Bangladesh News

Bangladesh needs to focus on intensive agriculture researches and collaboration with other countries for next generation technologies, which will increase productivity and reduce input cost to face the challenges of climate change and rising energy prices.

Amit Roy, president of the US-based International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC), said this in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star at IFDC office in Dhaka on January 31.

Roy came to Bangladesh on a four-day visit on January 29 to see farmers adapting themselves to the urea deep placement or guti urea technology, which increases over 30 percent efficiency of urea. IFDC works to develop new technologies that increase farm efficiency and productivity.

He met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury to raise his concerns.

“By 2050, Bangladesh is going to have 250 million people or more but agricultural land is shrinking because of urbanisation. So, you need to produce more,” he said, adding that food is the most important global issue now to ensure social stability, especially after 2006 when over 20 countries witnessed rioting because of rising food prices.

With the rise of energy prices and climate change in the forefront, it has become extremely important to start research programmes for new varieties of crops, better techniques for farm management and market interventions so that all people can afford food but ecology remains uninterrupted.

He said research institutions in Bangladesh are working to develop more saline and submergence-tolerant varieties.

“I expect the collaboration between the international and national centres,” Roy said, adding that it is expected that new technologies will be responsive to climate change, more drought, flood and stress-tolerant crop varieties. Science is at the forefront to solve such problems.

On production cost, Amit Roy, a chemical engineer, said two-thirds of urea vanishes in the air as soon as it is broadcast, the usual practice in the developing countries. It not only damages health of soil and environment but also causes loss of huge energy used to produce it, he noted.

“We need balanced fertiliser,” said Amit Roy, adding that after the first generation fertilisers developed in Tennessee Valley Authority in the US 50 years back there has been almost no invention.

There should be virtual research centres with experts from Asia, Africa, Europe and Australia so that they all can share information fast and develop new technologies that maximise yields with less input costs, the IFDC president said.

“Public funding for research activities, therefore, has to come back,” he said placing stress on efficient energy use.

For example, Bangladesh has gas but there is a dilemma on its use, he said, adding: “Will it be used for power generation, fertiliser or cooking?”

Asked about depletion of underground water, he said water is a very scarce commodity and so there must be pricing of it. “If you don’t do it, you will export free water, say melon, mango or vegetables that bear water.”

Referring to water use in Israel, he said if more water is used than the amount required for producing crop, there should be a premium.

With energy prices going up, the whole model of production probably will have to be readjusted, Amit said, adding: “You have small farm holders who need to start adapting to new technologies to become more productive.”

There are always demands for low-priced food, he said. “But you have to make farming profitable. This is the first thing. On the other hand, you have to increase income so that people can afford the price of food.”