Impact of recent severe floods on rice production in Bangladesh

Abstract

The long-term variations of rice production in Bangladesh are examined in the latter half of the 20th century and the impact of recent severe floods is discussed. Unprecedented severe floods, which submerged nearly two thirds of the country, occurred recently in Bangladesh in 1988 and 1998, and the effects of these severe floods to rice cropping are revealed. In these severe flood years, the rainy season crop aman drastically declined in production due to the decrease of the cultivated area and yield. On the other hand, the dry season crop boro, which is planted after the flood withdrawal, increased its production much higher than that of the previous year, mainly because of utilization of the residual flood water. In terms of total annual rice production, it turns out that severe floods have even a positive effect on rice production in Bangladesh. Furthermore, rice production after these severe flood years is higher than that of the previous years, suggesting that severe floods may act as a trigger for increasing rice production level through the change of the hydrological environment and farmers' reaction to it.