Agro-Water Management Practices in Coastal Bangladesh

Salinization has been established as the prime cause of environmental degradation in the region and there is an urgency to find out a better water management practice. Four different types of agro-water management practices (AWMPs) were selected for investigation. Major soil and water quality parameters (temperature, salinity, pH, EC, TDS, DO, HCO3-, Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl-, Na+, K+, SO42-, NO3-, etc.) during the pre- and post-boro season of 2009-10 were analyzed to calculate the mean soil and water quality change indicators (MSQI, MWQI). Besides these, management parameters, such as cropping pattern, irrigation, water exchange, use of fertilizer, use of pesticide, number of years of boro cultivation, vegetation on gher dykes, etc., and economics of production were considered for evaluation of best practices among different AWMPs using multi-criteria analysis (MCA). The highest deterioration of soil quality was found in the Type-3 AWMP and the lowest in the Type-2 AWMP. In case of water quality, the order of deterioration was found to be: Type-3 AWMP > Type-4 AWMP > Type-2 AWMP > Type-1 AWMP.Type-2 AWMP got the highest total average score and appeared as the best among four types.