1. Let’s start with a short introduction and your inspiration behind becoming an Agronomist and a Scientist.
Since my early childhood, I was inquisitive about how a tree survives in soil and provides us with flowers and fruits. When I grew up, I gradually started gardening on a small scale and observed closely how a plant produces flowers and fruits and how they grow up in a certain period of time. I started getting more and more curious to know further about them, so I decided to pursue this field of study. Therefore after completing my intermediate studies, I pursued admission to the soil science department of Dhaka University back in 1978. Studying Soil Science, I got introduced to many courses where I learned a lot about plant-soil interaction and microorganisms through discussions and experiments. It was quite a fascinating learning experience that gradually made my interest grow and made me pursue my Master’s in Soil Chemistry, where my thesis topic was exploring the impact of salinity of Bangladesh’s soil, and working with that, my interest grew further. Later on, I went abroad to pursue my Ph.D. in Agronomy, where my topic was soil, plant, and water relationship on plant output. Currently, I am established as an Agronomist and scientist, and I am glad I pursued my passion.
2. We would like to know about the research and experiments you have conducted throughout your professional career.
As you know, climate change is becoming a critical aspect of our everyday lives. My works are mostly related to climate change adaptation and mitigation. My research focuses on producing crops in dryland conditions or in areas where the soil consists of more salts, both of which are becoming more and more prevalent due to the impacts of climate change. I have been doing this work for the past 30 years when climate change was not as common a phenomenon yet. When I initially conducted my research, people were largely unaware of these quantitative impacts, which are now becoming more crucial items to study. I am currently teaching my students about crop production, increased water use efficiency while producing crops and which crops to produce in the areas where the soil salinity is more. My work with emissions mitigation includes biofuel production on non-cultivable land. Apart from all this, I work with Agritech (Agricultural biotechnology) like tissue culture, grafting, and hydroponic systems for plants including bioremediation of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
3. Briefly describe your plans for establishing a Bioenergy Research Laboratory in Bangladesh and your opinion on Rooftop Gardening.
As land is scarce in urban areas, rooftops are considered the most suitable replacement. So why not make the best use of it? Rooftop gardening can reduce the temperature of your construction significantly and reduce heat island effect and also reduced energy costs for cooling. Moreover, the plants will absorb the carbon, making the surroundings more environmentally friendly. With that, I want to establish the concept of energy crops. These plants can be grown in any soil condition, and their seeds can also produce fuel, which can be used in your home generator, engine boat, lamp, etc.
This environment-friendly and non-fossil fuel deserves attention, and I wanted to establish an energy lab at North South University so that I, alongside my students, could work together and conduct various research activities. Not only plants that are grown inland, aquatic plants like water hyacinths can also produce fuel, ethanol, and biomass. This is something I think we should focus on as water hyacinths are now considered a waste and a weed that grows uncontrollably. If we can make fuel and raw materials out of it, we can make use of this plant that is currently considered a waste.
4. Shed some light on Biofuel Cultivation and the prospect of Biofuel in Bangladesh.
There’s a misconception that biofuel is made only out of food crops which will risk food security by impacting food prices or creating competition for land. We can produce biofuel without food crops or land with minimal irrigation. Many countries produce biofuel with corn, but we do not intend to do so. We want to use non-food crops grown in dryland conditions and do not require any maintenance, water supply, or irrigation – so reduced operational costs while providing income for subsistence farmers. Currently, we are working on this project, and we are optimistic that we can bring positive outcomes for this sector in the largely agrarian context of the country.
5. What are the possible areas relevant to Bangladesh that should be focused on for a sustainable ecosystem?
The concept of biofuel is quite substantial. If we notice, there is a lot of biomass all around us. For instance, we can use sugarcane bagasse to produce biogas to replace rural cooking gas, which we plan to implement in the coming days. In the future, we want to produce biofuel from a combination of bagasse, water hyacinths, water lettuce, etc. at a large scale so that it can be used in generators for villages, housing blocks as well as engines like irrigation pumps or motorized boats. In this way, we can prevent carbon emissions, reduce reliance on foreign imports of heavy fuels, create local income and avoid environmental pollution to quite an extent.
To maintain a sustainable ecosystem, it is crucial to conserve the wetland areas and the forest areas we currently have. In the case of the wetlands, such as Saint Martin’s Island, Sundarbans, Hakaluki Haor, and Tanguar Haor, it is vital to conserve them as they have biodiversity. Constructing buildings can permanently destroy the biodiversity of these areas which can ruin our ecosystem irreversibly. Our moral responsibility is to preserve our aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems so that our biodiversity does not become extinct, as they are essential for our food chain balance and can have various direct and indirect consequences.
6. How do you think your experience with several international organizations helped you to shape your ongoing projects in Bangladesh?
I mostly work with U.S. universities and research institutions. I worked with two universities, Washington State University and the University of Florida. Working there, we have shared many of our resources among the scientists and attended many scientific conferences to report our findings. In that way, we can share our collective knowledge with both industry and academia. When I was invited to the Washington State University for a biofuel project, I conducted the lab work with Nutrient Cycling and Rhizosphere Ecology (NCRE) research with energy crops and cultivated biofuel crops on their land under the project Biofuel Cropping System (BCS) and in their underground facility. The project was successful, and they were delighted to be a part of the project and the subsequent publication of the results in research journals. We were able to inform our understanding of the process, and also make it specific for applications in Bangladesh’s climate as a future effort.
7. What changes would you like to see in the agricultural sector, and what support do you expect from the higher authorities for a long-term environmental benefit?
It is crucial to practice sustainable agriculture in our country, such as organic farming and others. As we see many diseases, even among the younger generation, like kidney damage, the main reasons are increased usage of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides which are harmful to human health. To resolve this, we need to shift towards organic farming, and we need to convey this knowledge to the farmers and consumers. Organic agriculture can be affordable if the farmers take specific steps like reclaiming and putting the waste back into the production processes. They can use cow dung and everyday wastes and vermicompost to make their soil healthy which will benefit them in the long run.
Using agrochemicals can severely damage the soil condition and reduce microbial population, the extent of which our farmers may be severely unaware of. As a result, we must raise awareness through authorities so that they convey to the farmers how to make waste into resources in cost-effective manner and help them understand the true cost of fertilizers on their land and production yields long-term. We can ensure a move towards zero waste if we can use our resources properly – and better information and knowledge can show those efficiencies. We can also make natural pesticides by boiling certain plants (like neem and custard apple leaves), including IPM (Integrated Pest Management) and eliminating the harmful pesticides from the food chain. Educating the farmers about these solutions can help us achieve long-term environmental benefits. More investments in the agricultural sector, given its sheer scale, can also steadily impact on our output with home-grown innovations, applied research from our country’s educational institutions as well as creating more stable employment across the sector.
