<i>Back to rice farming after 25yrs</i>

This paddy field was once a shrimp enclosure. The farmers are returning to paddy cultivation as they realise that shrimp enclosures have been ruining the soil and damaging the environment. Photo: STAR

Thousands of farmers in three upazilas of Khulna district have decided to turn their backs on shrimp cultivation, choosing instead to return to farming on their croplands to live a more sustainable life.
They are keen to return to their way of life lived 25 years ago, happy to grow rice and vegetables to support their families.
Many farmers have united to protect their lands from the saline water used for shrimp cultivation that has led to huge damage to the environment and biodiversity of the area, and especially the fertility of soil.
Statistics from the department of agriculture extension of the district show that this year farmers in Dakop upazila have brought 1,260 hectares of land under Boro cultivation from the 13,395 hectares used over the years for shrimp farming.
Farmers in Paikgachcha have brought 4,395 hectares of land under Boro cultivation while in Batiaghata upazila Boro has been planted on 4,045 hectares.
The agriculture officer of Dakop upazila, Kazi Anisuzzaman, said crops over around 500 hectares of land were badly damaged due to the salinity in water while overall production was not satisfactory as saline water has been let in the fields for too long.
During visits to Kalinagar, Sharabad, Joynagar and Satgharia villages in Dakop upazila and Deluti and Lata unions under Paikgachha upazila, farmers talked to this correspondent about the environmental damage caused due to shrimp cultivation and why they are saying not to it now.
Farmers explained that as shrimp cultivators brought in saline water from the sea through canals into the shrimp enclosures, the salt has seeped into the local ecosystem meaning the soil, groundwater and even the ponds of the area. The fertilisers and other chemicals used in these enclosures have also seeped into the water system.
As a result, there is now an acute scarcity of safe drinking water in the entire area, the children are often sick and the soil has lost most of its fertility. Even rearing domestic animals has become impossible.
Shyamol Kanti, 55, a farmer in Kamarkhola village of the upazila, told The Daily Star, "I have been cultivating Bagda shrimp for 20 years now, but today find myself in a situation where I don't even have sufficient food to live on. My children can't go to school, they constantly suffer from diarrhoea and dysentery. The saline water in the area means we cannot grow vegetables. Even the domestic animals have no grass to live on."
"The gher owners have used lime and other kinds of fertilisers to cultivate shrimp which has caused serious damage to our soil," he said.
"Twenty years ago, I used to cultivate paddy over 53 bighas of cropland and I could harvest 15 to 20 maunds of paddy from each bigha. I had a herd of 40 cattle, including dairy and beef cattle. In the early 80s, I was lured by some shrimp traders into leasing my croplands for shrimp cultivation to make more money. It was a huge mistake as now I don't even have sufficient drinking water," Kanti said.
Also, many farmers point out that though the shrimp cultivators have made huge profits from the trade, they have not compensated the farmers even according to the contracts.
Shukriti Mohon Sarkar, a teacher of Alokdip High School in Paikgachha upazila, said, "As a result of Leasing our land for shrimp cultivation, some influential people in the area have become richer but small farmers have become poorer as gher (shrimp enclosure) owners have gradually grabbed their lands in the name of cultivation. Some didn't even make the payments they promised on leased deeds," he said.
Tushar Kanti, 45, of Madhukhali village of Paikgachha upazila said, "Shrimp gher owners provided Tk 800 to Tk 1000 per bigha for a year but if I cultivate paddy, I can easily harvest 15 to 20 maund paddy a season per bigha which would ensure food security for my family."
Shahabuddin Gazi, 50, of Kalinagar village under Dakop upazila, has already bid goodbye to shrimp cultivation. He said, " I cultivated Boro paddy on five bigha this year. I harvested three maunds from each bigha and am expecting more next year if I can stop saline water from entering my land completely."
Shrimp traders however blame other problems behind the farmer's growing animosity towards shrimp cultivation.
Shafiqul Gazi, 48, a trader said, "Local farmers engaged in shrimp cultivation over the years are now losing interest in the business after having experienced huge loss due to viral infections of the fish."
The President of the Shrimp Cultivation Association Rafiqul Haque dismissed the discontent of the farmers as a conspiracy by outsiders.
"The anti-saline water movement is a conspiracy by some local and international NGOs to destroy the shrimp industry of the country which earns huge foreign exchange through exports. Around 11 lakh people are directly or indirectly dependent on this industry to earn their livelihoods," says the businessman who is the owner of a shrimp enclosure at Kamarkhola village in Dakop upazila
"We have an integrated committee named Shrimp Resources Development and Management Committee comprised of members from different organisations, including the forest, environment, land and livestock departments. So there is no question of environmental degradation as all of our decisions are made through this committee," he said.
Leaders of Dakop Upazila Nagorik Parishad, a group campaigning against saline water in Dakop, and Laban Jal Birodhi Krishi O Paribesh Sanrakkhan Committee (Anti-saline Water, Agriculture and Environment Protection Committee) in Paikgachcha claim that as a result of their vigorous anti-saline water campaign in the area over the last four or five years, today farmers are united against the problem.
Mohosin Ali, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Dakop upazila, said, "For two or three years now, local farmers have been demonstrating against saline water. This year, almost all the farmers are united and so enclosure owners could not channel in any saline water to their ghers.”
"As per government policy, at least 86 percent of the people in an area need to support the issue before any permits are given for shrimp cultivation in the area. So far we haven't received such support from the upazila so, no new shrimp enclosures were given permits for cultivation this year," he said.
Kazi Anisuzzaman said, "If we are able to block saline water, we can easily cultivate paddy and vegetables here," he said.
"The situation will not change overnight as saline water has been stored in these fields for many years now. It is necessary to store rainwater around the enclosures for one to two years to reduce the salinity gradually and prepare the land for paddy and vegetable cultivation."