Using fertilisers, pesticides to boost crop output now a risk: Food adviser
All must work together to ensure food production and safety, he says
Efforts to increase crop output to ensure food security have led to the excessive use of fertilisers and pesticides, a trend that has now become a risk, Food and Land Adviser Ali Imam Majumder said yesterday.
"In the past, artificial fertilisers and pesticides were not used in agriculture. Later, agricultural officials encouraged farmers to use them to increase production when food output needed to rise. Since then, their use has exceeded safe limits, reducing food safety and harming livestock, birds and fish," he said while speaking as chief guest at a discussion at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) auditorium in Dhaka.
The discussion was organised by the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) to mark National Safe Food Day 2026.
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National Safe Food Day is observed every year on 2 February. This year's theme is "Ensure safe food, build a healthy life."
The food and land adviser said various methods, including the use of hormones, are being used to fatten pangas fish to increase production, raising questions about safety.
"Food output must increase, but safety must be ensured at the same time," he said.
He said that as demand for food increases, challenges are also growing, with various diseases emerging.
"We must address these challenges and move forward, and all relevant sectors need to work together to ensure food safety," he added.
Ali Imam Majumder said everyone must work together to ensure both food production and food safety, adding that the responsibility of supplying food for people and animals is increasingly falling on the state.
"While we are introducing technology to increase production, we are also importing food, and sometimes face difficulties in doing so," he said.
The food and land adviser said drinking date palm sap can now lead to Nipah virus infection, although bats were present during their childhood and the disease did not occur then.
"It is important to reflect on why such issues have now become a threat," he said.
The event was chaired by Food Secretary Md Firoz Sarker, with the food and land adviser attending as chief guest. Agriculture Secretary Dr Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian was a special guest, while BFSA Chairman Zakaria delivered the welcome address.
