Sustaining rice productivity through weather-resilient agricultural practices

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Science
• Climate Science
• Food Security

Background:

• Rice production faces challenges in productivity, profitability, and climatic risk.
• Extreme weather events significantly impact crop yields and food security.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comparatively evaluate weather forecast-based advisory services (WFBAS) against farmers' usual practices (FP) in rice cultivation.
• To assess the impact of WFBAS on yield, resource management, environmental protection, and farmer income.

Main Methods:

• Comparative study of two farmer groups: WFBAS adopters and control (FP) farmers.
• WFBAS group followed weather forecast advice; FP group followed traditional methods.

Main Results:

• WFBAS farmers achieved a significant yield advantage over FP farmers.
• WFBAS facilitated judicious input use, maximized favorable weather benefits, and minimized extreme weather risks.
• WFBAS improved environmental protection through reduced fertilizer/pesticide use and enhanced water management, leading to higher farmer incomes.

Conclusions:

• Widespread WFBAS implementation can help Bangladesh achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2.4.
• WFBAS enhances rice productivity, farmer profitability, and national food security.