Floating gardens
Practical Action
In June 2005, Practical Action provided Tara with training on vegetable production and,
alongside a local NGO partner (GUK), showed her how to make a floating vegetable garden -
costing only T500 to build. During the last monsoon, Tara was able to grow red onions, Kang
Kong (leafy vegetable), okra and sweet pumpkin. She also grew seedlings for gourd, which she
transplanted once the flood had died down. During the last flood, Tara had enough food for
her family. She even managed to sell the extra vegetables that she produced, and so far has
made a total of T4000 since her training. There is little food in the markets during the
monsoon, as few people can grow crops, so her vegetables are in great demand. And by
cultivating seedlings in the
floating garden, she was able to
plant them earlier in the year
and therefore get a better
harvest. After the end of the
monsoon season, Tara used the
old raft as compost to grow
crops in the dry season.
Figure 7: A working garden: Photo credit:
Practical Action Bangladesh
Tara was the only person in the
village who received this
training but, following its
success, Tara’s neighbours
started copying the idea and are
now making their own floating
gardens.
Conclusion
The floating garden is just one approach that can be used to improve the food resources of
people living and working in Bangladesh and small water bodies can play a major role in this.
Such approaches include small-scale fish farming, pigeon rearing, and duck rearing. Farming
methods have to be suitable for small-scale farmers without the need for large financial
investment.
References and further reading
Water Hyacinth Technical Brief Practical Action
Small-scale Fish Farming in Bangladesh Technical Brief Practical Action
Livelihood from Fishing A Le Sann Practical Action Publishing 1998 ISBN 9781853393983
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