JNU Teachers’ Research: 22% Savings in Nitrogen Fertilizer Use

JNU Correspondent

Researchers from the Departments of Botany and Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) of Jagannath University (JNU) have developed a promising technology that has the potential to save approximately 22 percent of nitrogen fertilizer use. For sustainable agriculture, a joint research team from the two departments of the university has developed a remote sensing-based precision nitrogen management technology called ‘N-FertiSmart’.

With the support of the Information and Communication Technology Division of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, the project has been presented as a prototype at Bangladesh Innovation Fair 2026 under the title ‘N-FertiSmart: Remote Sensing Based Precision Nitrogen Management for Sustainable Agriculture in Bangladesh’. The technology has been presented at stalls 26–34 at the fair.

Dr. Md. Ataul Goni and Dr. A M M Golam Adam from the Department of Botany and Professor Dr. Mohammad Nasir Uddin from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering are involved with the project. Two young researchers from the two departments, Biplab Biswas and Md. Nazim Sharif, are also involved in the research activities.

The ‘N-FertiSmart’ technology developed by the researchers will help apply nitrogen fertilizer at specific locations and in specific amounts according to the needs of the land. Instead of traditionally applying the same amount of fertilizer throughout the entire field, the technology can analyze the requirements of different parts of the land through remote sensing and provide location-based fertilizer management decisions.

According to the research team, excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer increases farmers’ production costs and also has negative impacts on the environment. Excessive fertilizer use can create risks of wastage, reduced yields, greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution. Considering these problems, the technology has been developed with the aim of identifying where and how much nitrogen deficiency exists in the land and applying fertilizer according to the actual requirements.

In this regard, Professor Dr. A M M Golam Adam of the Department of Botany at JNU said, “Bangladesh is an agriculture-based country. Nearly 60 percent of the urea fertilizer used in crops is wasted, which, instead of benefiting the plants, mixes with water and causes damage to the environment, soil and plant roots.”

He further said, “Our research shows that it is possible to determine the accurate area-based fertilizer requirement every year using remote sensing technology. Preliminary results have shown that fertilizer use can be reduced by at least 22 percent compared to the existing recommended rate. This will reduce fertilizer wastage and farmers’ costs, while also creating opportunities to develop a sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural system.”

According to the workflow of the project, various data on agricultural land are collected through remote sensing and analyzed. In this case, raster data such as NDVI, B11 and LULC are prepared through pre-processing, alignment and reclassification. In the next step, maps of the nitrogen requirements and risks of the land are created through PDR calculations.

According to the fertilizer recommendation guidelines used in the research in 2024, approximately 174 kilograms of nitrogen fertilizer per hectare is recommended. However, the research has found that through N-FertiSmart, this amount can be reduced to a maximum of approximately 135.90 kilograms by considering the actual requirements of the land.

The researchers claim that by following this method, it is possible to use, on average, approximately 22 percent less nitrogen fertilizer per hectare compared to the conventional recommendation. This will not only reduce farmers’ fertilizer costs but also reduce production costs and create opportunities to lessen the environmental pressure caused by excessive fertilizer use.

Professor Dr. Mohammad Nasir Uddin of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at JNU, who is involved with the project, said, “The research work began about a year ago with a grant of Tk 10 lakh from the ICT Ministry. The project, completed through the joint coordination of the Computer Science and Botany departments, has been successfully completed, and we presented the prototype at the Innovation Fair. The main work was conducted by Professor Dr. Ataur Rahman Sir of the Botany Department.”

The main objective of this initiative by JNU teacher-researchers is to help farmers use fertilizer according to the actual requirements of their land through technology. According to the researchers, if effectively implemented at the field level, ‘N-FertiSmart’ can play a role in establishing a more cost-effective, efficient and environmentally friendly fertilizer management system in Bangladesh’s agriculture.