Popularise organic farming

Publish: 9:47 PM, February 6, 2020 | Update: 9:47 PM, February 6, 2020

Ever since the idea of organically raised crops caught the attention of knowledgeable people and policy makers in Bangladesh, there has been noted a slow but steady rise towards organic farming. However, only a small part of the total farm output in this country is raised organically while preponderantly the crops are raised through chemical dependent farming.

In this backdrop the findings of a research conducted by the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) is quite interesting and deserves to be disseminated throughout the country. The gist of this report was carried in newspapers which says that food crops grown organically not only add positively to the quality of such crops by being non toxic or less toxic, there are other benefits as well. These are mainly that organic farming increases the soil’s fertility and also leads to a saving as this natural way of farming reduces cost significantly compared to chemical input dependent farming. For example, as the study showed, the organic matter contents of the soil increased from 1.14 per cent to 2.79 per cent during the seven years long period of the experimentation. It also showed that farming costs were lower by some 25 per cent compared to the costs incurred in non organic farming through use of fertilizers and pesticides.

Thus, these multiple benefits should make the case for popularising organic farming stronger than before. Of course, organic farming was the mainstay in agriculture in the past till the early seventies. But gradually after that period the tilt towards chemical inputs based non organic farming became popular as this method of agriculture led to substantial raising yields. This higher yield from non organic farming remains still the main rationale for continuing with this method of farming.

But it has been observed over the last decade that excessive and repeated use of chemical agents is dangerously depleting the natural fertility of the soil. Besides, there is also the aspect of adverse effect of non organically grown foods on human health. Coupled with these concerns, is the need to apply more and more chemical inputs on soil as its natural fertility declines. All of these negatives have set the stage for a comeback of organic farming as its plus points are seen as rapidly increasing. As the BARI research has revealed, organic farming will help restore the lost natural nutrients of the soil, reduce the costs of farming and organically produced foods can offer a better or healthier choice to consumers. If only further research can create a breakthrough in considerably increasing yields, too, through organic farming, then all criterion would be fulfilled to popularise organic farming intensively throughout the country replacing the present manner of raising food crops with chemical substances.

The way chemical fertilizers are destroying soil fertility in Bangladesh is worrying. There is a need for organic nutrients to be present in soil by some five per cent for maintaining its fertility. But such nutrients have declined to only one percent from over use of chemical fertilizers in Bangladesh, according to expert studies.

In this backdrop, it is heartening to note that the Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) has developed a high quality bacterial fertilizer which can be a blessing for Bangladesh. Every year, nearly 2. 8 million tons of urea are needed for agricultural production in Bangladesh. Out of this amount, some 1.2 million tons have to be imported.

There are many adverse sides showing up in the production, import and use of such urea fertilizers. First of all, gas supply to power generation units cannot be maintained at the desired level from the need to supply gas to the fertilizer factories. Secondly, the prices of imported fertilizers were found to be abnormally high in recent years. Urea had to be imported at double its price in past years due to the much increased price of it in international markets. Thirdly, experts are more and more warning Bangladesh about the use of chemical fertilizers–specially urea–that depletes the soil’s natural fertility.

Thus, the large scale use of the BINA invented organic fertilizer can bring about very great and favourable changes in the country’s agriculture in areas of costs, safety and import substitution. This bacterial fertilizer can be marketed at a price far lower than the price of imported urea fertilizer. Indeed, the import of such fertilizer can become entirely unnecessary from its use and there would a big saving of resources as a consequence from this import substitution. Another very welcome aspect of its use will be preserving or even enhancing the fertility of the soil. The gas now used for making fertilizers can be diverted to power generating plants to produced badly needed power.

Thus, in view of all of these positive developments to gain from, the government should lose no time to popularize extensive use of this fertilizer. There are also other forms of organic fertilizers in the country. The marketing of all of them should be promoted energetically for the same reasons.
The government should give highest priority to agriculture, specially to this issue of popularizing the use of organic fertilizers.