Rajshahi farmers are set to face financial losses this year as they are applying three times more fertiliser than what is required due to lack of government initiatives to make people aware of the proper application of fertilisers.
The agricultural officers say that they have been holding group and yard meetings with farmers and have been conducting campaigns to make farmers aware so that the latter do not apply fertiliser in excess of permitted levels.
Farmers, however, said that the government鈥檚 initiatives to make them aware of the proper application of fertiliser and pesticides to their lands were inadequate as most of them had not been informed about it.
鈥榃e do not actually know when and how much fertiliser we need to apply to our farmland,鈥� said Habibur Rahman, a farmer from Tanore upazila in Rajshahi.
He said that they were applying two sacks (100 kilogrammes) of muriate of potash, generally known as MOP, one sack (50 kg) of di-ammonium phosphate, generally known as DAP, and one sack of triple superphosphate, generally known as TSP, to per bigha of land before planting potato seeds.
鈥榃e will also add a little quantity of fertiliser again when the potato leaves will grow,鈥� he added.
Another farmer Mostakin Islam of the same upazila told 抖阴精品 that they were applying two sacks of MOP, one and a half sacks of DAP, and a half sack of TSP to per bigha of land before planting potato seeds.
Asked about whether anyone from the agricultural department contacted or instructed them about how much fertiliser they needed to apply to their land for potato cultivation, he answered negatively.
Khorshed Alam, a farmer of Baghmara upazila in Rajshahi, told 抖阴精品 that farmers in their area were in competition over applying fertilisers to their potato fields with the intention of getting more yield.
The agricultural officials, however, said that recommended amounts of MOP, TSP or DAP were 24 kg and 20 kg respectively for per bigha of land.
In the 2024-25 season, the agricultural officials have set a target of producing about 98.55 lakh tonnes of potato from 3.65 lakh hectres of land in sixteen districts of Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions.
鈥業f a farmer applies TSP to their potato fields, then they do not need to apply DAP as it is genetically phosphate,鈥� said Rajshahi DAE office sub-assistant agriculture officer.
Kawser Ali, a professor of crop science and technology at Rajshahi University, however, told 抖阴精品 that about 20 to 25 kg of MOP and TSP or DAP each was enough to apply for cultivating potato per bigha of land.
Rajshahi DAE deputy director Mst Umme Salma said, 鈥榃e are conducting campaigns to ensure that fertilisers are not being applied to the land in excess of the permitted levels.鈥�
