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Mending Asia’s broken rice bowls
Sunday, 2018/03/25 | 07:07:31
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Rice Today – March 19 2018 Douglas J. Merrey and Nathan C. Russell
Fishing in a Mekong Delta rice field in Vietnam. (Photo: WARECOD)
A decade of research demonstrates that “citizen science” has a major role to play in curbing ecosystem threats to the Ganges and Mekong River deltas.
Rich in natural resources, including fertile land, abundant water, and a wealth of biodiversity, coastal deltas across the tropics serve many nations as “breadbaskets” or “rice bowls.” Such is the case for Asia’s Ganges and Mekong River deltas, two of the world’s largest. Providing livelihoods for rural people, they also produce nutritious food (rice, fruit, fish, and shrimp) for hundreds of millions of consumers.
Deltas under pressure
The growing pressures have resulted to a large extent from human activities. So, in theory, it should be possible to curb or reverse the threats through concerted action. This is the thinking that prompted CGIAR researchers to embark over a decade ago on a search for solutions in partnership with national research institutes and nongovernment organizations in the Ganges and Mekong deltas. Their collaboration gave rise to efforts that today form part of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE), which is led by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
A key conclusion of WLE research is that “citizen science” can be highly effective for testing and implementing management solutions that markedly improve ecosystem services in these deltas. This approach has proved especially useful for creating new market opportunities that appeal to young women and men. It works best when forming part of a wider effort to strengthen local resource management institutions.
Engineering is not enough
In Vietnam, drainage projects and rehabilitation of irrigation systems, combined with policy innovations and increased fertilizer use, enabled many farmers to grow three rice crops per year—a practice that is now becoming ecologically unsustainable, however. The construction of 139 polders in Bangladesh’s coastal zone, in contrast, yielded less striking results. With flooding still a constant threat, agricultural production is far lower there than elsewhere in the country, partly because farmers grow tall traditional rice varieties in systems that also include the production of vegetables, shrimp, and fish in different combinations of fresh and brackish water.
In both countries, sustaining more intensive production will become increasingly difficult as climate change ramps up the pressure on the deltas’ complex and fragile ecosystems. Droughts and floods, for example, have already become more common and severe. In many cases, water infrastructure no longer gives adequate protection against problems such as rising sea levels and salinization of agricultural lands.
The main reason is that dam construction upstream has altered water flows and sedimentation, an effect amplified by the Bangladesh polders themselves, which are often poorly maintained and managed. One key indicator of the resulting environmental damage in both deltas is a sharp decline in fish catches, which robs the poorest households of their main protein source.
In response, the infrastructure in place urgently requires renewal. But, there is mounting evidence that engineering solutions alone will not stabilize delta ecosystems. Changes in agricultural production systems offer a more viable development pathway. But, how to bring about such changes? Although the solutions vary between Bangladesh and Vietnam, both contain a strong dose of citizen science.
See more: http://ricetoday.irri.org/mending-asias-broken-rice-bowls/ |
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