Floating vegetables cultivation

Floating vegetables cultivation is a new innovation in agricultural development field. In the rainy season some areas of Jamalpur district,Bangladesh are flooded by rainy water that’s why our beneficiaries cannot grow vegetables in the rainy season. So in the rainy season the beneficiaries cannot take enough vegetables according to their needs. On the other hand our beneficiaries have no cultivable land where they can cultivate different types of vegetables according to their needs. There are some fallow ditch and river in the region where our beneficiaries can easily use for floating vegetables cultivation. Considering whole matter Intercooperation-Bangladesh initiated and implemented the floating vegetables cultivation technology at the field level. After cultivation of vegetables, beneficiaries are using the decomposed floating bed as organic fertilizer for reducing the uses of chemical fertilizers. Beneficiaries are producing seedlings of different crops on floating bed and they are minimizing cropping season in the rainy season when the main land goes under water. Some of our beneficiaries have been sold their floating bed as organic fertilizer those who have no cultivable land. Actually this technology is addressing their vegetables need and increasing their land holding capacity.

Objectives:

      To increase food intake of poor and extreme poor households.

      To ensure nutrition security of poor and extreme poor households.

      To increase land holding capacity of poor and extreme poor households.

      To generate income of poor and extreme poor households.

      To cultivate year round vegetables of poor and extreme poor households.

Advantages of floating vegetables cultivation:

      This cultivation technology is very much useful to cultivate short 
   duration vegetables.

      Vegetables produced in floating bed are testy and fresh than main 
    land produced vegetables due to less number of disease pest infestations.

      Total production is increased.

      Low cost technology because of availability of water hyacinth and it 
   grows naturally.

      Production cost is very much low because it is not needed to use chemical fertilizer and pesticide.

      Poor and Extreme poor households can mitigate their vegetables requirement according to needs.

     Poor and Extreme poor households can earn additional money by selling the additional vegetables 
   after consumption.

      Beneficiaries can earn additional money by selling the floating bed as organic fertilizer.

      Effective use of water hyacinth which helps to keep the environment sound.

      Beneficiaries can mitigate their organic fertilizer requirement to produce other crops in main land 
   those who have cultivable land.

      There is no pesticide requirement, that’s why it is environment friendly.

Preparation methods:

Time: Beginning of rainy season (Ashar-Srabon/May-June).

Crops:

Vegetables: Red amaranth, Amaranth, Kang Kong, Indian spinach, spinach etc.

Seedling production: Rice, Bottle gourd, Sweet gourd, Country bean, Indian spinach, Tomato, Brinjal, Cauliflower, Cabbage etc.

Size: Long – 15ft, Width – 6ft and height – 4.5ft.

Materials for bed preparation: Long sized water hyacinths are suitable to build the floating bed and it remains useable for long time.

Bed preparation methods

 

    To set an optimum size long bamboo on floating water hyacinth.

    The water hyacinth One person stands upon the bamboo and set sequentially according to expected size.

    Need to be compact the bed by using pressure of leg.

    After preparing the bed the bamboo remove from under the bed.

    Bed need to be thick for better cultivation.

    Needed 20-25 days to decompose the bed.

    For better and quick decomposition of bed need to broadcast some urea on the bed.     

Seed Sowing and seedling transplanting technique:

Direct sowing: After decomposition of the bed beneficiaries broadcast their seed on the bed directly and they make 1-1.5 inch layer by decomposed water hyacinth. Some vegetables seeds are too small like red amaranth, amaranth; Kang Kong etc. are sowed directly because there is no scope to produce seedling
. 

Seedling transplanting: 

      Need to be prepared ball by decomposed water hyacinth.

      Need to be extract excess water from the ball by hand pressure.

      Put the expected seed into the ball.

      At least two seed put into a ball.

      Need to be watering when the ball is dry.

   After germination of seed need to be established the ball on the floating bed according to planting distance

Costs benefit analysis of 7 beds:

Name of beneficiaries: Monowara Begum      Village: Puthiarpar      Upazila: Sharishabari, Bangladesh

No. of bed	Total cost of production		Vegetables		Organic fertilizer		Total income (TK)	Profit (TK)
	Items	Price (TK)	Production (Kg)	Price (TK)	Production (bed)	Price (TK)
7 nos.	Bamboo	350	215	1720	7	1400	3120	2350
	Seed	420
	Labor	Own
Total		770	215	1720	7	1400	3120	2350

Challenge faced:

      First time farmers were not interested.

      First time neighbor farmers made fun.

      Unavailable water hyacinth at community level.

      Farmers didn’t prepare according to instruction.

      Floating bed was prepared lately.

Future opportunities:

      Now involved farmers are interested to continue the technology.

      Additional neighbor farmers are interested to involve with the technology after observing practically.

      DAE is interested to expand the technology.

      This technology will be helpful to intake vegetables in rainy season when main land goes under flood water.

      Increase land holding capacity of extreme poor households.