Innovation platforms and learning centres are helping
farmers in northern Bangladesh to protect their crops from insects and other
pests – and improving the lives of women.
These facilities are
part of the Sustainable Development Investment Portfolio, a collaboration
between the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade that aims to
increase water, food and energy security in South Asia.
The first phase is the Sustainable and Resilient Farming Systems Intensification a four-year project that aims to
reduce poverty in the Eastern
Gangetic Plains (EGP) of Bangladesh, India and Nepal by helping small farmers.
Around 300 million people
live in the Eastern Gangetic Plains, which have the world’s highest
concentration of rural poverty and depend on agriculture for food security and
livelihoods. The region could become a major
contributor to South Asian regional food security, but rice and wheat
productivity remain low and diversification is limited because of poorly
developed markets, sparse agricultural knowledge and service networks, and
inadequate development of available water resources and sustainable production
practices.
In the northern
Bangladeshi districts of Rangpur and Dinajpur, ACIAR and the International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Center (CIMMYT), based in Nepal, are working with the Bangladeshi
government and others to provide funds and technical support to local farmers.
Dr John Dixon, ACIAR’s
Principal Advisor for the Cropping Systems and
Economics (ECE) program, said: ‘That
project in the first four years has made remarkable progress.’
Innovation platforms supply technology, input and farm
machinery directly to poor and marginal farmers. These platforms are learning platforms for farmers’ extension, the
private sector and researchers to learn from each other.
‘They foster sharing,’
Dr Dixon explains. ‘That learning environment helps to
fine-tune research, to initiate scaling out processes, and to build capacity
for farmers.’
Those innovation platforms
have been adapted to local circumstances across 40 hubs in the three countries. Now they are considered a one-stop service, and a common service model
ensures that the platforms deliver services farmers need.
Dr Dixon said:
‘They’ve seen quite a
remarkable increase in yields, and an even more remarkable savings of energy
and water.’
The project is also
introducing conservation agriculture, which uses zero till drills to plant
directly into unexplored ground or straw from a previous crop, without having
to plough. This reduces the drudgery for women doing this work.
‘Women,’ Dr Dixon
says, ‘are the mainstay of crop production and livestock management. They work more hours per day than men across
India. By reducing ploughing and
improving crop productivity, we’re increasing family income and women’s income,
and reducing their labour burden.’
Agricultural
Community Clinic and Information Centres have been established in Mohonpur,
Birganj, and Dinajpur. Farmers can learn
which crops to plant and how to control diseases, pests and weeds. This model is very successful and the project
aims to disseminate it to other areas.
Read more:
Our project page:
Our publication
'Experiencing and coping with change: women-headed farming households in the Eastern Gangetic Plains http://aciar.gov.au/files/tr_83_web.pdf
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