Staff Reporter :
Green activists at a discussion have suggested for producing chemical and pesticide free food grains and enforcing testing of all sorts of foodstuff and beverage to ensure food safety in the country.
They also suggested for more allocation in national budget for agricultural sector for producing safe food as well as developing strong agro-based agriculture economy for developing villages sustainably.
Poribesh Bachao Andolan (POBA) and Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK) jointly organised a roundtable discussion on Monday at POBA head office in observance of the World Food Day 2017 titled ‘Safe Food Production: What to Do’.
POBA Chairman Abu Naser Khan presided over the meeting while BARCIK Coordinator Pavel Partho presented the keynote paper. Political personality Pankaj Bhatcharjee was the chief guest in the meeting.
General Secretary of POBA Engineer Md Abdus Sobhan, Joint Secretary Dr Lelin Chowdhury, Ferdous Ahmed Ujjal, Coordinator of BARCIK Sayed Ali Biswas, Agriculturist ABM Touhidul Alam, President of Modern Club Abul Hasnat, President of Nagorik Odhikar Songrokhon Forum (NASF) Md Tayeb Ali, among others, took part in the discussion.
“For ensuring safe food for all, it is essential to produce foods naturally. But it has become a common practice that farmers often use chemical fertilizers to boost agricultural production and put toxic pesticides for keeping pest away,” said Abu Naser Khan.
He said, “Farmers have to keep in mind that it can bring short-term production boost; but in the long run the production field is becoming barren and they are imposing themselves towards toxicities by using such high doses of pesticides.”. “Farmers of the country should focus on natural composting and eco-friendly pest control mechanism to safe guard food safety and shielding themselves,” he suggested.
In his keynote presentation, Pavel Partho called for regular testing of food items not only in the city shopping malls but in every union and ward for ensuring safe food for all.
POBA general secretary said, “Both the Safe Food Authority and Consumers Association of Bangladesh will become more active and work integrated with all the concerned ministries, agencies and organizations.”
“Besides those authorities have to publish regular reports after examining foods from grassroots level and watch markets, warehouses regularly to keep food adulteration situation under control,” he added.
