Bangladesh, February 2022

In developing economies like Bangladesh, farmers are using an extensive amount of chemical fertilizer for high yield and production, especially in the vegetable field. It is found that there is a lack of awareness of unprotected uses of pesticides which are threatening ecosystems such as soil fertility, river, pond, underground water, fish, eco-friend insects, beneficial microorganisms, human health, and the environment.

Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), New Delhi aligned with its Lifelong learning for farmers initiative, came forward to support marginalized farmers of Bangladesh in spreading awareness for “Sustainable Agriculture” and “IPM technologies for year-round vegetables production”.

Ten 6-days workshops were organised in different villages of two districts of Bangladesh: Dhaka and Manikgonj between November 2021 to February 2022. In these workshops, 309 marginalised farmers (Female-83, male-226) were mobilised with the support of a local mobilising agency named Aster innovations, Dhaka. Workshop sessions were conducted by Professors of Sher-e-Bengal Agricultural University, officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Bangladesh, and other agriculture experts.

All participants also visited the agriculture labs of Sher-e-Bengal Agricultural University to understand IPM technologies and new techniques of organic farming.