Overcoming barriers to adapt rice farming to recurring flash floods in haor wetlands of Bangladesh

Climate change resultant hazards have become a major threat to farming, food production systems and agricultural sustainability globally. Like many other countries, Bangladesh is also the prey of climate change extremities. Haor wetlands of this country, a major rice growing area, are subjected to extreme climate tremors where millions of inhabitants lose their boro rice production due to recurring flash flood events. This study examined the barriers to adapt rice farming to recurring flash floods in the haor wetlands of Bangladesh. The ways of overcoming barriers to adapt rice farming to recurring flash floods in the haor wetlands of Bangladesh were also explored during the research work. The research was conducted in the Sunamganj district of Bangladesh and data was collected through a mixed-method approach. A survey was conducted with 115 haor farmers and FGD and key informant interviews were conducted with 32 and 4 respondents respectively. The results showed that the lack of availability of submergence tolerant variety (a rice variety that can survive and continue growing after being completely submerged in water for several days) is the major barrier to farmers' adaptation to flooding events followed by limited market access and lack of access to inputs. A total of 85% of respondents reported encountering moderate to severe barriers to adapt to flash flooding. Besides, some socio-economic traits, including annual family income, extension media exposure, and perception on climate change have been identified to be influencing farmers' adaptation behaviour to adapt their rice farming system to recurring flash flood events. This study elaborated pathways and suggested policy recommendations to adapt to flash flooding and to ensure sustainability in the agricultural system in the haor wetlands of Bangladesh.