Diversifying Rice-based Systems and Empowering Farmers in Bangladesh 187effort in rice while neglecting other crops. By introducing other crops within the
same field and managing them through an ecological approach, farmers are able to
lower their dependency on rice both as a crop and in their diet.
Throughout the year, farmers participating in the programme harvest vegeta-
bles and fish in addition to rice from their fields. They sell and consume these
products in varying proportions depending on their needs and their production.
The cost of production of these complementary crops produced in the rice field is
minimal, and rice production remains the same or possibly increases (Barzman
and Das, 2000).
Rice–Fish production
The number of farmers who produce fish in their rice fields varies from area to area
depending on the local physical characteristics of the soil and the water manage-
ment. By the end of 1998, 30 per cent of participating farmers (n = 11,383) were
experimenting with this technique, and data taken two-and-a-half years after
project intervention show that their numbers actually increase after the initial trial
phase. Farmers practising this technique dig a small ditch in the corner of the field
to provide shelter to fish that they introduce as fingerlings at the beginning of the
season. The fish find their own food within the rice field, making their mainte-
nance cost negligible. In the case of the higher valued native fish species, the main
cost of production is the purchase of fingerlings. For common carp, on the other
hand, farmers typically produce their own fingerlings.
Most of the labour in this fish production system concerns the raising of dykes
and the digging of the corner ditch. The cost of water can be considered a rice
production cost. Usually, family members take care of these complementary pro-
duction activities. In 1997, the average cost of production of fish per rice–fish plot
(n = 212) was 791 takas per year, which is equivalent to 5271 takas per hectare
(US$110). All rice–fish farmers consume a part of the harvest, and most also sell
the remainder.
In 1997, after production failures were excluded, the average annual potential
net return per farmer was 6241 takas (n = 212), which is equivalent to 53,290
takas per hectare (US$1110).^5 Some rice–fish growers make extra income and
reduce their fish production costs by producing and selling their own common
carp fingerlings during the irrigated rice season. By the end of 1998, 33 per cent
of participating farmers (n = 11,383) were doing this and obtained on average 609
takas per farmer (US$13) from their sales of fingerlings.
Rice and dyke crops
Vegetables can be grown on the dykes surrounding the rice field if these are raised
and widened. With this technique, project participants have been producing coun-
try bean, yard-long bean and a number of squash species that are planted in small
pits filled with compost. In 1998, the average potential net return from dyke crops