Farm-level opportunities for increasing productivity and income in the High Barind Tract: a synthesis

This paper synthesizes recent research by two projects to develop new technology for the High Barind Tract in Bangladesh. Farmers in this complex drought prone ecosystem usually grow a single crop of transplanted aman rice. The research strategy was to expand the area that could be planted to rabi crops using residual soil moisture by introducing new technology that advanced the harvest of rice and improved yields of chickpea. Direct-seeded rice (DSR) with long-duration variety Swarna and introduced varieties of short-duration rice(SDR) gave earlier harvesting without reducing rice yields. Higher-quality seed, seed priming, and improved crop management also improved the profitability of chickpea. Because the farming system is complex, SDR and DSR should not be seen as prescriptive recommendations but as choices that allow timely rice establishment with variable monsoon rainfall. Dissemination of these technologies requires local partnerships to build a reliable supply chain to deliver knowledge and inputs to farmers.