Organic fertilisers vital to boost crop yield, protect soil health

RAJSHAHI, Aug 14 (BSS): Wide-ranging promotion of liming and organic manures can be the crucial means of boosting cropping yield coupled with protecting soil health from further degradation caused by indiscriminate chemical fertilisation in the region, including its vast Barind tract.

Organic matter creates a positive soil environment from which plants can uptake nutrients from applied chemical fertilisers. It increases uptake of applied chemical fertilisers by the plants which contributes to increasing crop productivity by reducing the toxic flow of active chemical fertilisers to the environment.

These were ascertained through different experimental plots of wheat, lentil, potato and chickpea at many locations in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and Naogaon districts recently.

The cash crops were cultivated in two separate demonstration plots, one experiment and other farmers' practice, to evaluate the effects of liming and organic matter on soil properties, soil health and growth traits.

The field-level experiments conducted by the Rajshahi regional office of Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI) showed better yields than that of the conventional plots.

Dr Nurul Islam, Principal Scientific Officer of SRDI, said each of the farmers was given all sorts of impute support including fertilizer, labour, water for irrigation and technical knowhow for farming crops on one bigha of experimental plot.

Taimur Ali, a farmer of Parbatipur area under Gomostapur upazila, had cultivated wheat on two bigha of lands and harvested 18 mounds of yield from the one-bigha experiment plot while 12 mounds from the conventional one.