“Pesticide Use in Bangladesh: Recent Trends and Emerging Risks” ‘Regional Analysis’
Pesticides are substances used to kill or control pests like insects, weeds, fungi, and rodents that harm crops, public health, and stored food. Since the Green Revolution, they have played a crucial role in improving agricultural productivity globally by reducing crop losses and helping to feed increasing populations. Over 94% of farmers in Bangladesh use pesticides, with usage increasing from around 4,000 tons in the 1970s to over 40,000 tons recently.
While pesticides boost yields, their harmful effects are becoming more apparent. Many farmers use too many chemicals, mix them, and harvest without managing safe intervals, which can leave harmful residues on vegetables, fruits, and fish.
A survey conducted in 2024 revealed that 10% of fruits tested positive for pesticide residues, with litchis being particularly affected. Acute poisoning cases, such as the 2012 Dinajpur tragedy, led to the deaths of 13 children.
Pesticides in Bangladesh are essential for protecting crops, but they can also be harmful, as seen in the tragic 2023 case in Dhaka where two brothers died from indoor spraying by a pest control company.
Human health and the environment. Greater control, farmer education, and alternatives like Integrated Pest Management (IPM) are needed sooner rather than later.
Kinds of Pesticide Used in Bangladesh
Among the most widely used pesticides in Bangladesh is carbofuran, a carbamate insecticide. It has over 250 brand names and is extensively used on crops like rice, brinjal, potato, sugarcane, and tea. Farmers in 2017 alone used about 7,000 tons of carbofuran, one of the country’s largest pesticide inputs. Although useful in controlling the pests, carbofuran is assessed as being extremely hazardous by the World Health Organization with high risks of acute and chronic neurotoxicity to children. It has been banned or severely banned in the United States and EU but remains intensively used in Bangladesh. *5
Another widely used pesticide is emamectin benzoate, available under about 230 brand names. It is applied to a wide variety of crops, including rice, potato, brinjal, beans, tomatoes, tea, jute, cotton, and vegetables. Though widely used by farmers for pest control, the European Chemicals Agency has classified emamectin benzoate as a chemical that harms human organs and causes damage when in direct contact with the skin, which is highly unsafe. *6
Looking at wide trends, organophosphates and carbamates top the application of pesticides in Bangladesh. A national survey indicated that organophosphates account for about 60% of the total uses of insecticides, and carbamates account for about 29%. Both groups are highly known to be toxic, with links to neurological disorders, cancers, and other long-term diseases. Alarming as it is, use has not remained uniform. From 1990 to 2010, overall pesticide use in Bangladesh rose five times, and insecticide use alone rose more than twenty times, a sign of growing dependence on chemical pest control. *7
Affected Regions :
❖ Dinajpur (Northwest Bangladesh):
Dinajpur region, famous for its litchi orchards, has witnessed some of the most horrific pesticide tragedies. In 2012, the Dinajpur cluster of child fatalities (13 children dying due to toxic exposure in The orchards) put unsafe pesticide practices on the national spotlight. Recently in 2025, Dinajpur’s Biral upazila hit the headlines when a litchi farm’s use of pesticides killed thousands of honeybees in a beekeeper’s hives over 72 hours. *8
These reports point towards the excessive pesticide use that is of high risk in some areas of fruit farming in northwestern Bangladesh. Farmers of Dinajpur were applying more than one pesticide to litchi trees, frequently in succession and without considering safety gaps.
The region’s reliance on litchi (a sensitive crop to pests) may be contributing to overuse. Unfortunately, the victims of this overuse have been children and biodiversity too. Dinajpur is a prime example of the way “high-intensity” pesticide application can become toxic to humans (via acute poisoning) and useful species (like pollinators) alike.
❖ Dhaka :
Pesticide risk in major cities such as Dhaka does not have its origin in agriculture but in poor urban pest control and food adulteration. Dhaka’s upscale Bashundhara Residential Area was rocked by the 2023 incident in which the negligence of a licensed pest control firm caused the death of two children.
This case illustrated that even in urban homes, toxic pesticides (likely organophosphates or synthetic pyrethroids) are used at high doses to exterminate insects, with poor ventilation or protection.9 Hospitals in Dhaka also see accidental or intentional pesticide poisoning (ingestion of toxic “rice pills” or liquid insecticides is a known suicide method in South Asia).
Also, the city’s consumers are at the end of vegetable supply chains , which means citizens of Dhaka are consuming vegetables, fruits, and fish with pesticide residues or toxins from rural sources on a regular basis.
For instance, fish caught through poisoning in coastal areas are transported to Dhaka markets unknown to customers. Thus, city residents are indirectly affected by the misuse of pesticides from the food they eat and directly by pest control chemicals used within the urban area.
❖ Chittagong (Southeast, Port City):
The city stored Asia’s largest reserve of the pesticide DDT (500 tonnes) in a government warehouse for nearly four decades. *10
The warehouse in a populous part of the city slowly leaked poisonous DDT powder into the environment. People shared space for decades with this abandoned cache of poison in the middle of their community.
In 2022-23, an FAO project finally re-packaged and removed the DDT for destruction abroad. While this erasure was a blessing, it was discovered that adjacent land and structures were densely infused with DDT and are not decontaminable to completion. *11
The Chittagong DDT saga represents the long-term environmental consequences of previous pesticide mismanagement. It is also a regional risk, Chittagong’s tropical climate and high population density made the extended DDT contact especially problematic for public health (DDT is linked to cancers and reproductive harm). *12
With media attention and campaigning, the authorities finally took steps to get rid of this “time-bomb” of pesticide contamination from the city.
