Bhubaneswar: Unscientific use of fertilizers and pesticides on the agricultural lands in Odisha is now creating new threats to the farming sector, experts claimed.
According to Sanjay Kumar Mohanty, in-charge of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Puri, several farmers in Puri district are going for uncontrolled administration of fertilizers and pesticides.
“The result is that in a rush to sell the crops as early as possible, several of these chemical compounds are entering into the human food chain when they are sold before the resting period. Excess use of chemicals is also affecting the soil fertility,” he said.
At the same time, there are also cases where either less or higher doses of fertilizers are applied to crops leading to unbalanced care and attention to standing crops. Researchers from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said that uneven distribution of the same can hamper the growth and overall yield from the farmlands.
“Several farmers in the state use different doses of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium evenly for all kinds of crops. This ignores the specific needs of various crops. The need of the hour is to feed fertilizers as per the needs and other conditions of the crops which are often ignored,” said Preeti Bharti, an IRRI researcher.
Ajay Kumar Mishra, subject matter expert on farming from IRRI, said that site-specific nutrient management system is needed to promote more yield to cater to the different needs of crops grown in different climate and soil conditions.
Mishra said that the IRRI and the state government have collaborated for adoption of balanced fertilizer application in the state with the concept of Rice Crop Manager.
“It is based on the principles of Site-Specific Nutrient Management and has been developed to sustain the productivity of rice-based cropping systems and increase the net income of smallholder farmers,” Sheetal Sharma, another researcher from the organization said.
The experts claimed that a majority of the farmlands in the state belongs to small and marginal land owners and thus the dissemination of information of site specific administration of fertilizers needed to be given to them to ensure better yield and usage of scientific method of growing crops.
PNN