Production, use of organic fertilisers to improve productivity stressed

Experts at a filed day programme have asked the farmers for expanded production and use of organic fertilisers to improve soil health for sustainable crop productivity reducing use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) with assistance of the Win Sources Limited and 66 Artillery Division of Rangpur Cantonment organised the farmer’s field day on Thursday at Tolaram village under Fotehpur Block in Pirganj upazila.
The field day was arranged on the BRRI dhan 48 variety short duration Aus rice exhibition plot of farmer Ekramur Islam to demonstrate effectiveness of using organic fertilisers in improving soil health and fertility to attain sustainable crop productivity.
Commanding Officer of 15 Bir Battalion of Rangpur Cantonment Lt. Colonel Shahadat Sikder attended the occasion as the chief guest with Pirganj Upazila Agriculture Officer Rezaul Karim in the chair.
Regional Director of Agriculture Information Service Abu Sayem attended the occasion as the special guest.
Programme Coordinator of the initiative and Sub-assistant Agriculture Officer (SAAO) Isarat Ali, SAAO AK Fazlul Haque and vermi-compost farmer Mohammad Shamim also addressed the field day participated by 200 farmers of the area.
In the beginning, farmer Ekramur Islam narrated as how he cultivated BRRI dhan 48 Aus rice on his 33 decimals land in three portions with 11 decimals each using chemical, organic and organic with vermi-compost fertilisers respectively this season.
The speakers stressed for maintaining soil health to improve fertility for attaining sustainable productivity to get increased crop output through proper use of the substitute organic fertilisers to cow dung like green manures, wastes or vermi-composts.
Citing laboratory tests results, they said that the cultivable soil contains only 1 to 2 percent of organic ingredients on an average now against the minimum requirement of five percent for sustainable productivity to enhance crop production.
They called for enhancing production and use of compost fertilisers, green manures and vermin-composts to improve soil texture, fertility, increase nutrient and water storing capacity, upgrade sandy land into sandy-loamy, sandy loamy into loamy and into clay soil.
The chief guest suggested the farmers for reducing use of chemical fertilisers and increasing production and application of organic fertilisers to improve soil health, fertility and productivity for increasing crop output maintaining environment, ecology and bio-diversity.