Md. Arafat Rahman :
Agriculture is the backbone of Bangladesh economy, which contributes about one third to the country’s GDP. Approximately eighty four percent of the country’s total population is directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. About 63 percent of the labour force is employed in agriculture sector of which about 57 percent is engaged in the crop sub-sector alone.
One of the main constraints to increasing crop production is the pests. The word “pest” refers to organisms such as insects, pathogens, weeds, nematodes, mites, rodents and birds that cause damage or annoyance to man, his animals, crops or possessions. According to an estimate, annual yield loss due to insect pest alone is sixteen percent for rice, eleven percent for wheat, twenty percent for sugarcane, twenty five percent for vegetables, fifteen percent for jute and twenty five percent for pulse crops.
In Bangladesh, chemical control has been the primary method of pest control in the past. Up to 1974, the Government promoted the use of pesticides by supplying them free of cost to farmers. The subsidy was reduced to fifty percent in 1974. The Government withdrew subsidy completely in 1979 and the pesticide business was transferred to the private sector.
At present 96 pesticides with 304 trade names are registered in Bangladesh. All these pesticides are imported every year expending hard-earned foreign exchange. Although pesticide use in Bangladesh is relatively lower in comparison to neighboring countries, the use of pesticides has been increasing rapidly over the past two decades.
In the past, pesticides were considered as the “panacea” for the control of agricultural pests. Although pesticides may provide temporary relief, it is now widely accepted that indiscriminate and excessive use of pesticides and the long-term dependency on them threaten the sustainability of agricultural production. Over dependence on chemical pesticides is not only expensive but also leads to negative environmental impacts, in addition to increased health hazards to both the growers and consumers of crops.
Considering the facts there is a need for an alternative method rather than to rely solely on pesticides. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has now been considered as the most appropriate one in this respect. IPM has created much awareness among the farmers, policy makers, politicians and the general public of the country. The National Agriculture Policy (NAP) under section 7.1 stipulated that IPM will be the main policy for controlling pests and diseases.
At present, IPM has a broad approach to crop production based on a sound ecological understanding. Even it goes beyond the production as it also includes the storage of crops at all levels. IPM enables farmers to grow a healthy crop and to increase their farm output and income on a sustainable basis while improving the environment and community health at the same time.
IPM advocates growing a healthy crop through proper management of soil, water, fertilizers, pests, etc., conservation of biological control agents by avoiding or reducing the use of toxic pesticides, augmentation of biological control agents, use of pest tolerant crop varieties, use of cultivation practices that can minimize pest populations, mechanical control of pests, build-up farmers as experts in their own fields in taking crop management decisions and income generating activities such as growing of “ail” crops, fish and prawn culture in the rice field.
The FAO definition of IPM is as: “A pest management system that, in the context of the associated environment and the population dynamics of the pest species, utilizes all suitable techniques and methods in as compatible a manner as possible and maintains the pest populations at levels below those causing economic injury”. In the context of Bangladesh the term IPM includes elements contributing to an effective, safe, sustainable and economically sound crop protection system. It is not limited to pest management system alone.
In Bangladesh, IPM activities first started in 1981 with the introduction of the first phase of FAO’s inter-country programme (ICP) on IPM in rice crop. However, those IPM activities began to expand and became a popular topic among people from all walks of life. This programme provided IPM training to build the training capacity of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and introduced Farmer Field Schools (FFS) for training of farmers.
The use of harmful pesticides will be much reduced if the farmers practice IPM in their fields, which in turn, will enhance the production level and improve the environment and the public health. Thus a positive impact on the overall economy will help reduce the country’s poverty situation.
(Mr. Arafat works at Southeast University. E-mail: [email protected])
