Bangladesh faces increasing vulnerability in coastal agriculture due to climate extremes, including intensified flooding, cyclones, and soil salinity, which threaten food security. Embracing climate-resilient farming practices is crucial to safeguarding farmer livelihoods and maintaining a stable food supply in the face of these challenges. Cultivation of salt-tolerant crops with efficient irrigation methods is practiced by farmers to adapt agriculture to changing conditions. However, adoption remains uneven, indicating a need for more robust support to expand these practices across the country’s most at-risk areas.
Similar to its Indian counterpart, the Sundarban of Bangladesh is grappling with escalating climate pressures such as rising sea levels, irregular rainfall trends, and more frequent, intense cyclones, all of which threaten the agricultural stability of low-lying districts like Bagerhat, Satkhira, and Khulna.
Disasters such as Sidr, Aila, and Amphan have inflicted widespread destruction, uprooted communities, and devastated farmland, placing immense strain on conventional cultivation practices. In response, building resilience in agriculture has emerged as a priority.
Farmers are increasingly turning to salt-resilient rice varieties like BRRI dhan-47, BRRI dhan-67, and BINA dhan-8; aquaculture systems suited to brackish water environments; and mixed farming approaches integrating paddy, fishery, and livestock.
Still, progress remains limited and knowledge gaps among cultivators coping with salinity, poor infrastructure for water flow management, and weak institutional outreach continue to hinder widespread adoption.
Government extension programs see low engagement, and technology transfer has been inconsistent.
A strengthened policy framework, improved access to climate-adapted resources, and grassroots-level adaptive strategies are urgently needed to ensure that this ecologically critical mangrove region can withstand ongoing and future climate stresses.
