Farmers and everyone else connected with farming must be far more careful about the indiscriminate use of chemical fertiliser and pesticide, President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said. Excessive and unnecessary application of these inputs, he said, is doing severe long-term damage to soil health, to the environment and to public health.

He made the remarks on Wednesday at Bangabhaban, during a courtesy call by a delegation from Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University. The president's press secretary, Md Sarwar Alam, confirmed the details.

The delegation, led by vice-chancellor Professor Md Abdul Latif, briefed the president on the university's teaching and research work.

The president called on the university and other institutions in the sector to work together to warn farmers about the risks of applying fertiliser and pesticide beyond what a crop needs.

The advice is familiar to extension workers and researchers, but it lands at a moment when fertiliser supply and pricing are under strain across the country. Applying nitrogen beyond a crop's requirement raises a farmer's production cost and, over time, disturbs the organic matter and microbial balance that keeps soil productive.

Source: Samakal (report by BSS)