Sorjan Farming: A Climate-Smart Approach in Coastal Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s smallholder farmers face increasing challenges due to climate change. In coastal areas, rising water levels have resulted in high soil salinity, flooding, and saturated soil in the rainy season, along with less irrigation water available during the dry months.

The sorjan farming method, which originated in Indonesia, is gaining popularity in Bangladesh as an effective way for farmers to produce vegetables year-round under these evolving conditions.

Sorjan farming uses raised beds to grow upland crops in low- or medium-lying land areas. Farmers construct sorjan beds by stacking soil blocks on top of each other, creating a raised bed that sits above flood level. The sorjan layout depends on the field conditions and the farmer’s creativity, but the average width of each raised bed is 1.2 meters, with a 30-degree slope and a height above flood level of 60 to 90 centimeters.

Between the raised beds are channels that fill with water during the rainy season and serve as reservoirs for irrigation.

Prior to each rainy season, farmers recondition the sorjan structure by moving soil from the dry channels, which are rich in organic material, to the top of the beds. This seasonal maintenance is integral to sorjan farming, which involves the planting of multiple crops, including relay crops (crops that are planted in the same space where another crop is already growing), to ensure continuous food production. The sorjan method is especially useful for early production of vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, chili pepper, tomato, coriander, red amaranth, and basella. 

The advantages of sorjan farming include year-round vegetable production, food security and nutrition, and the opportunity for maximum profit. The sorjan technique also addresses several of the challenges facing farmers in low-lying areas: it prevents soil salinity issues and avoids flood damage and waterlogged roots in the monsoon season by keeping plants elevated above flood levels, while storing irrigation water for a portion of the dry winter months in the channels between beds. Its versatile advantages and effective water management make sorjan farming an excellent example of climate-smart agriculture. 

While farmers tend to overlook this aspect, the sorjan method also offers opportunities for fish farming in the channels between the raised beds, which hold water for 7 to 8 months out of the year. When diversifying vegetable production with fish cultivation, pesticides and inorganic fertilizers must be used cautiously to avoid harming the fish.

For many farmers in Bangladesh, sorjan farming is an effective solution to tackle challenges related to flooding and to water and soil management, and it is one of the climate-resilient techniques that the East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer team in Bangladesh shares with coastal farmers. To enhance crop productivity and manage soil health more effectively, EWS-KT has also been undertaking action research on sorjan farming practices, particularly around intercropping techniques. 

Overall, sorjan farming is an innovative and practical approach to vegetable production that can help farmers adapt to climate change while promoting sustainable agriculture and ensuring food security.