, Nov. 25 -- Bangladesh's farmland is rapidly shrinking as unplanned urban and industrial expansion, coupled with climate-driven pests, diseases and declining soil fertility, continues to erode nearly 80,000 hectares of arable land each year.

Addressing a workshop titled 'Protection of Agricultural Land and Land Use' at a city hotel, the adviser said the workshop, organised by the Bangladesh Agroecology Platform, stressed the urgent need for safeguarding farmland from further depletion.

Farida said climate change is introducing new pests and diseases, while chemical-based farming is degrading soil fertility and affecting overall agricultural productivity.

"In the past, one, two, or even three crops could be cultivated on the same land,...