Staff Correspondent, The Daily Star, 08 June 2008

Speakers at a seminar yesterday urged the government to encourage farmers to use bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides for producing poison-free crops.

In observance of the Diploma Agriculturist Day, the Diploma Krishibid Institution organised the seminar on the role of the diploma agriculturists in achieving self-sufficiency in food at the National Press Club in the capital.

The speakers said the use of chemical pesticides is damaging the soil and environment which can be prevented by using organic fertiliser and pesticides.

They called for popularising Mehegani oil to use it as organic pesticide.

They said every year the country loses Tk 6000 crore due to 20 percent crop damage caused by drought and pests.

Speaking as chief guest at the seminar, Prof Muzaffer Ahmad said farmland, which is reducing day by day, should be unified to increase production.

In this connection he suggested for turning the mono cropland into multi-crop land.

Prof Muzaffer said the shrimp farming lands in southern region of the country should be brought back to agriculture for increased production of agricultural crops.

There exists always a big time gap between a new invention at the research institutes and its use by the farmers at field level, he said, adding that this time gap should be shortened.

Prof Mohammad Sadrul Amin in his keynote paper said, while 22 per cent of the national income comes from agriculture and 60 to 70 per cent people of the country are employed in agriculture, 94 percent banks do not provide any loan to agriculture sector whereas the Krishi bank provides loan to industry sector.

He also placed a seven-point demand for the welfare of the diploma agriculturists that included up-gradation of their posts to class two officers and foreign training.

The diploma agriculturists urged the government to allocate the highest budget for agriculture sector.

They also called for easing the import of bio-pesticides and posting of at least five diploma agriculturists at each union.

Presided over by Chairman of the Diploma Krishibid Institution Md Jahir Uddin Mobu, the seminar was also addressed by former adviser to caretaker government M Hafizuddin Khan and Ward Commissioner of Ward No 40 Anwaruzzaman.

Star Business Report, The Daily Star, 22 May 2008

The increased cultivation of vegetables on rural farmsteads would substantially help meet the country’s demand for such produce, agriculturalist said at a workshop yesterday.

“We are working with farmers to increase production at homesteads. We would be able to better meet our food demand if we grew vegetables on 1.5 crore homesteads in the country,” IRRI Representative for Bangladesh Dr Zainul Abedin said at a workshop at BRAC Centre Inn.

The FoSHol Coordination Project, IRRI in collaboration with Care, ActionAid and Practical Action organized the workshop aimed at strengthening farmers’ access to improved vegetable seeds for homestead cultivation.

“Our annual production of vegetables is about 20 lakh tonnes. But it can be increased much by bringing homesteads under cultivation,” said SM Monowar Hossain of FoSHoL-Coordination Project.

He blamed poor quality seeds and suggested using good quality seeds to increase production.

According to official data, Bangladesh’s yearly requirement for vegetable seeds is about 2800 metric tonnes. Of the total requirement, good quality seeds constitute only 37 percent. The remaining 63 percent are poor quality seeds.

BARC Executive Chairman Dr MA Razzaque said homesteads could be one of the main places for landless people to grow vegetables. “But they should be provided with good quality seeds,” he said.