Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture: Opportunities and Challenges for Food Security and Agrarian Adaptation to Environmental Change in Bangladesh

<p>This dissertation investigates three unique aspects of sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) in the context of Bangladeshi rice production. The first article presents a qualitative analysis of SAI and farmer surveys in the embanked polder region of coastal Bangladesh. The second article investigates the global food security and environmental impacts of already adopted High Yielding Variety (HYV) rice and double-cropped rice systems in Bangladesh using a spatial partial equilibrium trade model and a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The final article demonstrates a remote sensing methodology for monitoring dry season rice production at 30 m resolution in Bangladesh using a harmonic time series model, the Landsat archive, and Google Earth Engine. Major findings from this dissertation include: (1) agrarian communities in the polder region face food insecurity during the peak of monsoonal paddy rice production and could improve production by adopting HYV or second season crops, (2) agrarian communities in the polders identify water management issues as the primary agricultural concern, followed by pest infestation and soil salinity, (3) HYV rice provides enough additional production in Bangladesh to feed nearly 26 million Bangladeshis per annum and is more environmentally efficient than traditional rice in terms of global warming potential, land use, water use, and fertilizer use, and (4) the combination of a harmonic time series model, spectral indices, and rice phenology can produce relatively accurate predictions of dry season rice in Bangladesh compared to district-level reference information. Overall, the findings from this investigation of SAI support continued efforts to improve food security, increase agricultural output, and decrease environmental impacts in Bangladesh. </p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Dynamics (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Year dc:date.available

2018

Author dc:creator

• Shew, Aaron Michael

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Nalley, Lawton L.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Feng, Song
• Tullis, Jason A.

• Bangladesh
• Climate Change
• Food Security
• Remote Sensing
• Rice
• Sustainable Agricultural Intensification
• Agricultural Economics
• Agronomy and Crop Sciences
• Physical and Environmental Geography
• Sustainability

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/2713

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.uark.edu:etd-4264