Preserving soil fertility
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
BANGLADESH presently has a population of over 140 million. The balance between population and food supply in this overpopulated country could be maintained so far by increasing productivity in the limited land with its high natural fertility. But this fertility -- which is one of the biggest of the national assets -- is gradually coming under threat.
Mono cropping or cultivating only rice crops again and again in the same land reduces land fertility. Reports frequently appear in newspapers about the smuggling low quality fertilisers into Bangladesh that lead to short term higher yields but alarming degradation of the soil. Reportedly, the police sometimes ago seized 10,000 sacks of that adulterated and contraband FMC fertilisers. The FMC fertilisers were probably smuggled into the country from China. A ban on FMC fertiliser remains in force for its harmful effect. But the smuggled fertilisers are turned into dust and repacked and sold as Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) fertilisers that have a big demand. Besides, fake TSP fertilisers are also coming from India and getting marketed rather easily. Unregulated use of pesticides is also creating toxicity in the land and is reducing its fertility on a large scale.
But land fertility is the most precious gift of nature that the ever increasing number of Bangladeshis will have to rely on for their food security. Therefore, it is imperative that the government's department of agricultural extension that trains farmers in safe farming practices should engage in extensive countrywide activities to discourage the use of low quality fertilisers. Law enforcement bodies will have to be more active to frustrate attempts to smuggle in such fertilisers. Farmers should be encouraged to practise rotation of crops, organic farming without pesticides or natural ways of pest control. Traditional manuring of the land with decomposed biomass to achieve high yields used to be considered as safe practice. Now information has come from a northern district, Nilphamari, that the leaves of a plant called dhancha can be such excellent and safe natural manure. Dhancha cultivation and its application as manure needs to be popularised throughout the country. Dhancha can be easily cultivated in fallow lands or on small patches of cultivable lands for the purpose.
Moinuddin Ahmed
Shaymoli,
Dhaka.
Mono cropping or cultivating only rice crops again and again in the same land reduces land fertility. Reports frequently appear in newspapers about the smuggling low quality fertilisers into Bangladesh that lead to short term higher yields but alarming degradation of the soil. Reportedly, the police sometimes ago seized 10,000 sacks of that adulterated and contraband FMC fertilisers. The FMC fertilisers were probably smuggled into the country from China. A ban on FMC fertiliser remains in force for its harmful effect. But the smuggled fertilisers are turned into dust and repacked and sold as Triple Super Phosphate (TSP) fertilisers that have a big demand. Besides, fake TSP fertilisers are also coming from India and getting marketed rather easily. Unregulated use of pesticides is also creating toxicity in the land and is reducing its fertility on a large scale.
But land fertility is the most precious gift of nature that the ever increasing number of Bangladeshis will have to rely on for their food security. Therefore, it is imperative that the government's department of agricultural extension that trains farmers in safe farming practices should engage in extensive countrywide activities to discourage the use of low quality fertilisers. Law enforcement bodies will have to be more active to frustrate attempts to smuggle in such fertilisers. Farmers should be encouraged to practise rotation of crops, organic farming without pesticides or natural ways of pest control. Traditional manuring of the land with decomposed biomass to achieve high yields used to be considered as safe practice. Now information has come from a northern district, Nilphamari, that the leaves of a plant called dhancha can be such excellent and safe natural manure. Dhancha cultivation and its application as manure needs to be popularised throughout the country. Dhancha can be easily cultivated in fallow lands or on small patches of cultivable lands for the purpose.
Moinuddin Ahmed
Shaymoli,
Dhaka.