Posted on August, 5, 2022 at 09:32 am
Speakers at a workshop in Dhaka underlined the need for promoting sustainable soil management for nutrition-sensitive agriculture essential for healthy life.
They said that sustainable soil management practices, such as crop associations and integrated fertility strategies, increase soil organic matter and ensure the availability of macro and micronutrients in soils.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations organized the workshop at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council auditorium in Dhaka on the occasion of closing the project titled ‘Sustainable Soil Management for Nutrition-sensitive Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.’
‘Global soil degradation is estimated at 33 percent, and policymakers around the world are looking for solutions to implement the Sustainable Development Goals to combat this challenge,’ said Robert D Simpson, FAO Representative in Bangladesh.
In order to improve the nutritional value of foods grown locally, the Government of Bangladesh and the Global Soil Partnership initiative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations launched the project in September 2019 with funding from the German Government, said a press release issued by FAO.
Agriculture secretary Md Sayedul Islam was present in the workshop as the chief guest while Florian Höllen, Head of Development Cooperation, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Md Kamaruzzaman, Director General, Soil Resource Development Institute and Kabir Ahamed, Joint Secretary and Wing Chief (UN), Economic Relations Division, were among the special guests in the event with Shaikh Mohammad Bokhtiar, Executive Chairman, BARC, in the chair.
Carolina Olivera Sanchez from FAO HQ, Italy overviewed the project aimed promoting and supporting the use of Sustainable Soil Management for nutrition-sensitive agriculture.
Agriculture intensification using nutrient-rich high-yielding varieties can lead to a decline in soil fertility resulting in jeopardizing long-term food and nutritional security, the speakers said.
The Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council and the Soil Resource Development Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture implemented the project.
In addition to Bangladesh, FAO has executed the initiative in Malawi and Burkina Faso, according to the release.
The project activities included field demonstrations in three Upazilas in Bangladesh, as well as a baseline survey of 600 farmers, 45 field demonstrations, awareness development training for 180 stakeholders, and soil doctor training for 450 farmers.
More than half of the people in Bangladesh are malnourished, and 450000 children have severe acute malnutrition, it mentioned, adding that consumption of nutrient-deficient staple crops cultivated on nutrient-depleted soils is a potential contributor of nutritional deficits.
Source: New Age