Change in cropping pattern and soil health in relation to climate change and salinity in coastal Bangladesh

Being an agrarian country, crop agriculture in Bangladesh is often constrained by different climatic hazards such as floods, droughts, soil and water salinity, cyclones, and storm surges. Among these, salinity intrusion is more common in coastal Bangladesh. About 53% of the coastal region is affected by different degrees of salinity. For instance, about 203,000 ha in the southwestern area are affected very slightly, 492,000 ha slightly, 461,000 ha moderately, and 492,000 ha strongly saline. Both climatic and anthropogenic factors are responsible for causing salinity in this region. Both water and soil salinity has increased at an alarming rate during the last couple of decades. Every year it causes extensive damages to agriculture sector and affects certain crops at different levels and at critical stages of growth which ultimately reduces crop yield. To survive with this, farmers of this region change cropping pattern day by day. Despite being highly vulnerable toward climate change and salinity, very little effort has so far been made to understand potential changes of cropping pattern and soil health. With this regard, this study places emphasis on the evolution of location-specific cropping pattern and soil health toward climate change and salinity, particularly at eight upazilla in coastal Bangladesh. Hence, secondary data analyses have been done to figure out the changes of cropping pattern and soil health in this region. The results highlight that earlier farmers were using rice-based cropping pattern, which is now adapted with winter crops such as wheat, vegetables, pulses, and oil crops due to the dissemination of modern technologies and climate-resilient varieties. In addition, this study tries to relate demand-based cropping pattern of farmers that would sustain agriculture and ensure food security in future with the changeable climate scenarios.