Saline water in the Aila affected areas hampers rice production, leaving the farmers frustrated. Photo: STAR

I recently visited the southern belt of Bangladesh, the Aila affected regions, to film the recent farming developments there. The heat was extreme and I could easily notice that I have never felt this much heat on the field. I wanted to learn about people's access to safe drinking water and salinity on the crops, and specially wanted to find how rice production and farmers are being affected. I went to Shyamnagar in Satkhira. When almost the whole of Bangladesh is filled with crops on farmlands, here I saw the opposite - landscape of barren lands, hundreds of bighas of barren lands.
Salinity has caused this severity. But the mother of this rising salinity is climate change. It was impossible to stand on the rice field where there was nothing - no crops, no sign of greenery. I was planning to move to another field, when some farmers came forward to meet me.
“We can't farm anymore as the salinity is too high in soil and water”, said one farmer.  “The situation has made our survival impossible”, said another farmer.

Global warming has made disaster prone areas even more vulnerable. High temperatures greater than 35 degrees Celsius during the reproductive stages reduces rice production will hamper yield as rice flowers becoming sterile in high temperatures. The result is output of less grain or no grain at all. Higher night temperatures during the ripening stage also decrease rice yield and grain quality. Even at the vegetative growth stage, heat stress can causes leaf yellowing and accelerated development, leading to low yield potential in sensitive rice varieties. Both yield and grain qualities are adversely affected at the flowering and ripening stages of rice plants. A research of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) indicated that temperature of one degree Celsius rise in night time may reduce rice yields by as much as 10%.
It's very difficult comprehending the agony that has spread over these lands - it's even more difficult to explain how badly salinity has shattered the lives of these rural southern people whose lives were dependent entirely on farming. Some of them told us that there is a nearby reservoir of water but that only has extreme saline water with which nothing can be produced, forget about drinking! It reminded me of the great poem by S.T. Coleridge, 'The Rime of Ancient Mariner',

'Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.'

As a result of climate change, rice yield will decrease by 15% in developing countries by 2050 and consequently rice prices will increase by 12%. Impact of climate change on rice production is negative. As rice is cultivated in low lying areas, the rising of sea levels would make rice production vulnerable to climate change. I planned to look for other places where we could at least find some green lands. On my way, I saw a crowd and stopped there for a while. People were standing in a spot with water carriers of different types- here they have a house water tap which gives them underground water, filtered as safe drinking water.
“Is this healthy for you?” I asked. “We have to preserve this water at home for one day and then we can drink it”, said a farmer. There is foul smell in the water and by drinking this, people are suffering from various diseases. The lives of these people are so tough that finding a good solution seemed impossible. I could easily understand it would be really difficult to find any arable green land around this region, if it at all exists in the region.
After being severely massacred by Aila in May 2009, farmers of the South could not harvest anything because of high salinity intrusion in their crop lands. Farm households in coastal-belts are now ultra-poor and not unable to feed themselves properly. These are mostly subsistence farmers living in coastal areas. Once salinity strikes, they can no longer grow food in coastal areas and thus they can't afford to buy food either.
Climate experts already pointed out that sea level rise will cause the country's landscape to become barren. In terms of the impact of climate change, Bangladesh is the most vulnerable country in South Asia. With higher sea level, more areas would be affected by cyclone surges while inland fresh water lakes, ponds and aquifers could also be affected by saline water intrusion.
There are some saline tolerant varieties of rice which has lost its strength and some are gaining new strength, say experts. Finally we started getting good news. Binadhan-8 and 10 have showed very good performance, says the local agriculture authority. But we need to keep on working on inventing the right varieties focused on saline tolerance. Massive programs are needed in the next Boro season on these newly developed salt-tolerant rice varieties in the coastal area. In this connection, seeds of these salt tolerant rice varieties need to be collected immediately from the current Boro season, otherwise seeds will not be available later.

In the end, I found hope from a man named S M Abdul Wahab, who approached me and told me that his organization 'Shushilon' has found freshwater, 240 feet below the ground. They have already ensured safe drinking water at the Harinagar village in Shyamnagar for 200 families. He hopes that by next year, his organization would be able to ensure safe drinking water for 2000 families. I felt so hopeful that there are some people helping others in the area and there are ways to find solutions. The right policy invention at the field level is key to saving these people. The future of Bangladesh lies in the hands of these poor farmers, for they are the spine of our economy and the guardian of our food security.