Croplands lose fertility for tobacco farming

Farmers in the district are witnessing a fall in yield of their produce, including paddy and other crops, as their croplands are losing fertility due to faming of tobacco in the same field for more than a decade.

Use of huge quantity of different fertilisers and other pesticides in the tobacco fields also has an impact in pushing the farmlands towards infertility, agriculture officials said.

Ramjan Ali, 42, a farmer of Saralkhan village in Aditmari upazila of the district, said he got three to four maunds less quantity of paddy this season from the land earlier used for tobacco cultivation than of those of other crops.

“I got 12 to 13 maunds of paddy from each bigha of land where tobacco is cultivated but I have got 16 to 17 maunds from those that remained out of tobacco farming this season,” Ramjan added.

“Production of other crops, including different kinds of winter vegetables, cultivated on the land used for tobacco farming is also witnessing fall in recent times,” said Nabiar Rahman, 56, a vegetable grower of the village.

Tamir Uddin, 65, of Kumrirhat village in the upazila said he always keeps some of his land free from tobacco cultivation to grow vegetables of different varieties and other crops there. 

Aditmari Upazila Agriculture Officer Biplob Kumar Mohanta said whenever a farmer opted for tobacco farming in a particular land for over a decade it would lose its fertility.