Staff Reporter Mymensingh :
An interim workshop followed by Field Day on Restoring Fertility to Soils After Topsoil Stripping For Brick Production in Bangladesh Through Harnessing Agro-Ecosystem Waste-Streams was held at the Agriculture Faculty Conference Hall, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh on Saturday.
Professor Dr. Md. Abu Hadi Noor Ali Khan, Director of Bangladesh Agricultural University Research System was present as the Chief Guest in the inaugural Session of the workshop. Among others in the program Professor Dr. M. Jahiruddin, Fellow Bangladesh Academy of Science & Ex Dean Faculty of Agriculture was the special guest.
Professor Dr. Mahmud Hossain Sumon, Department of soil Science and Principal Investigator of Bangladesh Component of the project presented the Keynote Speech & Dr. M. Rafiqul Islam, Professor Department of Soil Science gave welcome speech.
Professor Dr. Md. Mofizur Rahman Jahangir, Head, Department of Soil Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University was the chaired of the Interim Workshop.
The project is a collaboration between Queens University, Belfast, UK, and Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, and the project is funded by the Global Challenge Research Fund under the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of UK.
In the workshop Principal Investigator of the project Professor Dr. Mahmud Hossain Sumon, said that The striping of topsoil is very common in the agronomic regions abutting urban centres in Bangladesh.
As urban centres have been growing exponentially in Bangladesh, particularly around the mega-city of Dhaka, the focus of this study, there are concerns regarding food security due to loss of agricultural land, and the degradation of surrounding agronomic land that has had its topsoil removed.
He added currently in Bangladesh 7000 brick kilns are operated which is producing 23 billion bricks every year. Therefore, acres after acres of land in the country is becoming unproductive. Estimates for the amount of land impacted in peri-urban zones of the Indian-sub-continent through topsoil stripping are 10%. Crop yields from the subsoils left after topsoil removal, even with excess fertilization, decrease by over 50pc, impacting subsistence farmers. Thus there is a great need to find ways of restoring fertility to impacted soils.
We proposed to do this by harnessing nutrient-rich agronomic waste streams that are common in Bangladesh agri-ecosystems to rapidly restore impacted soil to full cropping potential.
These nutrient-rich waste streams include manures, oil cake, rice husks & biomass ash.
The grant proposal plans to optimise how these waste streams can be applied to subsoils to fully restore soil sustainability, at a low cost to the farmer, & thereby enhancing the food security of the region. Teachers from different departments of BAU, scientists from Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Department of Environment, MS and Ph. D. students, farmer’s representativesfrom nine different villages, and representatives in print and electronic media were present in the program.
All the participants of the interim workshop visited the Soil Science Field Laboratory to attend the Field Day after the workshop.
An interim workshop followed by Field Day on Restoring Fertility to Soils After Topsoil Stripping For Brick Production in Bangladesh Through Harnessing Agro-Ecosystem Waste-Streams was held at the Agriculture Faculty Conference Hall, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Mymensingh on Saturday.
Professor Dr. Md. Abu Hadi Noor Ali Khan, Director of Bangladesh Agricultural University Research System was present as the Chief Guest in the inaugural Session of the workshop. Among others in the program Professor Dr. M. Jahiruddin, Fellow Bangladesh Academy of Science & Ex Dean Faculty of Agriculture was the special guest.
Professor Dr. Mahmud Hossain Sumon, Department of soil Science and Principal Investigator of Bangladesh Component of the project presented the Keynote Speech & Dr. M. Rafiqul Islam, Professor Department of Soil Science gave welcome speech.
Professor Dr. Md. Mofizur Rahman Jahangir, Head, Department of Soil Science, Bangladesh Agricultural University was the chaired of the Interim Workshop.
The project is a collaboration between Queens University, Belfast, UK, and Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, and the project is funded by the Global Challenge Research Fund under the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of UK.
In the workshop Principal Investigator of the project Professor Dr. Mahmud Hossain Sumon, said that The striping of topsoil is very common in the agronomic regions abutting urban centres in Bangladesh.
As urban centres have been growing exponentially in Bangladesh, particularly around the mega-city of Dhaka, the focus of this study, there are concerns regarding food security due to loss of agricultural land, and the degradation of surrounding agronomic land that has had its topsoil removed.
He added currently in Bangladesh 7000 brick kilns are operated which is producing 23 billion bricks every year. Therefore, acres after acres of land in the country is becoming unproductive. Estimates for the amount of land impacted in peri-urban zones of the Indian-sub-continent through topsoil stripping are 10%. Crop yields from the subsoils left after topsoil removal, even with excess fertilization, decrease by over 50pc, impacting subsistence farmers. Thus there is a great need to find ways of restoring fertility to impacted soils.
We proposed to do this by harnessing nutrient-rich agronomic waste streams that are common in Bangladesh agri-ecosystems to rapidly restore impacted soil to full cropping potential.
These nutrient-rich waste streams include manures, oil cake, rice husks & biomass ash.
The grant proposal plans to optimise how these waste streams can be applied to subsoils to fully restore soil sustainability, at a low cost to the farmer, & thereby enhancing the food security of the region. Teachers from different departments of BAU, scientists from Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA), Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Department of Environment, MS and Ph. D. students, farmer’s representativesfrom nine different villages, and representatives in print and electronic media were present in the program.
All the participants of the interim workshop visited the Soil Science Field Laboratory to attend the Field Day after the workshop.
