 taka. So, annual net profit can be BDT 9950.

COAST Efforts:

COAST Trust is providing training, financial and technical support to farmers interested to promote vermi compost. COAST is also helping farmers in marketing their products. COAST ensures the quality of farmers’ product and selling in market with a brand name. So far 220 small scale farmers have been engaged with the process and they are doing very well in terms of getting profit and promoting the idea among others.

Parul Begum is from the Vhar Bhula village under the Bhola is-land district. Her family did not have any own land, they used to do agriculture lending others land. Parul got a loan of BDT 7000 form COAST in 2014. She started to rear a cow. After getting training on vermi compost form COAST, she started with one small pant. It was not that much easy and comfortable for her, as her neighbor and vil-lages used to mock at her as she worked with earthworms. She did not give up. Parul started with 1000 earthworm and within 45 days she got her investment back! Now she is producing 200 kgs of Vermi Compost fertilizer, thus her monthly income is BDT 2000 per month., which is very handsome amount for a poor village woman in Ban-gladesh. Now she is living a moderate life with her family. She has bough two cows and she has her own 32 decimal land too. Her fertil-izer is being marketed with her own brand!

Parul Begum: From an Poor and Ordinary Housewife to Successful Entrepreneur!

2. Sex Pheromone: Killing Enemies, Saving Friends, Saving EnvironmentNow a days, it is hard to get chemical free vegetables. Excessive use of chemicals is creating threat to the environment as well as human being. Using of chemical pesticides also increases production cost. Solution of all these problems is the Sex Pheromone. It reduces cost and also reduces hazards to the environment. Cost minimization is high, for example, for a 40 decimal Brinjal field total pesticides of taka 15000 are needed while for sex pheromone it will cost only 1680 taka, and result will be better too!

Insects communicate by means of scents i.e pheromones or chemicals used for ‘signaling’.

Sex Pheromone is natural chemicals. It is a technique to save plants instead of using conventional means of spraying insecticides. In

this technique traps are used with some scents or pheromones to attract insects.

It is often called ‘The Magic Trap’. There are some specific techniques of using the trap, for example, in Brinjal field; this trap should be installed after 10-15 days of plantation.

There should be two pheromone traps per three decimals of land used and 36-40 traps per acre of land used.

Trap should be installed based on the height of the plants; the height should be same as the plants height. The trap should be hanged with two bamboo sticks tightened with rope. Soap water or powder mixed water is to be poured into the trap.

Cost of per trap is just taka 25. So far 950 farmers of Bhola districts have been brought directly under this program by COAST

Trust and inspired by them about 1500 farmers are using this technique.

Umar Farukh of Charfssion upazila under Bhola district was a village doctor in profession. He used to be with agriculture in small scale. Later he started vegetable cultivation in his land be-ing motivated by COAST staff. Now he is a successful vegetable cultivator and an icon also. Umar Farukh is now implementing almost all the agriculture technologies COAST is working for. COAST staff provided him trainings and he is now implement-ing those technologies successfully. Farukh used to produce Brinjal and he used to use chemical insecticides. Once he gave up Brinjal cultivation since he had found that using chemi-cal was harmful for him and his family members. Motivated by COAST he began to produce Brinjal again after a 2 years interval, but that time he started to use Sex Pheromone technol-ogy. He got that technology from COAST. Farukh found that this technology was very cheap compared to chemical; it was also not harmful in any way. He spent only 1680 taka for his 40 decimal land instead of 15000 taka. He got profit of taka 65000 in last season. He is now providing training to others on Brinjal cultivation with Sex Pheromone.

Umar Farukh Produce Vegetables and Produce Dreams

Gave up Brinjal cultivation since he realized that using chemi-

cal was harmful. Later learned about Sex Pheromone

3. Leaf Color Chart: Increasing Production and Reducing DemeritsUrea fertilizer is one of the key inputs for rice cultivation in Bangladesh. Urea fertilizer is used to ensure proper Nitrogen to the soil. Purpose of using LCC (Leaf Color Chart) is to apply adequate amount of nitrogen and avoid application of fertilizer more than required. Use of LCC helps to determine nitrogen demand of the crop and guide right time of fertilizer application so as to prevent unwanted nitrogen losses and their serious impacts on the ecosystem.

