Save more, Grow more, Earn more

Prices for irrigation, fertilizer, fuel and labor are rising. Fresh water supplies are decreasing, and many farmers find it increasingly difficult to plant their crop on time to assure good yields and return on their investments. This video shows how farmers in Bangladesh are innovating to overcome these problems by using small-scale and appropriate machinery, and crop management practices that reduce tillage to save time, soil moisture, and money.

Inspiring case studies are presented from two distinct environments in Bangladesh. In the coastal region, soil salinity and insufficient irrigation are important constraints that keep farmers from growing a dry season crop. But by using simple machinery that reduces tillage to allow earlier planting, and keeping crop residues on the soil surface to conserve soil moisture and reduce salinity, a group of women in southern Bangladesh show how to forgo the fallow and grow a profitable maize crop. In central Bangladesh, where the cost of irrigation and farm labor is skyrocketing, farmers and local service providers team up to demonstrate the benefits of planting wheat, maize and legumes on raised beds to reduce labor and irrigation requirements. The crop management principles both groups of farmers use can be applied anywhere -- it is possible to grow more, while saving time, water and money! ***

This video was developed for International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and theCereal Systems Initiative for South Asia in Bangladesh (CSISA-BD) in partnership with the Regional Wheat Research Consortium of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute. Funding for video development and field activities was supplied by the Feed the Future Initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Cornell University's Food for Progress Project, funded by the Unites States Department of Agriculture.