Haor farmers anxious about yields for fertiliser crisis

Sr. Staff Reporter, Kishoreganj :

Short supply of fertilisers and other agricultural imputs or abnormal rise in their prices leaves a serious impact.
Despite various crises, farmers in haors are busy cultivating boro paddy.
Boro paddy is the main crop in this region. Aman rice can be cultivated on a small amount of land in Kishorganj ‘s haor upazilas like Itna, Mitamoin Ashtagram and Nikli. Apart from this, no other rice can be cultivated except boro rice in the vast haors that are submerged in water for about 6 months
Boro rice is the source of all the family’s food and other expenses throughout the year. However, this time, farmers are in trouble due to the fertilizer crisis. The required fertilizer is not available in the area. It is being bought from other places, and even that is adulterated. This has made farmers worried about the rice yield in the next season.
When we went to the haors, we saw that some were irrigating the land through shallow tube wells, some were raising seedlings from seedbeds, and some were cultivating the land with a mill plow. In some lands, workers were seen busy planting seedlings in rows.
On Sunday , farmer Akash Dey in Baribari was busy with the workers at Dippur haor in Baribari Union of Itna haor upazila. He said that he is not getting Di ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer in the area. He was forced to buy a 50 kg sack of BADC from Bhairab for tk.1500 But when he took it to the land and mixed DAP with potash fertilizer, he found that he was given adulterated DAP.
The farmers said that initially the land was cultivated and given a ladder. Before planting the seedlings, DAP fertilizer is mixed with potash fertilizer and sprinkled. But this time, unscrupulous traders are filling adulterated fertilizer in old BADC sacks, sewing them on a machine and selling them in the market. As a result, they are worried about the yield this season.
At the Chamta river port of Karimganj, they met farmers Abdul Hannan, Arju Mia and Faizul Islam from the Chauganga area of the neighboring Itna Upazila. They said that urea, DAP and potash fertilizers are not available in Chauganga. They have been secretly stored. They can be obtained again if they pay an additional price. That is why they went to the Baribari area of Itna to collect fertilizers. They are returning empty-handed after not getting any there. All of them are worried about this year’s Boro cultivation.
Armer Fazlul Miah in Baribari haor in Itna, is cultivating hybrid Hira-2 paddy on 20 acres of land in Dippur Haor this season. 15 workers are working on his land for a daily wage of tk.700. He hopes to get 100 maunds of paddy per acre if there is no early flood.
Narayan Dey of the same area has entered into an agreement with 10 workers led by Kabirul to cultivate 60 percent of 1 acre of land. Those workers are planting seedlings for 8,500 taka.
Some workers in Dippur Haor in Itna were raising seedlings from Sujit Sarkar’s seedbed. These seedlings will be planted in the lana. All the workers are residents of Ishwarganj, Gouripur of Mymensingh. A man named Fazlul Islam said, 15 of them came together. They raise seedlings from the seedbeds of various farmers on a contract basis. They charge 600 taka for raising seedlings per katha (10 percent). But the price of all the things is high. This money does not support them.
Jalal Uddin is cultivating Hira-2 paddy on one acre of land in Geraju Haor of Sutarpara Union of Karimganj district. 11 workers including Abdur Rahman, Delwar, Shaheen are planting seedlings there. Their daily wage is 700 taka. These workers support their families by planting seedlings on other people’s land throughout the season.
In the same haor, farmer Harun Mia of Chamta Bandar area is planting seedlings of Bridhan-29 variety on one acre of land. Harun said that at the beginning of the paddy harvesting season, they have to sell the paddy at a loss. Even if the paddy is of good quality, the wholesalers do not want to pay more than 800 taka per maund. However, after a few months, the price is good. But then again, small farmers do not have paddy in their granaries.
According to Department of Agricultural Extension Department (DAE) sources , this time the target for cultivation of different varieties of paddy in 13 upazilas has been set at 1 lakh 68 thousand 100 hectares of land. And the target for rice production is 7 lakh 88 thousand 912 tons.
The overall issue was discussed with Deputy Director (DD) of DEA in Kishoreganj , Agriculturist Abul Kalam Azad, who is the member secretary of the District Fertilizer and Seed Monitoring Committee. He also said that at the farmer level, the rule is to sell a 50 kg bag of DAP fertilizer for 1 thousand 350 taka. If someone sells adulterated fertilizer in BADC bags, they will investigate it.
Stating that there was a delay in the arrival of DAP fertilizer in the district, the official said, “This fertilizer arrived only yesterday, Saturday. If anyone finds evidence of selling adulterated DAP fertilizer, action will be taken.