Irrigation Practices under Boro Rice Cultivation in Haor Areas of Sunamganj, Bangladesh

Abstract

A field study was conducted in the ‘haor’ areas of Sunamgonj district, Bangladesh, aimed to investigate the present irrigation practices to identify the related problems for ‘Boro’ rice cultivation. The primary field data were collected by interviewing 120 farmers (landless, small, medium, and large farmers) through survey. Most of the farmers used ‘beel’ (37.5%) as the main source of irrigation water. As water-lifting devices, they mostly used Low Lift Pumps (77.5%). The cost of irrigation was observed the lowest at Derai [Tk. 12,232 ($ 146.784) per season] and the highest was at Dakshin Sunamganj [Tk. 46109 ($ 553.31) per season], respectively. The highest benefit-cost ratio (BCR) was observed at Derai (2.48) and the lowest was at Dowarabazar (2.01). The financial problem, less water supply, lack of irrigation equipment, and knowledge about operating the equipment were identified as the main problems suffered by the farmers. These problems can be solved by distributing irrigation equipments at a reasonable price, and arranging training programs to develop the farmers’ skills.