Floating Agriculture- A Crop Production System
Bangladesh is an agricultural country and 80% of the people of this country are dependent on agriculture. One of the traditions of the agricultural system of this country is floating garden.Today I will try to discuss this with ideas. It is a method of crop production which is basically done with water hyacinth. Although many people in our country have no idea about floating gardens, they have been cultivating vegetables in Pirojpur, Barisal and Gopalganj districts of southern Bangladesh in this system for a long time. Floating vegetable cultivation has enriched crop production opportunities for the poor population of waterlogged areas and flood-prone areas.
How is a floating garden basically made ?
To do this, make a bed at the beginning and choose a place where there is plenty of water hyacinth and at least 3 handfuls of water
- Bamboo should be used as the base for making the bed.
- Water hyacinth beds should be made on bamboo.
- Soil and organic manure should be mixed as planting medium.
- Suitable seedlings should be planted in the mixture of bed soil and fertilizer.
- The bed should be allowed to grow on the surface with low current and the seedlings should be taken care of properly as it grows
What type of vegetables can be cultivated in a floating garden?
Basically two rows of vegetables are grown in this bed. Mainly summer vegetables such as Okra,ribbed gourd,Indian spinach,brinjal,cucumber,red amaranths and turmeric, chilli spices are cultivated in this garden. In addition to this, cowpea can also be cultivated in the vertical system by tying bamboo and rope on the bed.This floating method is environmentally friendly and inexpensive. Since it is predominant in waterlogged areas, it can be said that for a country like Bangladesh, where the amount of land is decreasing and the amount of water is increasing,floating agriculture is the future by increasing the growing capacity of the agricultural sector. Thus the overall crop production will be increased by the floating agricultural system which will play a important role in the food and nutrition security of the country in the changing climatic conditions.
