Balanced fertilizer use is necessary

The recent World Bank report, Repurposing Agricultural Public Spending for Quality Growth and Jobs in Bangladesh's Agrifood System, has stimulated an important national discussion on nutrient management and soil health. We appreciate the World Bank's continued support for Bangladesh's agricultural development and recognize the report as a valuable contribution to policy dialogue. However, several findings warrant clarification to avoid misleading interpretations.
 
There is no disagreement that balanced fertilization is essential for sustaining crop productivity, improving fertilizer-use efficiency, and maintaining soil health. Bangladesh has long-established fertilizer recommendations developed through decades of research by BARC, BARI, BRRI, BINA, BJRI, BTRI, BSCRI, BAU, SRDI, and other research institutions. The challenge lies not in the absence of scientifically sound recommendations but in ensuring their adoption by farmers under diverse agro-ecological and socio-economic conditions.

The report estimates that balanced fertilizer use could increase yields by 33% for Boro rice, 65% for T. Aman rice, and 87% for potato. These projected yield gains appear substantially overestimated. Extensive field validation of BARC's Khamari App, which provides site-specific fertilizer recommendations, generally demonstrates yield improvements of about 5�"10%, together with reduced fertilizer input costs. These findings are more consistent with practical field experiences across Bangladesh.

The report also states that about 65% of farmers overuse phosphorus, 60% underuse potassium, nearly 90% apply insufficient sulphur, and nitrogen use is uneven�"being underused in rice cultivation but overused in onion and vegetable production. While these observations highlight important nutrient management issues, they should be interpreted with caution because fertilizer application practices vary considerably across crops, locations, soil fertility status, irrigation conditions, and farmers' economic circumstances. More detailed field-based analyses would provide a clearer understanding of these patterns.

It is also important to note that several analyses in the report are based on the Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS) 2019 and the Fertilizer Recommendation Guide (FRG) 2018, rather than the updated FRG 2024 and the subsidized fertilizer prices introduced in 2023. Consequently, some estimates of fertilizer use patterns, subsidy levels, and economic impacts may no longer accurately reflect current realities. Similarly, the impression that most agricultural soils in Bangladesh have a pH below 4.5 requires clarification. According to SRDI, very strongly acidic soils (pH < 4.5) occupy only about 0.25 million hectares, representing a small proportion of the country's agricultural land. Although nearly half of the cultivated area has soils with a pH below 5.5, liming is not commonly required, particularly in submerged rice ecosystems where soil pH naturally rises toward neutrality during flooding.

The World Bank report should therefore be viewed as an opportunity to further strengthen balanced nutrient management rather than as evidence of a failure of Bangladesh's fertilizer management system. Future analyses would benefit from incorporating the latest national datasets, updated fertilizer recommendations, current fertilizer pricing, and site-specific nutrient management technologies. Continued collaboration among national research institutions, extension services, development partners, and farmers will further enhance Bangladesh's progress toward sustainable agricultural productivity, improved soil health, and long-term food and nutrition security.