bdenvironment.com

Tag: Environment friendly

  • Light-trap Technology to Help Farmers

    Light-trap Technology to Help Farmers

    Johirul Haque: Light-trap, an environment-friendly method to detect harmful insects is helping hundreds of farmers in different areas of the Mymensingh during this ongoing Aman season. The farmers are getting benefits from this technology and they are very enthusiastic to use it, said Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) officials here.

    The  DAE sources said they have taken the programme throughout the district with a view to detecting the harmful insects in the Aman fields and to use the insecticides accordingly to save the crops. The very low-cost technology is also helpful for the ecological balance, said the officials.

    In many cases, the farmers use insecticides indiscriminately without knowing about the proper insecticides to kill the harmful insects and the farmers have to cost more money, said the officials adding “indiscriminate use of pesticides also kill the useful insects, endangering the environment”.

    Around 2625 light-traps have already been set up at 525 blocks in 12 Upazilas of the district.

    Narayan Chandra Basak, Deputy Director of DAE told this correspondent that light- trap programme has been implementing in the district for last few years to help the farmers to manage pest effectively with low-cost. This year we gave more emphasis on the programme, he said.

    During September and October, the farmers face serious pest attack every year and they have to cost more money using pesticides indiscriminately for pest control, said the deputy director. He also said the farmers go for indiscriminate use of pesticides as they do not know what pesticides actually they need.

    Over 2,58,955 hectares of land were brought under Aman cultivation in the district this year. This technology has reduced use of indiscriminate pesticides to nearly 50 percent as farmers’ response to this technology, said the deputy director.

    The farmers are also learning about the harmful and useful insects through this technology and such identification is much needed for maintaining ecological balance, added the official.

    I visited the method at the field level and it has got a very positive response from the farmers’ side, said the official.

    The technology is easy to handle, so the farmers can carry it from one field to another round the season according to their need, sources said.

    The DAE sources said they set up the light-traps at night using traditional lights, charger light or electric bulbs and a pot with detergent or kerosene mixed clear water and the pot is put under the lights to draw the insects. The insects fall into the water kept in the pot and thus the existence of harmful and beneficial insects in the field is identified, said sources.

    Sources also informed that if the existence of harmful insects is found, agricultural experts render necessary advice to the farmers.

    Contacted, Mahbubul Alam, Muktagacha Upazila Agriculture officer said, no harmful insects have been detected in the Upazila so far. He observed that light- trap technology is saving the Aman filed from harmful insects and helping the farmers to learn about an environment-friendly technology as well.

    He also said this programme has been implementing in  45 blocks in 10 unions of the Upazila. This technology would make a positive impact in the field of agriculture benefiting farmers, hoped the official.

    Hazrat Ali, a farmer of village Kandinau of Kumargata union in Muktagacha said, he was acquainted with the technology for the first time this year and he attained knowledge for operating the technology to detect harmful insects.

    This technology will encourage the farmers and it will boost Aman production, hoped Hazrat Ali. The light-trap method has inspired hundreds of farmers of the district in the last couple of years and many farmers have been successfully using the nature-friendly technology to detect the harmful and beneficial insects, needed to reap a good harvest, said Mohammad Abdul Hannan, Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer.

    The writer is a journalist. He can be reached at E-mail: [email protected]

  • Environment-Friendly Vermicompost

    Environment-Friendly Vermicompost

    Johirul Haque: Environment-Friendly Vermicompost (an environment-friendly compost produced using earthworm) has created a positive trend among hundreds of farmers in Phulbaira Upazila of Mymensingh. The compost is very helpful for the farmers and the environment as well, sources said. The farmers need less money to make the compost and it is much cheaper than chemical fertilizers, farmers said.

    Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh (CCDB) under its project Comprehensive Poverty Reduction Programme (CPRP) is running the Environment-Friendly Vermi-compost programme at Koyer Chala, Bakta, Enayetpur, Rangamatia, Kanchichura and Nischintapur villages in Phulbaria to make the rural poor women self-reliant through producing vermicompost

    The Environment-Friendly Vermicompost can be produced easily at homestead using a  cement slab ring or a big earthen bowl (chari) to keep the earthworms. Once the bin is ready, bedding materials like sand, small pieces of brick is put in it. The worms put in the bin are covered with a layer of bedding, gunny bags or other structure to protect the worms against sun, downpours, and birds. Twenty kgs of cow dung along with 20 kgs bio-waste like straw, hyacinth and vegetable waste are kept in the bin as feedstock for half-kg worms.

    The amount of bio-compost what the earthworms eat up, they release its half amount as ‘tea dust-like’ stool which is called vermicompost. Later the vermicompost is separated through chaloni (sieving/straitening).

    At the initial stage, a grower will get 20 to 25 kgs vermicompost after 45 to 60 days. But the harvest period is reduced when the worms’ number increases at the bins, said CCDP sources.

    The surplus worms can be sold at TK. 1500 per kg. One kg vermicompost is sold at TK. 8 while the price of chemical fertilizer is much higher, said sources. Now some 200 women are involved in vermicompost production in Phulbaria.

    In comparison with the chemical fertilizers, vermicompost is better as it has nutritive value for containing the soil fertility. It also helps the soil to grow plants even in the dry season, said  CCDB sources. The vermicompost improves soil organic matter, maximizes retention of nutrients in the soil and maintains a balanced soil level, sources added.

    Like many vermicompost producers, Jahan Ara of village Koyer Chala is producing vermicompost at her homestead. She started vermicompost production one year ago and now she produces around eight per month and sells it at TK. 8 per kg.

    Fatema, another woman of the same village now earns around TK. 3000 per month. Fazila of Bakta, Aysha of  Nischintapur while Hasina and Jamila of Kanchichura village started producing vermicompost, seeing Fatema’s success.

    Talking to this correspondent, some farmers of Koyer Chala said, they use vermicompost in their bitter-guard and brinjal fields and received a good result than using of chemical fertilizers.

    Anwar Hossain said, they needed a little amount of TSP fertilizers after using vermicompost this year and the production cost came down.

    The farmers also observed less pest attack in their fields after using of vermicompost, farmers informed.

    Debasish Kumar Dey, area manager of CCDB said, vermicompost will not only help to improve the soil condition, but it will also reduce the use of chemical fertilizer in a great deal. He also said DAE should include vermicompost in farmer training curricula to train the farmers on vermicompost so that they can produce and use it in their fields.

    The environment-friendly vermicompost can also be an income-generating programme for the poor rural women, added the official.

    Narayan Chandra Basak, deputy director of Department of Agriculture Extension here said this compost fertilizer is an ideal nutrient source for plants as it is rich with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium than other traditional composts and it is beneficial for the natural environment.

    Environment-Friendly Vermicompost, also an excellent fertilizer for maintaining ecological balance can make the soil’s structure well for good production decreasing the indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizers, said the deputy director. The vermicompost can help to produce chemical-free crops, he said adding “when the plants are strong, normally they face less pest attack”. Dr. Md. Rafiqul Islam, a professor of Soil Science Department of Faculty of Agriculture at Bangladesh Agricultural University said, vermicompost contains organic matters and increases water holding capacity, improves soil structure easing the water movement and aeration into the soil.

    The writer is a journalist. He can be reached at E-mail: [email protected]