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Unique helpline for farmers

Website consultation can up production up to 30pc

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
The government yesterday launched an online fertiliser recommendation system meant to ensure balanced use of fertiliser that can optimise productivity by 20 to 30 percent.
By furnishing location of the piece of land, its size, crop category and type, and which fertiliser he intends to apply in the given form of Bangla website www.frs-bd.com, a farmer can get the recommended dose of fertiliser online.
Many farmers of our county are used to applying more fertiliser than the necessary dose thinking it would make better yield. But in fact, it proved counterproductive.
"If farmers use appropriate kind and quantity of fertilisers, production will shoot up and the cost will go down. The technique also reduces pest attacks and enhances crop quality," said Mokbul Hossain, principal scientific officer of Soil Resources Development Institute (SRDI).
Farmers can also visit the union information service centres or Grameenphone's community information centres to get the recommended dose of fertilisers.
Besides, subscribers of telecom operators Banglalink and Grameenphone can call at 7676 and 27676 respectively for the information.
The SRDI and Katalyst jointly developed the software after extensive soil tests throughout the country to identify specific fertiliser requirements in different regions, said Mokbul Hossain.
"It is yet another step to make a digital Bangladesh," said Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury at the inauguration of the website in Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (Bare) auditorium yesterday.
Addressing as the chief guest at the ceremony, she said farmlands of the country had been declining by more than 68,000 hectares per year while food demand was increasing with the growing population.
So, balanced use of fertiliser could be a major contributor to increasing productivity, she told the programme organised by SRDI. The government would welcome innovations in crop production in the hilly, char, salinity prone and haor areas where farmers had been facing difficulties in producing crops, said the agriculture minister.
Special guest at the ceremony, European Union Ambassador William Hanna, said use of fertiliser and pesticide is also related to food safety, which is a major issue in Bangladesh now.
He said he had visited many project areas and was impressed with the achievements of the farmers in enhancing crops and developing new technologies that help improve the soil quality.
Agriculture Secretary SM Nazmul Islam, Bare Executive Ghairman Kamal Uddin, SRDI Director Syed Ali Nasim Khaliluzzaman and Emadul Haque of Katalyst also spoke at the programme.