Prospects for agriculture under climate change and soil salinisation

Abstract

Agriculture is the largest and most important provisioning ecosystem in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna delta and is significantly affected by levels of soil and water salinity. Model-based assessment using both soil moisture and salt balance models indicate that whilst monsoon rains supply adequate water to grow a main season rice crop, agricultural diversity is currently constrained by the limited availability of good quality irrigation water in the dry season. There is a tipping point of water salinity around four parts per thousand beyond which soil salinity accumulates. Although the development of soil salinity is an environmental process, soil salinisation is closely linked to farmers’ behaviour and land use practices. It is also closely associated with the decline in other ecosystem services associated with water regulation.