Farmers using excess chemicals to earn more profits from vegs

Farmers of twenty one districts are trying their best to earn maximum profits by providing vegetable items widely consumed in the holy month of Ramadan, officials said.
Experts, however, said public officials, especially Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), must enhance their monitoring and awareness campaign at the growers' level to prevent them from using excess chemical fertiliser and pesticides, which have a harmful impact on both crop and human body.
Farmers in the one-thirds of the country's districts are very busy to produce crops for Ramadan. Brinjal, cucumber, tomato, coriander leaf, summer chilli have a great demand in the holy month as the produces are widely consumed in 'Iftar'.
According to the state-run Department of Agriculture Marketing (DAM), prices of brinjal is now Tk50-Tk80, cucumber Tk50-Tk70, coriander leaf Tk 150-180, tomato Tk60-80, chilli Tk80-100 per kg in the city markets--- marking 70-100 per cent increase in last ten days.
DAE deputy director under Monitoring Unit Md Rafiqul Hasan told the FE that it is peak Aman season, the second biggest cropping season in the country and most of the farmers are now busy with their Aman fileds.
"But many of them, in nearly 21 districts, are growing few selected vegetables targeting the month of Ramadan" he said.
Many farmers in Narsindi, Savar in Dhaka, Comilla, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, are busy in brinjal filed, he added.
"Summer tomato are being grown by Jessore, Habiganj, Netrokona, Satkhira, Rajshahi, Feni, Gazipur farmers while cucumber by Mymensingh, Kustia, Pabna, Sirajganj, Bogra, Rangpur, and Narshingdi farmers," he said.
"Manikganj, Jhenaidah, Netrokona, Rupganj in Narayanganj, Bogra and Magura farmers are growing coriander leaf and chilli", he informed the FE.
Md Mostafa Hossain, a farmer at Borka village under Fulbari upazila in Mymensingh district said he has cultivated brinjal on one and half bighas of land (per bigha 33 decimal).
"I'm expecting a Tk60000 profit from the brinjal field during Ramadan," he said.
He said that few brinjal varieties were sold at Tk50-55 per kg in his territory which is sold at Tk80-90 per kg in Dhaka.   
Md Delwar , a farmer at Niamatpur union under Kaliganj Upazila in Jhenaidah said it was tough to keep the coriander leaf remain alive as rain was harming the crops.
 "We are using polyethylene sheds to protect the plants," he said.
He said they were expecting to earn Tk40000-Tk50000 profit from one bigha of coriander leaf field.
But experts said to provide the items in time and to get higher production, the farmers are using chemical fertiliser, pesticide in excess which is harmful both for the humans and crops.
Agriculture scientist Dr Md Nazuim Uddin said the lucrative price of five produces encouraged the farmers to take much care for them.
 "And to get more crops and off course, much earlier, they are using fertilser two or three time more in volume than that of normal amount," said Dr Nazim, also organic farm specialist at Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI).
"Chemical pesticide is used incessantly which is harmful for human health," he said.  
He said government monitoring should be increased specially by DAE and other state-run agencies as they are much closer to the farmers.
He emphasised on integrated pest management (IPM) method to avoid use of chemical pesticides.  
He said: "Farmers can avoid mixing up formalin or colour with their crops as they can naturally preserve crops for few more days."
"In that case, farmers should pluck the crops in early morning or in afternoon and then they should wash the produces," he said.
"After the wash, it will need to be dried in the sun and in that way farmers can extend decomposition period of the products", he observed.