For the first time, aubergine is growing on one and a half bighas of Tushar Mistri's fallow land in Hatiadanga, Koyra upazila, Khulna. Overcoming salinity and water shortages, a cash crop now fills his field because this year he used poly mulch technology for the first time.

Poly mulch means covering the field with poly plastic and supplying ordinary fresh water through pipes. It overcomes salinity and water shortages, reduces disease and prevents weeds, raising production.

• Sourav Bachhar of Hatiadanga has grown sunflower on 12 bighas for the first time on land that used to lie fallow all year after the Aman harvest. His neighbour Mojibur Rahman, whose land is fallow, said everyone will grow sunflower next year if Sourav's crop does well.
• In a neighbouring village, Debananda Chhana grew watermelon on five bighas with the same project's help, spending about Tk 1 lakh, and expects to earn Tk 5 lakh to Tk 6 lakh. A pond was dug on 5 decimals beside his field, and the whole five bighas are irrigated by drip irrigation using a solar pump.

The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) is implementing the project "Climate change adaptation of the Khulna agricultural region through climate-smart technology" to bring fallow land into cultivation in the coastal area. It began in July 2021 at a cost of Tk 49 crore and runs until 2024, covering 28 upazilas and two metropolitan areas in Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira and Narail.

Rising sea levels, high temperatures, storms and tidal surges push saline water into fields in several Khulna division districts, while fresh water is scarce in the dry season. A short winter and soil that does not stay moist leave most land fallow in the Rabi and Kharif seasons. Canals leased to shrimp farmers and left undredged cause floods and waterlogging in the rains, while lessees hold back water for shrimp when crops need it.

Through the project, farmers are using drip irrigation with solar pumps, poly mulch, and tower and sack methods to overcome salinity. Mini ponds are being dug on fallow land to store water for the dry season, and farmers are growing sunflower, maize, watermelon and vegetables, and in some places salt-tolerant varieties. In 2022-23, capsicum, cucumber, tomato, aubergine and chilli were expanded in six upazilas.

Project director Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni said the Khulna agricultural region has about 544,000 hectares of cultivable land, of which 66,000 hectares lie completely fallow and about 19,000 hectares are farmed only in the Aman season. In the rains the main problem is waterlogging, with salinity on top; in the dry season, people buy drinking water from plants one or two kilometres away and fields crack. So far 400 mini ponds have been dug and 300 more will follow, and supplying water by solar-powered drip irrigation is bringing success.

In Hatiadanga, he said, farmers are being introduced to poly mulch for high-value vegetables through demonstration plots and hands-on training in growing crops with little water. It allows two to three years of crops at the same cost, lower irrigation costs, weed control, soil moisture conservation, less disease and more vegetables from healthy plants.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.