Thread: The remarkable floating gardens

In the lowlands of Bangladesh, people are turning to a centuries-old form of hydroponics to keep afloat.

Ripening squash, bitter gourd and okra loom over a mass of water hyacinth. Birds fly low over the surface of the water.
Bijoy Kumar, a farmer in the low-lying Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, stands knee deep in water, tending to his plants.

He and his family could not escape the rising waters in the volatile monsoons – so they abandoned the traditional rice crop. He turned instead to an eco-friendly practice that had been used by his ancestors in the southern flood plains, a traditional form of hydroponics, called floating vegetable gardens.



Water hyacinth is an invasive weed in parts of Bangladesh, but now it is being used to form soil-free beds for the country's floating gardens (Credit: Getty Images)


Anatomy of a floating garden

Farmers stack several compact layers of aquatic weeds like water hyacinth, duckweed or paddy stubs – the stubble of what remains after the rice grain has been harvested.
They are helped usually by their families and neighbours.
The weeds are allowed to rot, and then mixed usually with cow dung and silt. Crop seeds are placed in small balls called tema that are made out of peat soil, and wrapped in coconut fibre.


After a week, when seedlings are about 15cm high, they are transplanted to the floating garden beds. Traditionally, seeds of leafy vegetables, like red amaranth, are sown directly on the floating beds. They are then anchored with bamboo poles, so that they don’t drift away.


Lots more at ... The remarkable floating gardens of Bangladesh - BBC Future