❖ Cox’s Bazar and Kuakata:
Some coastal areas, such as Cox’s Bazar, Sonadia Island, St. Martin’s Island, Rangabali, and Kuakata, are famous for traditional fish drying (shutki production). However, these have also been sites of pesticide abuse. To protect drying fish from insect infestations, many producers used to directly apply DDT powder or other insecticides on the fish or drying racks. *13
This “unhygienic” intensive use of chemicals in fish processing raised concerns over food safety and environmental health. Some farmers would reportedly spray extremely high amounts of insecticide to drive away flies and beetles, thereby subjecting the fish to toxins and posing risks to consumer health. *14
The surroundings also suffered: residual pesticides could percolate into beach sands and coastal waters, damaging aquatic life. Recent initiatives of BCSIR have convinced these communities to utilize solar or mechanical dryers to do away with the need for chemicals. *15
This local problem is slowly reducing with awareness, but it acts as a warning example of how pesticide abuse in food processing can create toxic food chains and environmental pollution.
❖ Sundarbans and Southwest Coastal Area
The Sundarbans mangrove belt (Khulna division) has been turned into an ecological victim of pesticide misuse by way of the illegal fishing as described above. Places like Koyra upazila in Khulna, that border the forest, have seen sales of pesticides skyrocketing despite the fact that natives don’t farm much land and a sure indication that these chemicals are being used for fishing.
Khulna forest rangers have intercepted pesticide drums and even truckloads of contaminated fish headed out of the Sundarbans, indicating the scale of the issue. *16
This area’s experience is especially grim: a precious ecosystem renowned for its tigers, deer, and profusion of sea creatures now stands at risk of poisoning by pesticides sparking poaching of fish and crustaceans.
The practice not only endangers wildlife, but also the livelihood of honest fisherfolk as well as the food security of the country. Thus, the southwest coastal region is a sorry reminder of how lacunae in pesticide regulation can have far-reaching ecological and economic effects at the regional scale.
❖ Rajshahi and Naogaon
Rajshahi and neighboring Naogaon is located in the fertile Barind tract, a region now known for worryingly high pesticide use. A recent study by a development NGO in Rajshahi found that “extensive and uncontrolled use of toxic pesticides” is posing a serious threat to public health and the environment in the Barind farming regions. *17
During a press conference in Rajshahi in July 2025, experts stated that the majority of the farmers in the area develop acute symptoms (sneezing, skin rashes, dizziness, headaches) while working with pesticides, and long-term exposure has been linked to cancers, hormonal disturbances, and neurodegenerative diseases in them. *18
Researchers also noted that farmers often ignore the required withdrawal period before harvesting , which means pesticide residues remain on vegetables and fruits in the market, harming consumers (especially children and pregnant women). *19
Environmental impacts in Rajshahi-Barind are no less alarming. Excessive use of pesticides is contaminating surface and groundwater, harming drinking water sources and aquatic life. *20
The Barind region’s heavy chemical use, combined with wide-scale irrigation, is even worsening groundwater depletion and soil degradation in such crops as eggplant and beans that are “particularly vulnerable to pesticide misuse” there. *21
Most alarming, perhaps, authorities revealed that many banned pesticides (including WHO Class I toxins) are still available in Rajshahi rural markets under changed names, and neither farmers nor local dealers know they are handling illegal, highly toxic substances. *22
Authorities in Rajshahi and Naogaon have called for tighter enforcement of pesticide regulations, wider application of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and farmer training to combat this deep-seated overuse problem before it leads to irreversible damage to the health of the people and the environment.
❖ Dhamrai and Savar
Dhamrai and Savar, the two peri-urban upazilas of Dhaka, are a typical example of the pollution legacy of widespread use of pesticides in peri-urban agriculture. Scientific surveys revealed alarmingly high levels of organophosphate and carbamate residues in local paddy and vegetable field water.
Savar contained diazinon at 0.9 μg/L and carbofuran at 198.7 μg/L, and in Dhamrai, malathion and carbofuran were each present at 105.2 μg/L, and carbaryl was uniformly present at 14–18 μg/L all many times the European safe limit of 0.1 μg/L for a single pesticide. *23
Additional studies confirm that organochlorine, organophosphate, and carbamate residues still persist in these sources of water, still affecting aquatic biodiversity and food safety. *24
Scientists attributed the contamination to the intensive and non-selective spraying practice of the local farmers, stating that in the absence of better runoff control and awareness programmes, drinking water and ecosystems within these peri-urban belts remain at risk.
Conclusion
The evidence from districts such as Dhamrai, Savar, Narayanganj, Dinajpur, Sundarban Rajshahi and so on shows that the overuse of pesticides has become a nationwide problem in Bangladesh, extending to rural farming fields as well as peri-urban belts around big cities.
Residues in soil, crops, and water bodies are far beyond safe levels, creating hazards to food safety, health of farmers, aquatic biodiversity, and soil fertility in the long term.
While there are some positive steps such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and organic farming efforts,in progress, the persistence of hazardous spraying methods highlights the necessity for greater regulation, farmers’ education, and public awareness. If firm action is not taken, Bangladesh risks trading off short-term productivity for long-term loss in health, environment, and sustainable agriculture.
Reference:
9.Nasrin Akter Mili and Md Abdus Samad, ‘Epidemiology of Fatal Poisonings from Organophosphorus Compounds in Rangpur District, Bangladesh’ (2024) International Journal of Forensic Expert Alliance 1(1) 55.
