SATKHIRA, June 29: Salinity is increasing day by day in the coastal district of Satkhira. Due to this, agricultural land, safe water sources and food production are facing serious risks. The situation is becoming more complicated due to climate change.
In this situation, agriculturalists, government officials, journalists and civil society representatives have called for joint initiatives to build environment-friendly agriculture, integrated farming and a safe food system.
They made this call at a citizen dialogue titled ‘Food System, Coastal Reality and Agro-ecology: In Search of a Just and Sustainable Future’ organised by the Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK) at the Mangrove Hall in Satkhira Town on Sunday.
The dialogue was chaired by Abu Affan Rose Babu, president of the Green Coalition (Sabuj Samhati) Satkhira District, and District Information Officer Jaharul Islam was the chief guest.
The speakers in the dialogue said that it is not enough to just increase food production. An agricultural system must be developed in which the balance of soil, water and environment is maintained, farmers get fair prices and the common people get safe food. For this, it is possible to protect both farmers and the environment by conserving local seeds, reducing the use of chemicals and expanding environmentally friendly integrated farming.
Additional Agricultural Officer of Satkhira Sadar Upazila Plaboni Sarkar, citizen leader Ali Nur Khan Babul, citizen leader and journalist M Kamruzzaman, President of Youth Adaptation Forum Ibrahim Khalil, Ifti Jamil of Education, Culture and Diversity Protection Team, BARCIK Regional Coordinator Md Shahin Islam, Shaheda Azbela, Amreen Binte Azad spoke, among others, in this dialogue.
