BSS, Rangpur :
Expanded use of organic fertilisers substantially improves soil health ensuring sustainable crop productivity reducing use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, experts at a farmers’ filed day said here yesterday.
They put special emphasis on enhancing production and application of organic fertilizers to improve soil texture, fertility, increase nutrient and water storing capacity, upgrade sandy land into sandy-loamy, sandy loamy into loamy and then into clay soil.
The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) with assistances of the Win Sources Limited and 66 Artillery Division of Rangpur Cantonment organised the occasion at Kishamat Menanagar Beniapara Block under Taraganj upazila.
The field day was arranged on the BRRI dhan 48 Aus rice exhibition plot of farmer Ripan Roy to demonstrate effectiveness of using organic fertilisers in improving soil health and fertility to increase crop yield.
Brigade Commander of the 72 Artillery Brigade of Rangpur Cantonment Brigadier General Md Isarat Hossain attended the occasion as the chief guest with Taraganj Upazila Agriculture Officer Samir Chandra Ghosh in the chair.
Commanding Officer of 34 Bengal Regiment of Rangpur Cantonment Colonel Monwar Hossain, Taraganj UNO Golam Mowla, Regional Director of Agriculture Information Service Abu Sayem and Regional Betar Agriculture Officer Sohag Mahfuz addressed as special guests.
Sadar Upazila Sub-assistant Agriculture Officers Isarat Ali and Aiyub Ali also addressed the field day participated by over 200 farmers of the area.
Farmer Ripan Roy narrated as how he cultivated BRRI dhan 48 Aus rice on his 33 decimals land separated in three portions with 11 decimals each using chemical, organic and organic with vermi-compost fertilisers in each portion respectively this season.
‘I got the highest yield rate from the 11 decimals land where I had cultivated the rice using organic fertilisers along with vermi-compost in comparison to using chemical fertilisers and only organic fertilisers on the other portions of my land,” he said.
The speakers stressed for maintaining soil health to improve fertility 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 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 discussed the latest technologies and ways for production, preservation, proper management and application of organic fertilisers like compost fertilisers, green manures and vermin-composts to the crop fields as per soil tests results.
The chief guest suggested the farmers for increasing production and application of organic fertilisers to improve soil health, fertility and productivity for increasing crop output maintaining environment, ecology and bio-diversity for the future generations.