As per a research study on,” Leaf Color Chart (LCC) based Nitrogen

Management in Transplanted and Direct (Drum) Seeded Wetland Rice”, conducted by Tamilnadu Agricultural University (TNAU), in India, there is a saving of 20-40kg N/ha (44kg-88kg urea/ha) by using Leaf Color Chart. From 290 Site Specific Nutrient management (SSNM) demonstrations, conducted by TNAU in the Cauvery delta during 2005-06, it revealed that the grain yield increase,

because of SSNM using LCC ranged from 0.34 to 1.07 tons/ha , with an average of 0.75ton/ha. Farmers realized additional profits of Rs 2250-6300 (US $ 50-140) /ha per season.

In the Amon season after 15 days of plantation measurement can be done with LCC. At the time of Boro season LCC can be

made after 21 days and it can continue up to flowering once in every 10 days.

Symbol leaf should be collected from various corners or parts of the whole field to measure. Selected leaves will be measured by setting those on the LCC, we will try to compare the leaves with the color of the LCC. During the measurement we will find commonness among the leaves and the one of the specific LCC color, and then we will follow instruction stated according to the color for further development or efforts.

COAST is trying to promote this technology. To promote we are collecting LCCs, arranging courtyard sessions with the local communities. So far, in our working area near about 500 farmers are benefited.

COAST providing continuous training on using the LCC

4. Porous Pipe: Saving Cost, Increasing production and Saving the WorldAccording to International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in Asia 40% of all fresh water In Bangladesh farmers are to spend a large amount for irrigation to their paddy field. On the other hand the exchequer is to spend a large amount to ensure diesel and petrol in a subsidized price for irrigation purpose.

Research shows that, a lot of water is misused every year for unplanned and excessive irrigation. Alternative Wetting and Drying is the solution of all the aforesaid problems. Locally it is called the Porous pipe method.

Using this method it is very easy to save water and cost. Cost minimization is also possible even without any cost! In this method, one can easily measure the exact need of irrigation and thus one can ensure the appropriate

irrigation and can save the excessive water.

Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) or Alternate Water Drying Irrigation is a type of water-saving rice production system. Key points of this technology are to:

; Install a PVC pipe (5 cm in diameter and 30 cm in length) with holes in the rice field (10 cm above and 20 cm below the soil surface) after transplanting to monitor groundwater.

;When water is bellow 5 cm inside the pipe then irrigation is needed and after got water above 5 cm, irrigation is to be stooped.

Any used plastic bottle can be also used for this purpose.

We have collected the porous pipe and we are implementing in the field level by our technical officer. So far about 400 farmers are using this technology.

5. The Maria Model: Way of Finding and Preserving Quality SeedsMaria is a densely populated village in Amrul Maria is a densely populated village in Amrul Union of Shahjahanpur upazila of Bogra. Farmers of this village invented a technique of collecting quality seed which is called Maria Model.

Maria Model is a technique of seed preservation. The farmer of that village, mainly the women, preserves the seeds for next year paddy production in this system. One hen or duck egg, water, salts and tub is needed for this model. Firstly we have to take 4-5 liters of water in the tub, and then 1 Kg salt is to be mixed with that water. Salt

mixture will be going until the egg is floated on the water. When egg floating on the tub water, it is ready for paddy seed wetting. Seeds that lay bottom of the tub should be separated and these are ready for preservation. Other floating seeds should be rejected since these are not quality seeds. Paddy seeds laying bottom of the tub should be dried in the sunshine and after that they will be ready for plantation. Thus we can find out seed with quality.

Dried paddy seeds can be kept in a jar or air tight pot with Neem leaf and Tobacco leaf. The jar should be closed

tightly with clay and cow dung.

COAST is working to promote this model in the coastal area of Bangladesh. So far 400

farmers have been benefited by COAST effort

6. Guti (Granular) Urea: Ensuring Higher Yield with low Urea! Fertilizer is the heart of agricultural plants. From land and air plants get the important and necessary elements to be growing up. But existence of organic fertilizers has been diminishing day by day. Keeping this situation in mind, to get expected production, chemical fertilizer is being used. To ensure adequate Nitrogen for

From various observation and research it has been found that, if Urea is used in this method a vast part of Nitrogen vanish with air, some are flooded with rains and it is also hard to reach under the soil. Thus Plants can only get 30-40 percent Nitrogen from Urea and plants can not get required Nitrogen. On the other hand, huge amount of subsidized money is wasted since government provides subsidy for Urea fertilizer.

