ActionAid, BARI call for national roadmap to promote organic fertiliser
Agricultural experts and policymakers have called for the introduction of subsidies and incentives to promote the use of organic fertilisers, warning that soil degradation and declining crop quality pose growing threats to national food security.
They made the remarks at a roundtable entitled 'Subsidising Organic Fertiliser for Agroecology and Soil Health', jointly organised by ActionAid Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), together with 29 co-organising institutions, at the CIRDAP Auditorium in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Speaking as chief guest, Dr Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, said: 'We are rethinking the approach to organic fertiliser and working on a roadmap to determine how coordinated investment can be made in this sector.'
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He noted that nearly 70% of the total agricultural budget goes to subsidies—of which around 80% is spent on chemical fertilisers. The government, he said, aims to reduce chemical fertiliser use by 32–35% while increasing organic fertiliser use but stressed that a strong registration and monitoring system is essential to prevent misuse.
Dr Nazim Uddin, Senior Scientific Officer at BARI, proposed providing incentives or subsidies of Tk 5,000 per tonne of organic fertiliser. 'Bangladesh's agriculture has grown remarkably over the past five decades but heavy dependence on chemical inputs has caused soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, groundwater depletion and lower food nutrition,' he said.
He added that the country's current demand for organic fertiliser is 6–6.5 million tonnes and over 75% of the raw materials are locally available. Implementing a subsidy programme, he noted, could create around 3.7 lakh new jobs across 14,000 agricultural blocks, mobilising youth entrepreneurs, strengthening the livestock sector and contributing to the global net-zero soil management target by 2050.
Dr Samia Sultana, Director General of the Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI), emphasised: 'There is no alternative to organic fertiliser when it comes to protecting soil health. Greater focus must be placed on its production, marketing and use alongside chemical fertilisers.'
Speakers also called for youth and women's participation in organic agriculture, entrepreneurship based on organic materials and stronger coordination among government, private and research institutions.
The session was moderated by Farah Kabir, Country Director of ActionAid Bangladesh, and joined by Dr Shahidul Islam (former Director General, BARI), Rezaul Karim Siddique Rana (General Secretary, B-SAFE Foundation), Dr Latiful Bari (Chief Scientist, Centre for Advanced Research in Sciences), Dr Monowar Karim Khan (Soil Science Society), and Fazle Rabbi Sadeque (Deputy Managing Director, PKSF).
