Bouncing back to 'poison-free' cuisine

Farmer Abdul Gafur working in his field in Atia union in Delduar upazila. PHOTO: STAR

Following use of compost and natural methods to control pest attack, farmers are getting better crops in fields and also producing fishes in larger quantities in low-lying areas and water bodies. Chemical fertiliser and insecticides in fields earlier destroyed fish fries in flood plains, they said.

Now, nobody buys insecticides for their crop fields in Atia union. Chemical fertiliser is not used in 16,000 acres out of total 27,000 and the rest 11,000 acres will be freed from use of fertiliser soon, sources at the upazila agriculture department said.

The union was declared "poison free" on April 8, 2005.

Compost (made with cow dung, left over of banana plants, shrubs, creepers and herbs) is being used in croplands. The process was started five years ago.

Atia union is around 15 kilometers from Tangail district headquarters. About 28,000 people live in 27 villages in the union and agriculture is the main occupation of most of them.

Some farmers in the union have also taken another new initiative--to revive old indigenous local varieties of paddy which are near-extinct now. During a visit they said they have started cultivating Chamara, Dima, Patjag, Shail and Kataktara, which their fathers and grandfathers used to grow. But they face problem in collecting seeds. It will take time to re-introduce them in large scale as most of the varieties were abandoned after introduction of IRRI paddy in the union in 1975.

Ziad Ali, a farmer of Kandapara village, said excessive use of chemical fetiliser for cultivating IRRI over the years has reduced land fertility. Agriculture officials came to their village and urged them to use compost. Now, he realise that use of compost is better than chemical fetiliser, he said.

Like Ziad, farmers Zalal Fakir, Chand Miah and Abdul Halim said due to indiscriminate use of chemical fertiliser and insecticide in croplands, production of different verities of local fishes had declined in floodplains, which remain under water for about six months a year,

Unnayon Bikolper Neeti Nirdharanee Gobeshana Kendra (Ubinig), a local NGO, started motivating the farmers in 1992 to discard chemical fertiliser and insecticide.

Fisherman Lal Miah said natural production of different varieties of local fishes has considerably increased in the area in the last 3-4 years.

"Fishes are being supplied to Dulla, Nanduria, Silimpur, Rupshee, Nallapara including Delduar upazila headquarters from Atia union", he added.

Atia was formally declared a "poison free union" at a function on April 8 last year. High officials of the district administration and agriculture department attended the function organised by local the Union Parishad.