This problem has almost been solved; using Guti (granular) Urea can make the miracle. It is a method of making some granular of Urea fertilizer and putting near the plants directly under the soil instead of sprinkling. Thus huge amount of fertilizer can be saved and plants can get more Nitrogen, wastage can be reduced. Since it is putted under

soil, so there is no or merely any changes to be vanished or flooded a way.

Now with less Urea more fields can be served. For example, now for 1 hector Boro land total 165 Kgs of Urea is needed instead of 240 kgs. Not only that, 10-15 percent production of paddy can also be increased.

According to a International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC) around 2.8 lakh farmers saving their 30 to 35 per cent fertilizer through successful adaptation of urea deep placement (UDP), and it could produce additional 74,000 tonnes rice in storm-hit 35 upazilas Bangladesh. IFDC claims that, Application of ‘Guti’ urea could help farmers cut use of fertilizer by up to one-third increasing agricultural productivity by nearly 25 per cent.

Besides, use of urea fertilizer in the form of Guti (granule) can also save more than 43 million cubic meters of gas a year for production of fertilizer. The farmers will be able to reduce use of fertilizer by 20 to 30 per cent if they use Guti urea instead of normal urea. And application of Guti urea can also increase the crop output by 20 to 25 per cent

At present, our country has a huge demand of urea. Although it demands almost 28 lacks tons but it can only produces 9-10 lakhs ton per year and rest 15-16 lakhs ton

urea is to be imported from aboard. Almost all urea is used in the paddy production. By applying Guti urea in the paddy field, it is possible to reduce the cost of import.

Urea fertilizer is not available as Guti or granular; it is available in cereal size. To make the Guti a machine is needed. The machine of Guti Urea is costly. So it is tough to purchase for a normal farmer. Community based approach can be effective to solve the problem.

One of the main corps in Bhola is Boru paddy. So demand of Urea is huge here. To promote the Guti Urea technology COAST has taken an initiative. We have been providing knowledge of advantages of using Guti Urea.

Recently we have encouraged local farmers to purchase the Guti Urea machine. We had sent one farmer to Dhamrai (Dhaka) for visiting the Guti Urea project of Sojag foundation (an NGO) for getting knowledge. After the visit he have discussed with his colleagues of Adorasho Krisok Somite (Ideal Farmers Cooperative Societies) at Halk Bazaar near Charafassion upzilla of Bhola district.

Bangladesh government is providing Guti Urea machine to farmers in a subsidized price. COAST established linkages among the farmers’ groups and the local agriculture department of Bangladesh government. So far, 13 farmers group have got that machine. With these machines about 6000 farmers are being benefited.

About 47.5 per cent of the total labour power are engaged with this sector. But contribu-tion of agriculture to the na-tional Gross Domestic Production (GDP) is decreasing. Bangla-desh Economic Review of 2015 reveals that, contribution of agriculture to the total GDP in 2014-15 was only 15.9 per cent, it was 16.50 per cent in 2013-14, 16.78 per cent in 2012- 13, 18.01 per cent in 2011-12. Agriculture used to contribute about half of the total GDP, in 1980- 81 it contributed 33.07 per cent of the GDP. Population is increasing day by day here; on the other hand cultivable land is decreasing. As a result

modern technologies are being adopted for ensuring more production. Some of these technologies have brought posi-tive results while some have brought negative also. Some technologies have turned as serious threat to our biodiversity and environment. There are some eco-friendly modern technologies which can increase our agricultural pro-duction

without any harm. COAST Trust is trying to promote some of these technologies in its working area,. COAST is spending about BDT 10 million per year for this development initiative.

There are 20 field staff who are working directly with the farmers for promoting the technol-ogies and So far, about 6000 farmers have been brought under different COAST agriculture services.

Fighting Climate Change: Enhancing Communities’ skills to face the challenge of Climate Change

Please contact

COAST TrustHouse 13, Road 2, Shyamoli, Dhaka, Bangladesh.email: info@coastbd.net, reza.coast@gmail.com Website: www.coastbd.net