President urges awareness to curb excessive use fertilizers, pesticides

President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday stressed the need for greater awareness among farmers and other stakeholders to curb the excessive and indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in agriculture.

“Excessive and unnecessary use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides is causing long-term and severe damage to soil health, the environment and public health,” he said.

The President made the remarks when a delegation from Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University paid a courtesy call on him at Bangabhaban.

President’s Press Secretary Md Sarwar Alam briefed reporters after the meeting.

Fakhrul urged agricultural universities and relevant institutions to work in coordination to raise farmers’ awareness about the harmful effects of excessive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

He also stressed the effective application of research-based technologies at the field level, safe food production and environment-friendly agricultural practices to build a sustainable and modern agricultural system.

The President called for closer coordination among agricultural education, research and extension activities.

The delegation, led by Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Md Abdul Latif, briefed the President on the university’s overall activities.

Secretaries to the President’s Office were present at the meeting.