Leading organic fertiliser makers have rolled out plans to bolster production to cash in on the rising demand for green farming inputs.

Biofertiliser manufacturers, such as Northern Agro Services, Waste Concern and Faruq Fertiliser Ltd, are taking the lead in expansion, inspired by a steady rise in the sales of inputs to commercial farming entities, especially seed growers and agroprocessors.

In the five years to 2009, the sales of organic fertilisers shot to 30,000 tonnes a year from 10,000 tonnes, said Omar Faruq, president of the organic fertiliser manufacturing division of Bangladesh Fertiliser Association.

“The market is growing mainly because of a rise in awareness. The entry of business firms in farming has also spurred demand for organic fertilisers,” said Faruq, also managing director of Faruq Fertiliser Ltd.

Demand for green farming inputs registers a spike in the backdrop of a gradual depletion of organic matter in the soil because of an imbalanced use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

“At present, 70 percent of farm land has less than 1 percent organic matter. But it should be 3.5 percent to ensure good soil fertility,” said Iftekhar Enayetullah, director of Waste Concern, which makes organic fertiliser by composting vegetables waste.

The government in its draft national agriculture policy said it will raise awareness of the use of organic manure, compost and biofertiliser at farmers' level.

Analysts said the reduction of organic contents is affecting land fertility and crop yield.

Enayetullah said the use of Waste Concern's biofertiliser cuts chemical fertiliser requirement by almost 30 percent.

“THals show that rice production has increased by 25-40 percent,” said the official of Waste Concern, which started production of biofertiliser in March 2009. He said his company's organic fertiliser has received a good response from the farmers.

“At present, our supplies are lower than the demand,” he said, adding that the company plans to double its annual production capacity to 10,000 tonnes within next year.

“We also aim at producing 15,000 tonnes of biofertiliser by 2012,” said Enayetullah.

Insiders said green fertiliser is used mostly for growing rice, potato and vegetables with the farmers in the north leading the trend. A kilogram of organic fertiliser is sold at aroundTk 15 at the farmers level.

The MD of Faruq Fertilisers said big business firms are the main buyers of organic fertilisers. He also said former agriculture officials are joining business firms, especially the seed companies, and promoting organic fertiliser. “It will increase awareness and help the market growfurther.”

“Now our annual production capacity is 2,000 tonnes. But we hope to produce 5,000 tonnes of organic fertiliser within next year,” said Faruq.

Northern Agro Services, one of the leading organic fertiliser makers, also aims to boost annual production capacity to 30,000 tonnes from the present 20,000 tonnes, said Farhatul Islam, managing director of the company.

He said the demand for the green inputs rose in the past five years.

“But the demand has not increased compared to that for chemical fertilisers,” he said, adding that the fall in prices of chemical fertilisers has slowed down the demand for organic ones among the farmers.

sohel@thedailystar.net