Sick soil and overuse of fertiliser and pesticides threaten Bangladesh's farming

An article published on 30 June 2026 in the agriculture and nature section of Jagonews24 argued that Bangladesh's farming faced three linked crises: sick soil, excessive chemical fertiliser and unnecessary pesticide use. Healthy soil, the writer said, is the foundation of production; when it declines, farming, public health and food security are all at risk.

Much of Bangladesh's success in food production over recent decades, the article said, came from heavy use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. Used for years without scientific guidance, they were now depleting organic matter, killing beneficial microbes and upsetting pH balance, so farmers needed ever more fertiliser for the same yield.

Government research pointed the same way. According to a Bonik Barta report of 25 May 2026, the Soil Resource Development Institute (SRDI) had published a report on its website the previous day based on soil samples from 28,912 locations across 50 upazilas. Nearly 40 percent of the farmland tested showed severe acidity: 6.89 percent was 'very strongly acidic' and 32.11 percent 'strongly acidic'. Organic matter was 'very low' in 15.40 percent of soils and 'low' in 42.69 percent, while nitrogen was very low in 34.81 percent and low in 38.83 percent.

In December 2022 the environmental news site Mongabay, citing SRDI, reported that good soil contains at least 2.5 percent organic matter, while most of Bangladesh's soil contains less than 1.5 percent. The Jagonews24 writer urged farmers to restore it with cow dung, compost, green manure and crop residues.

Many farmers, the article said, wrongly equate more fertiliser with a bigger harvest; fertiliser beyond a crop's needs wastes money, upsets soil chemistry, creates shortages of other nutrients and pollutes groundwater and surface water. Mongabay reported that Bangladesh's urea use rose from 365,881 tonnes in 1980-81 to 1,183,024 tonnes in 2015-16.

Speaking to Bonik Barta, Amir Muhammad Zahid, chief scientific officer at SRDI's Dhaka divisional office, said heavy rain washes alkaline elements such as calcium, magnesium and potassium out of the soil, and that excessive use of urea and sulphur fertilisers also increases acidity. Dr Md Anwarul Abedin, a professor in the Department of Soil Science at Bangladesh Agricultural University, said excessive urea use was the main reason for rising soil acidity.

The writer warned that surplus nitrogen and phosphorus reaching ponds and rivers cause algal overgrowth that threatens fish and other aquatic life. The process is known as eutrophication: nutrients accumulate in a body of water, organisms multiply and deplete the dissolved oxygen, and when oxygen falls too low, fish suffocate.

Pesticides, the article said, are often sprayed before any disease or pest has been confirmed. That kills beneficial insects, bees, spiders, pollinators and soil microbes, while pests grow more resistant, pushing farmers to stronger and costlier chemicals. Costs rise, and so does the health risk from residues in food.

The writer's answer was wider use of integrated pest management (IPM). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) describes IPM as the careful consideration of all available pest control techniques and the integration of measures that discourage pest populations, combining biological, chemical, physical and cultural methods to minimise pesticide use and its risks to people and the environment.

The article set out several steps:

• Balanced, soil test-based fertilising, with specific doses of urea, TSP, MOP and other nutrients for each field.
• Wider IPM, combining biological, mechanical and cultural methods instead of relying on chemicals alone.
• Artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, remote sensing, drones and big data to judge nutrient status, pest attacks and fertiliser needs precisely.
• Farmer training, modern ICT-based extension, and strict control of adulterated fertiliser and pesticides.
• Joint work by research institutes, universities, government and the private sector on regional soil health maps and climate-resilient technology.

Without healthier soil, the writer warned, costs would rise, incomes fall and safe food grow scarcer. The article ended with a call for a national commitment to 'save soil, save agriculture, ensure safe food'.

Photo: SEJustice / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Sources: Jagonews24, Bonik Barta, Mongabay, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Wikipedia