@article{Kabir:202981,
      recid = {202981},
      author = {Kabir, Md. Jahangir and Cramb, Rob and Alauddin, Mohammad},
      title = {Farming Adaptation to Environmental Change in Coastal  Bangladesh: Shrimp Culture versus Crop Diversification},
      address = {2015-02},
      number = {426-2016-27244},
      pages = {32},
      year = {2015},
      abstract = {Farming in coastal Bangladesh includes rice/shrimp and  rice/non-rice cropping systems. The former has been highly  profitable but has exacerbated salinization of soil and  water. We evaluate the relative profitability, riskiness,  and sustainability of the two cropping systems, using data  from two coastal villages in Khulna District. Shrimp  cultivation was initially very rewarding. However, over  12-15 years the cropping system experienced declining  profitability, increased salinity, and adverse impacts on  rice cropping and the local environment. From 2009, farmers  adapted the system by changing the pond (gher)  infrastructure, adopting delayed planting of a  saline-tolerant rice cultivar, flushing out accumulated  salt with freshwater during rice cropping, and allowing the  soil to dry out after harvesting rice. The budgeting  results show that, with current management practices, the  rice/shrimp system is economically more viable (higher  returns to land and labour and less risky) than the  rice/non-rice system. Soil analyses showed that, while  salinity was higher in the gher during the dry season, it  was significantly reduced in the wet season and was very  similar between the two systems (1-2 dS/m). Hence, as well  as being more profitable and less risky, the rice/shrimp  system may well be more sustainable than previously  observed.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/202981},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.202981},
}