Agricultural information experts at a gathering of farmers here yesterday emphasised the need for promoting modern technology in agricultural activities for boosting its production.
They said the farmers have a vital role to play in disseminating the latest agricultural technologies to their fellow farmers so that they could be motivated to use those.
In this regard, they said that there is no alternative to adopt the information and communication technologies in the farming activities to make the nation self-sufficient in food production.
Agriculture Information Service (AIS) under its 'Intensification of Agriculture Information Service (IAIS) in Ten Agricultural Regions Project' organised the gathering at its Agriculture Information and Communication Centre (AICC) at Mugrail village under Mohanpur upazila in the district.
The AIS has established the centre equipped with modern agricultural information and communication technologies with financial support from UNDP and Danish government aimed at facilitating necessary information to the targeted farmers.
AIS Regional Director Dr Saifur Rahman, Liaison Officer Atiqul Islam, Agriculture Information and Communication Specialist Amirul Islam and Regional Agriculture Information Officer Abdullahel Quafi addressed the meeting as resource persons.
The speakers said the present government is committed to reach the updated agricultural information to the farmers' doorstep through digitising the agriculture sector aimed at building 'Digital Bangladesh' and urged the attending farmers to supplement the government effort.
Highlighting various importance of the centre they urged the farmers to use and manage it properly so that they could derive its total benefit.
They also said the ecological balance is being affected due to indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in the agricultural lands and the water bodies and urged the attending farmers to become habituated in the modern method to protect the environment from health hazards and other pollutions.
Elaborating numerous negative impacts of pesticides to the environment they said different types of known and unknown pesticides in various commercial names are being used in the farming fields and no use methods are being followed in most of the cases.
They said importance should be given on using organic and other bio-fertilisers and promoting the biological pest management system so that the dependence on chemical fertiliser and pesticides could be reduced.
Giving importance on making the integrated crop management method popular among the growers level, speakers urged the farmers to utilise the attained knowledge in their farming fields and motivate their fellow farmers to follow the improved method.
The government's efforts to achieve self-reliance on food production will be successful within a few years if every inch of arable land can be brought under different kinds of crop farming, they added.
"We can reduce dependence on rice import enhancing domestic production through proper and best uses of the modern technologies in the farming," Dr Saifur Rahman opined.