Abdul Hamid^1,, Abdul Gafur¹, Ashrafun Nahar², G.M. Monirul Alam², Sonia RashidMd. Farid Uddin³, Md. Kamrul Islam⁴, M.A. Mannan Mollah⁵, Mong Sanue Marma⁶

Agricultural production in the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT), located in southeast corner of Bangladesh, is constrained by farmers’ socio-economic conditions and land topography. Farmers practice low input based, labor intensive shifting cultivation in the uplands as livelihood strategy. Productivity is low and most farm households suffer from food insecurity. Despite efforts of controlling shifting cultivation, no better options for farmers are available. In this paper we provide an analysis of the performance of strip cropping system in comparison with traditional shifting cultivation. Data were collected conducting participatory on-farm experiments involving farmers representing three tribes in three villages covering two upazilas of Bandarban district during 2020-2021. Upland rice, maize and cotton were grown in strips following standard planting configuration for each crop and simultaneously growing crops in shifting cultivation at farmers’ choice. Results indicated that strip cropping of maize, rice and cotton in combination produced higher economic return than the crops grown in shifting cultivation. Switching to new cropping practice will require training and policy support.

shifting cultivation, tribal farmers, strip cropping, participatory on-farm trial