Abstract:
Salinization of productive agrieulturuJ. land~ in ~outhwcstern cou.srnl Fl;mgladcsh and
their reclamation are getting distinct importan~e lo the local people as well a~ policy
makers. Salinization hll~ heen cstablished as th~ prime causc of environmental
d~gradati"n in the region ami there is an urgency to lind out a water mallag~menl
practice which is economically b~nelieiaL socially acceptable llnd environmentally
sustainable. Keeping thcse viewpoints, this ~llldy was undeltaken to e\aluate the
present statuses 0 f di [fcrcnt agro-\\(aler manllgemenl practices in Dumuria Upazila, to
carry out 1<Jboratory analyses of sele~kd soil and water qualit}, parameter;; of
agriculll.lnll fields, llIld to ass~ss the environmcntal eons~qu~n~es of those farming
practic~s. Four different types of agro-water management pra~tkes (AWMPs) with
three gher~ under each practice were s~lected for investigation. Se\'eral important soil
and v,ratcr quality parameter~ (tempcrature, salinity, pH, H:, 1 DS, DO, nco] -,ci+,
Mg~+, CL N'a+, K', sol, NO,', etc.) during the pr~- and post-boro season of 2009-
10 Were analyzed to ealculat~ th~ mcan soil and waler quality changc indicators
(MSQ1, MWQ1). nesid~s the~e, management parameters, such a.\ cropping pattern,
iITigatlOn, water exchange, use of ferlili~er. u<;cof pesticide, numb~r of years of bom
culti\ation, \,egetation Oil gher dyke~, etc., and economics of produdion were
consid~red li,r evaluation of best practices among different AWMPs w.ing multicriteria
anal}.,is (MCA). Thc highest del~rinrali()n of soil quality was found in Ihe
Type-3 AWMP and the lowe't in th~ Typc-2 AWMP, In case ofwaler ljlmlity, the
order of dcterior<ltion ,,'as found to bc: 1'ype-3 AWMP > Type-4 AWMP > Type-2
AWMP> Type-l AWMP. Thc dcgree of cOITelalion of economic paramelers with
quality and management parameters wa, used In give weightage of parameter:<. in
MCA - a strong relation (P < 0.01) was given a high weightage and a mO(krat~
relation (0.01 < P < 0.10) was gi\'en a low weighlagc. Thus the Type-2 AWMP got
lh~ highest 100al average score and appear~d to b~ Ih~ hest AWMP. This ,vas due to
th~ commLlnity management approach for conlrolling saline watcr into the ghers, use
of more organic fertilizer, usc of IPM t~chniqu~~, le~s cropping intensity, less
deterioration of soil and water lj\llllily, higher economic return, etc. So, IrolTI this
study it can he said that th~ ~onmnllla[ approach in water management for I-lYV boro
rice cultivation \\(ith!1 crop rotation of golda-bagda-\vhite fish i, the best AW!vlP
among the current practices in the study area
