Use of local OCF can save Tk 26b, protect soil fertility

Yasir Wardad The country can save more than Tk 26 billion per year and effectively protect soil fertility by using locally developed bio and organo-chemical fertilisers (OCFs), according to the scientists of Soil Research and Development Institute (SRDI). They said 'organic matter deficiency' has been alarmingly increasing in the country's soil with the introduction of mono-cropping system in the 1980s using modern agricultural inputs like chemical fertilisers and pesticides. The SRDI scientists said most of the farmland in the country now contains only 0.5 per cent organic matter against the requirement of 2.5 to 3.0 per cent. This happened mainly because of indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers and mono-cropping that drastically reduce soil fertility. In these circumstances, they emphasised use of bio-fertilisers and OCFs containing 8.0 to 24.0 per cent organic matter. Meanwhile, local farmers are being deprived of the benefit of 'Sufala', an OCF, as the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) has kept pending the decision of giving approval to the fertiliser since 2004, for some reasons hitherto unknown. The fertiliser, made of ash, molasses and rice bran, was developed by Md Abdur Rahman and his Sawdesh Farming Complex at Parnundualy in Magura in the 1990s. Talking to the FE, he said the country can manufacture nearly 3.4 million tonnes of OCF, whereas the local demand would be 2.4 million tonnes, and the rest could be exported. "I conducted field trials of 'Sufala' with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) between 1991 and 1994. Following the success of the trials, the DAE sent proposal to the MoA for giving approval to the fertiliser for commercial use." "Besides, a wide research was conducted at the Department of Soil Science, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University (SAU), which also revealed that the fertiliser is suitable for cereal crops," Md Rahman said. Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry, SAU Prof Kamal Uddin Ahmed told the FE that the MoA gave the decision of conducting trial of 'Sufala' by the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) and SRDI. "The four organisations sent positive result about the fertiliser to the MoA, but the ministry has kept pending the decision of giving approval to it," Prof Ahmed said. He informed that the fertiliser developed by Abdur Rahman went through many tests, and proved its suitability for cereal and many other crops. "The fertiliser contains nearly 16 to 24 per cent organic matters and various micro-nutrients for the plants. The quantity of organic matters and micro-nutrients remains higher in 'Sufala' compared to other bio or organic fertilisers."