Country's irrigation-dependent cultivation should be reduced

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To pave the way for sustainable agriculture free from arsenic contamination, the country's irrigation (deep tube-well) dependent cultivation should be reduced to a minimum through encouraging production of traditional eco-agricultural crops that can protect nature from over-exploitation, agriculture experts said, reports UNB.
They also said that nature was being seriously exploited for producing some species of paddy, which need lots of groundwater, and cultivation of such crops should be avoided immediately.
"At least 2,000 litres of water is needed to produce just one kilogram of rice (paddy) whose price is nowhere near the price of the water. Nature has to give the subsidy for the abnormal price difference," an agriculture scientist said.
Dr Mohammad Ataur Rahman, coordinator, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF)- Bangladesh, based in IUBAT-International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, said it could not be acceptable that natural resources continue to be overexploited in such a manner by the human beings.
"Withdrawal of underground water for such irrigation is causing serious water crisis in rural areas and the underground water level is going down every year." Prof Dr Mohammad Ataur Rahman said that irrigation (deep tube-well) destroys crop diversity, especially the low water demanding crops like many varieties of rice, millets, cereals, peas, grams and pulses.
Suggesting the right crop for right habitat, he said there are so many varieties and species, which are tolerant in different climatic conditions, soils and topography.
For example, many varieties of rice (Aus) and millets grow well in dry weather condition but some are water demanding and prefers wet condition. "Some crops are shade loving, some are partial but some requires long sunny hours," he said, adding that farmers need to know which crops grow in what condition and also about their (crops) interrelationship among themselves and with other species.
"Therefore, we should know the use practices and the ideal conditions for growing crops and we must bring more species under cropping culture to save biodiversity and to maximise the use of land and productivity," Dr Rahman said.