Floating Garden Agricultural Practices in Bangladesh

In the wetlands of southern Bangladesh (parts of Gopalganj, Pirojpur and Barisal districts), local communities have had difficulties in securing farmlands to provide food and livelihoods during the monsoon season (from June to October). These areas have been repeatedly affected by cyclones, heavy rainfall, flooding, salt damage caused by sea level rise and snow melting from the Himalayas, resulting in extremely low agricultural production. Even when they manage to cultivate crops in limited farmland area, there is always a risk for the crops to be swept by flooding. Farmers cannot manage to cultivate any crops on the submerged farmlands. Farmers have developed the unique floating garden agricultural practices (locally known as “Dhap”) to rear plants and crops in nutrient supplemented water without soil.