Lowland areas in Bangladesh go underwater during annual monsoon rainfalls. Rural area of Pirojpur district is one of the affected areas suffering from seasonal floods every year. People in this area following an ingenious system of farming on floating-bed made from water hyacinth plants.
This technique enabled them to grow vegetables, flowers, and seedlings and earn in an extremely adverse situation free of chemical fertilizer without causing any harm to nature. This is a clear demonstration of sustainable solutions that can be replicated in other similar areas to ensure food safety and sustainability.
Bangladesh’s ancient process is centred much more on the unpredictable weather patterns induced by climate change. Traditionally, farmers will construct a floating platform of greenery, such as water hyacinths, several feet into the water to create a base. This floating garden is then used to plant vegetables without the need for soil, creating conditions that adapt to even the rainiest of seasons. It’s a group effort where family members and friends get stuck in to create these impressive structures that have the potential to be more than 50 metres long. Rafts like this can provide families and businesses with aubergines, okra, gourds, spinach, along with many herbs and spices. It’s an important resource of physical and financial sustenance that researchers at the University of Ohio think other countries could turn to in the face of rising sea levels. "We are focused here on adaptive change for people who are victims of climate change, but who did not cause climate change," says Craig Jenkins, a co-author of the study and professor at The Ohio State University.
