In the lowlands of Bangladesh, people are turning to centuries-old hydroponic forms in order to survive.
Ripening pumpkin, bitter gourd, and okra overshadow the hyacinth.
Bangladesh, which is formed by the alluvial plain of the Ganges-Brahmaputra river system, is prone to flooding and standing water.
The harsh monsoons, snowmelt in the Himalayas, and severe hurricanes are exacerbating the country’s troubles.
Two-thirds of Bangladesh is a wetland, crossed by highly sedimentary rivers that change direction frequently.
Most of the land in the country is submerged in water for eight months of the year, while seawater intrusion also renders much of the coastal land useless for growing crops.
Though agriculture is one of the most important contributors to the country’s GDP. Bangladesh is also one of the poorest countries in the world, where 48% of its 160 million people are landless.
The number of people displaced from Bangladeshi homes due to climate change is expected to increase to one in seven by 2050.
Some farmers stopped farming and looked for alternative ways to make a living, while others sought work in factory clothing or moved to shrimp farms.
But in one part of south-central Bangladesh, for 300-400 years, people have followed an ancient traditional cultivation method called dhap, otherwise known locally as baira.
It is a floating vegetable garden. This trung vegetable garden looks like an artificial island, which rises and falls with the movement of the water.
Now farmers are reviving this old practice to reduce their vulnerability to climate change.
The most common floating gardens in the Gopalganj, Barisal, and Pirojpur districts.
Here, during the rainy season, farmers collect weeds such as water hyacinth or rice stalks, and place them in the stagnant water, beat them into shapes, and build rafts.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization declared Bangladesh’s floating parks a system of the agricultural heritage of global importance in December 2015.
It is a landscape that combines agricultural biodiversity, resilient ecosystems, and cultural heritage.
