Use of Water Hyacinth for Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture in Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is a land of wetland, and the country’s main livelihood option is agriculture. Due to climate change, agriculture is being interfered with because of different diverse situations. The agriculture here is mostly rainfed and uses available resources to meet the farming requirements. Water Hyacinth (Pontederia crassipes) has a wide range of uses in agriculture, like, cultivation in floating bed, mulching, germinating seeds, and dividing lands, etc. The use pattern is very much localized. The community is using those traditional farming practices as adaptation technology since climate change vulnerabilities are increasing. The development intervention also amplifies the use spectrum. Findings of 25 consultations with communities country-wide, conducted between June 2019 to January 2020, stated that the water hyacinth could be a good option in climate adaptation action in agriculture. It was found that the techniques also have a number of forms based on geo-cultural character. The water hyacinth is used to cope with floods, water logging, drought and salinity. The study also found that the transformation of the technologies is not that significant to adapt to the local ecosystem. The promotion of local knowledge and technologies needs proper documentation and adoption while introducing a new ecosystem. Since water hyacinth-based farming technologies are low-cost and affordable by the farmers and national policies are committed to climate change adaptation, promotion of this technology needs to be locally adopted. Following the national climate adaptation strategies, the use patterns and technologies of water-hyacinth must be local ecosystem specific in a way that it will not interfere the environmental wellbeing and also strengthen the practice of indigenous knowledge. Knowledge management is also a requirement of climate adaptation technology promotion.