Salinity impedes crop production in coastal belt: Experts
Friday, 28 May 2010
Our Correspondent
CHITTAGONG, May 27: Speakers at a workshop said that a huge extent of agricultural land of Bangladesh is under threat of vulnerabilities of the climate change and crop production is declining rapidly.
Coastal agriculture sector, in particular, is being affected by different levels of vulnerabilities caused by integrated effect of soil salinity, water salinity, sea level rise, tidal surge, water logging, cyclone and flood.
Abdur Rahaman Rana, an environment researcher, presented the keynote paper on impact of salinity on agriculture in the workshop organised by Sonali, a local NGO, at a hotel in the city today.
ADC of Chittagong Khaled Mamun Chowdhury, Chittagong University (CU) teacher Gazi Saleh Uddin, chief scientific officer of BRRI Monoranjan Dhar, senior scientific officer of soil science development Mir Sahabuddin and a lecturer of soil science of CU addressed in the workshop.
They said salinity is a major factor that impedes the crop production at large in the coal belt that covers about 20 per cent of the country's total area of 147,570 square kilometres and over 30 per cent of the net cultivable area.
Water salinity and soil salinity are two common hazards in many parts of the coastal zone that cause unfavourable environment and hydrological situation restricting normal crop production throughout the year, said AR Rana in his paper.
"The factors that contribute significantly to the development of salinity in soils are tidal flooding during wet season (June-October) and direct inundation by brackish water and upward movement of saline ground water during dry season (November-May)," he said.
CHITTAGONG, May 27: Speakers at a workshop said that a huge extent of agricultural land of Bangladesh is under threat of vulnerabilities of the climate change and crop production is declining rapidly.
Coastal agriculture sector, in particular, is being affected by different levels of vulnerabilities caused by integrated effect of soil salinity, water salinity, sea level rise, tidal surge, water logging, cyclone and flood.
Abdur Rahaman Rana, an environment researcher, presented the keynote paper on impact of salinity on agriculture in the workshop organised by Sonali, a local NGO, at a hotel in the city today.
ADC of Chittagong Khaled Mamun Chowdhury, Chittagong University (CU) teacher Gazi Saleh Uddin, chief scientific officer of BRRI Monoranjan Dhar, senior scientific officer of soil science development Mir Sahabuddin and a lecturer of soil science of CU addressed in the workshop.
They said salinity is a major factor that impedes the crop production at large in the coal belt that covers about 20 per cent of the country's total area of 147,570 square kilometres and over 30 per cent of the net cultivable area.
Water salinity and soil salinity are two common hazards in many parts of the coastal zone that cause unfavourable environment and hydrological situation restricting normal crop production throughout the year, said AR Rana in his paper.
"The factors that contribute significantly to the development of salinity in soils are tidal flooding during wet season (June-October) and direct inundation by brackish water and upward movement of saline ground water during dry season (November-May)," he said.