Potential and challenges of organic agriculture in Bangladesh: a review

Bangladesh’s economy and livelihoods of majority of its population depend on agriculture. Despite the importance of agriculture, ensuring food security is a concern because of frequent natural disasters, the effects of climate change, and land degradation. The country has limited land area but diverse ecosystems (hills, plains, coastal, and wetlands). Climatic variations include temperature, rainfall, and humidity. The homestead production system in Bangladesh follows traditional organic farming, with a diversity of fruits, vegetables, spices, and tuber crops. The conventional agriculture in Bangladesh became heavily dependent on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides after the Green Revolution. This has resulted in numerous human health and environmental hazards, compromising food safety. Liberalization and globalization have marginalized small farmers in Bangladesh because of their low…