Assessment of flood recession farming for livelihood provision, food security and environmental sustainability in the Ganga River Basin

Abstract

Poverty, food insecurity and environmental degradation are the recurrent problems in the Ganga River Basin (GRB). The Ganga River enriches the fertility of floodplain through flooding every year. Farmers have been utilizing this fertility for growing crops by flood recession farming (FRF) since antiquity. In this practice, farmers use moisture and nutrient rich soil of the floodplains for growing crops after water levels recede and harvest them before flooding in the river. This ancient method of food production plays a pivotal role in human well-being and environmental conservation in the GRB. Using the data collected from the farmers living along the Ganga River in Varanasi, this study explores the potentials of FRF through the dimensions of livelihood provision, food security and environmental sustainability. Field visits, household surveys, and focus group discussions (FGDs) were used to collect data. Results indicated that various practices and methods of FRF system underpin not only the livelihood and food security of small and marginal farmers but also enrich the sustainability of the environment. Environmental sustainability was assessed in the context of agro-biodiversity conservation, water resource management, soil health maintenance, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The study concludes that the full potentials of flood recession farming can be assessed through a comprehensive research about the different aspects of FRF and mainstreaming this practice in policy-making for sustainable food production.

Keywords

• Floodplain
• Flood recession farming
• Livelihood
• Food security
• Ganga River
• Sustainable agriculture