Family focus for technology delivery

Nasima, a woman farmer from Bangladesh, became the sole breadwinner for her family after she lost her husband in the Cyclone Sidr in November 2007. She continued her association with an ACIAR project and achieved one of the highest wheat yields in her district.

Farmers in the Babu Ganj district near Barisal in Bangladesh are involved in an ACIAR project that is encouraging farmers to grow alternative crops in their fallow rice paddies to boost incomes and reduce poverty.

Nasima grew wheat in the dry season followed by mung beans. Her wheat crop yielded 3.7 t/ha, and she managed to sell the surplus wheat and mung beans she produced to earn a modest profit for her family.

Last season’s success has encouraged Nasima to double the area under the wheat-mung bean rotation and has motivated the neighbouring farmers to grow wheat in the coming dry season.

ACIAR Research Program Manager

Dr Mirko Stauffacher, Research Program Manager, Land and Water Resources
Phone: +61 2 6217 0561
Email: stauffacher [at] aciar [dot] gov [dot] au

ACIAR Country Program Manager (India & South Asia)

Dr Kuhu Chatterjee
Phone: +91 11 413 999 25
Email: kuhu [dot] chatterjee [at] dfat [dot] gov [dot] au

Project contacts

• Neal Dalgliesh, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
• Professor Richard Bell, Murdoch University

This article is an extract from the South Asia newsletter February 2009