Pesticide use in Bangladesh has risen by 40,000 tonnes over 50 years, according to a presentation. The country used 4,000 metric tonnes of pesticide in 1972, rising to 40,000 metric tonnes in 2022. The pesticides are used in growing rice, vegetables and fruit. In the last five years alone, use rose by 81.5 percent.

The figures were presented at a workshop titled "Journalist Orientation Workshop on Pesticide Risk Reduction", organised by CABI at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council in the capital on the morning of 9 September.

The Director General of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Md Saiful Alam, spoke as chief guest at the opening session, which was chaired by former DAE Director General Abdul Muyeed.

Speakers included Azmat Abbas, CABI's development communication manager for Asia; Bangladesh country representative Dr Saleh Ahmed; and project coordinator Dr Dilruba Sharmin. Md Obaidur Rahman Mondal, director of the Field Service Wing, was among those present.

Md Saiful Alam said journalists' reporting had raised public awareness about cutting pesticide use on crops. People now think before using pesticides, and in many cases they are reducing unnecessary use.

He said that although food production has risen, the production of safe food has not risen in the same way, so plans have been made to produce safe and nutritious food by 2050.

Abdul Muyeed said pesticides are used to control insects and pests but are harmful to human health, giving rise to many diseases.

So food security must be considered alongside health, he said. Thanks to progress in agriculture, vegetables are available all year round, but we must think about how safe they are. Farmers account for 64 percent of those with cancer, he said, and they are getting cancer while spraying pesticides.

Presenting the keynote paper, Dr Dilruba Sharmin said the number of cancer patients was rising day by day because of pesticide use. The country's pesticide market is worth Tk 5,000 crore, she said. Pesticides are now also used in fish farming, especially heavily on dried fish.

On biopesticides, she said 110 are registered in the country, and the government has banned 40 pesticides.

In her presentation she said pesticide use in the country was 11,367 tonnes in 1997 and rose to 39,243 tonnes in 2022, an increase of 27,836 metric tonnes in 25 years. There are currently 8,013 pesticide names registered in the country, of which 363 are in use, and 754 companies. In 2023 the country used 39,157 metric tonnes of pesticide.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.