Prawns net profit for flood-hit Bangladesh rice farmers

[Farmer31]

The world may have agreed to start work on a new accord to cut planet-warming emissions due to come into force by 2020, but for many poor people in developing countries, that is an age away. Rice farmers in flood-prone Bangladesh need solutions to their climate woes now, and are finding that prawns may be the unlikely answer.

Located in the Bay of Bengal, low-lying Bangladesh has become one of the most well-known faces of climate change - a riverine land increasingly battered by cyclones and floods that frequently inundate vast swathes of farmland, displacing communities and perpetuating a cycle of poverty and food insecurity for millions.

For months every year, we have (had) to find some other way to make money... like manual labour work or breeding cheap fish like tilapia in our flooded fields, says 48-year-old farmer Raj Mia, standing by his waterlogged rice field in the mud-and-thatch village of Putia, 60 km east of the capital, Dhaka. It was a struggle as we didnt earn much.

Raj, like millions of other rice farmers, lives on the flood plains that make up about 80 percent of the South Asian nation.

Every year, the monsoons thrash down on this fertile rice-growing region crossed by a network of rivers, submerging some 60 percent of the countrys agricultural land and rendering much of it unusable for up to six months, until water levels recede in November.

Complete Article

 

[~gd]

So Farmer 31 are you suggesting we flood our homesteads or couldn't you find a better place for your clipping?

 

[Farmer31]

I was pointing out that if luck give you lemon make a lemonade out of it approach is good for self sufficiency and sustainability

 

[Beekissed]

Where there is a will...and a hungry belly...there is a way.

I've often wondered why those who live in areas where they cannot have chickens, and the noise of keeping them gets them into trouble, don't just keep rabbits. Not a one will crow, predators usually cannot reach them when cages are suspended and built well, they breed like...well....rabbits and provide a good amount of lean, fresh meat for a family. Their waste is excellent for the garden and can often be sold to others by the feed bag full. They can be processed quietly in the garage and no one need be the wiser.

Just one way of getting around the constrictions of where you live and how it influences your ability to make do for your family.

 

[Denim Deb]

Even having rabbits depends on where you live. I know where I live you have to have 1.5 acres to have rabbits. Don't know if that's supposed to include pet rabbits, or just those raised for meat. And, you need the same for any other type of livestock. Of course, that doesn't stop people from having animals anyway.

 

[Britesea]

so raise guinea pigs. I seriously doubt there are any regulations about them. Their cage space needs are even smaller than rabbits. My MIL had over 500 of them in a shed the size of a garage (she was raising them for show, but we did eat the culls).

 

[meriruka]

I didn't know you could eat guinea pigs. What I mean is - I thought the were on the list of "things you only eat if you're starving' like cats & racoons. What do they taste like?

 

[Beekissed]

Actually, they aren't on that list....many people in other countries and in America use these little pigs for meat. Supposed to be very good...lean like rabbit.

When you think of guinea pigs you might think of cute, cuddly little pets. But for the highland people of South America, and people in parts of Africa and Asia, guinea pigs mean extra food and income. Maybe you would like to try raising guinea pigs.

First of all, the meat is delicious. You can provide enough meat for your family for one year starting with only 22 guinea pigs. And you don't have to be a farmer. You can raise guinea pigs even if you live in the city!

Guinea pig meat has a lot of protein (21%) and less fat (8%)than pork, mutton, or beef. And very little of the guinea pig goes to waste; you can eat the skin, some bones, and organ meat. If you skin guinea pigs, you can sell the fur and skin for making hand-bags, feedbags, knap-sacksand slippers. Also, you can use guinea pigs feces as fertilizer, or as a part of feed for cattle. Raising guinea pigs is simple. If you start with only 7 to 10 females and one male, they will reproduce quickly and give you about 160 to 200 more guinea pigs in one year. Two males and twenty females can produce enough meat for a family of six, year-round.

 

[DianeS]

I've eaten Guinea Pig. In Equador it's called "qui" (pronounced "kee"). When the meat is an ingredient in something, it acts and tastes a lot like chicken. When it's dry (roasted, etc), it tastes a bit like pork. I haven't had it often, but those are my impressions of it. Maybe it has to do with what the guinea pig ate, too, I don't know. I would be willing to eat it here in the USA, but I certainly wouldn't tell anyone about it! (except here)

 

[hqueen13]

I've often wondered why those who live in areas where they cannot have chickens, and the noise of keeping them gets them into trouble, don't just keep rabbits.

I suspect it is likely because those in the city are looking for breakfast, not dinner, from their critters. Rabbits won't give you breakfast, unless you like stew, LOL