ASSESSMENT OF AGROCHEMICALS USED IN GAJNER BEEL AT SUJANAGAR UPAZILA AND PEOPLE'S PERCEPTION ABOUT
ITS IMPACTS ON THE FISHERIES RESOURCES
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Bangladesh's inland open water fisheries are among the most productive in the world, sustained by a vast network of rivers, floodplains, hoars, and beels that together cover roughly 3.86 million hectares (DoF, 2024). Yet the contribution of this sector to the country's total fish production has fallen sharply, from about 62.6% in 1983–84 to only 28.1% in 2023–24, even as aquaculture has expanded to fill the gap. Beels, covering approximately 114,161 ha, continue to contribute over 100 thousand metric tons of fish annually, while also supporting biodiversity conservation and the livelihoods of rural communities (DoF, 2024).
The Beel is a Bengali term used for a relatively large surface, static water body that accumulates surface run-off water through an internal drainage channel (Hossain et al., 2009). This type of shallow, seasonal water body is common in low-lying floodplain areas throughout Bangladesh (Hossain, 2015). There are an estimated 4,500 beels in the country. Beels are one of the important sources of fish supply in Bangladesh. These bodies of water contributed 104,871 metric tons to the inland fish production in 2014-2015, which accounts for approximately 2.22% of the total production of inland open water (Khan et al., 2025).
One notable wetland in Bangladesh is the Gajner Beel, situated in Sujanagar Upazila, Pabna, in the northwest region of the country. It is located almost in the middle of Sujanagar Upazila (Islam, 2012). The bill covers an area of about 3,100 hectares during the monsoon season (Laboni et al., 2024). It receives water from several surrounding unions and serves as an important floodplain ecosystem for fisheries and aquatic biodiversity. The Gajner Beel, connected to the Padma River, works as a dynamic feeding and spawning ground for numerous freshwater fish species. The beeprovidesng natural habitat for diverse fish species during monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, supporting thousands of local households through crop cultivation and capture fisheries. An estimated half a million people from the surrounding villages depend directly or indirectly on the beel's fisheries resources for income, employment, and protein (Mazid et al., 2005).
During the dry season, the water level of Gajner Beel gradually recedes, exposing large areas of fertile beel bed which are temporarily used as agricultural land. This seasonal change exposes some 6,000 hectares of highly productive land, which is intensively farmed by the local population. The major crops grown during this period are boro rice, onion, and jute. In the present study area, a total area of 4,350 ha of agricultural land was considered and distributed among the three unions of Sujanagar Upazila, namely Ahammadpur Union (1,100 ha), Hatkhali Union (1,850 ha), and Dulai Union (1,400 ha) (SAAO, 2025). These cultivated areas are the major agricultural zones around Gajner Beel and are of utmost importance in assessing the impacts of agrochemicals, such as fertilizers and pesticides, used extensively. As crop fields are connected to the wetland through rainfall, runoff, irrigation return flow, and seasonal flooding, a portion of those chemicals enter the Beel ecosystem, which may directly or indirectly affect fish growth, reproduction, and survival, water quality, and fisheries resources.
In different wetland ecosystems of Bangladesh, previous studies have shown that the excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides could be detrimental to aquatic ecosystems and fisheries resources. Excessive use of agrochemicals is reported to be associated
with a decline in fish biodiversity and fish production, ecological risk to aquatic organisms, habitat degradation, and deterioration of wetland ecosystems in studies in Hilna and Kumari Beels, Chalan Beel, Kawadighi Haor, and Arial Beel. These studies give useful information on environmental impacts of agrochemical use in different wetland ecosystems of Bangladesh (Alam et al., 2016; Hossain, 2024; Juthi et al., 2017; Sayeed et al., 2015)
Earlier studies have indicated the effects of agrochemical use on wetland ecosystems and fisheries resources of other regions of Bangladesh, but information on agrochemical use in Gajner Beel is limited. The types, sources, quantities,s and application patterns of agrochemicals, as well as farmers’ awareness and perception of their impacts on fisheries resources,s have not been comprehensively documented.
As a result, concerns have emerged regarding declining fish availability, reduced biodiversity, and changes in traditional fisheries in the area. However, limited localized research has systematically examined the scale of agrochemical use in Gajner Beel and its perceived and actual impacts on fisheries resources. Therefore, Gajner Beel was selected as the study area for an in-depth study with the following
Objectives;
• To identify types, sources, and quantities of fertilizers and pesticides currently used by farmers around Gajner Beel.
• To identify the adverse effects of agrochemicals on fisheries resources.
• To assess the current awareness level of farmers on safe agrochemical handling practices and identify possible management interventions.