Kishoreganj Correspondent :
Farmers of haor areas are suffering from an actute of fertiliser just as the Rabi season started.
Meanwhile fertiliser stock in the wholesalers of Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC ), Bangladesh Chemical Industry Corporation (BCIC) has run out.
Taking advantage of this circumstance,some unscrupulous individuals have started selling fertiliser to farmers, and unregistered traders are selling fertiliser to farmers at incredibly inflated price.
Nikli’s Purba shingpur farmer Farid Mia is cultivating 12 acres of land in the current Boro season.Â
He went to the local BCIC dealer about a week ago for the land. He needed five bags of fertilizer, but received only two bags.
The dealers told him that this time they have received less allocation. Kishoreganj, Farmers are facing a fertilizer crisis at the beginning of the upcoming boro and corn cultivation season.
Agriculture officials have also admitted this. According to the information provided by them, half of the fertilizer required has been allocated to the district this time. As a result, the target for boro and corn cultivation this season may not be achieved.
Several affected farmers said that, there is a fertilizer crisis in the market. Even after standing all day, only one sack of fertilizer is available. If this continues, cultivation will be affected and crop yields will also be low.
Md.Harun of Rashidpur village has five acres of land, Abdus Salam has five acres. None of them are getting the fertilizer they need. Nister Miah and Harish Miah in Goradigha village have the same complaint.
They said that Jasim Uddin of Bhairab port town , about 40 kilometers away, was appointed as BCIC fertilizer dealer in Nikli ‘s Shingpur union. He died after serving for 20 years. His son Al Amin has been in this position for 10 years.
Now there is no supply of fertilizer as needed in Shingpur. The farmers claim that if a local dealer had been appointed in Shingpur union, this suffering would not have happened. However, Al Amin said that he would send fertilizer to Shingpur within a week.
According to the rules of the Ministry of Agriculture, if a dealer is not available in one’s own area, there is an opportunity to appoint a dealer from the neighboring area. But several dealers said that a resident of one upazila does not have the opportunity to get a dealership license in another upazila.
However, a dealer has been appointed in Nikli upazila from Bhairab, about 40 kilometers away, crossing the two upazilas in between. In such cases, there are often complaints of the allocated fertilizer being sold illegally outside the agricultural area at an increased price.
Farmers from Itna, another upazila of Haor, have also raised the same complaint. In the Elangjuri union of the upazila, a businessman from Bhairab, Md. Zubayed Hasan, has also been appointed as a BCIC dealer. Md. Abdul Jabbar, a farmer from Mantashpara of the union, filed a written complaint regarding this to the Deputy Commissioner (DC)and President of the District Fertilizer-Seed Monitoring Committee, Fouzia Khan, on July 29.
General Secretary of Bangladesh Fertilizer Association (BFA) in Kishoreganj, Hafez Md. Khalequzzaman told the New Nation that, there are 175 BCIC dealers in Kishoreganj district.
There are also 65 BADC dealers. There are no complaints about them getting licenses in other upazilas.
Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) sources, FOR the month of November, the ministry had requested 10,164 tons of urea fertilizer. 4,877 tons have been allocated.
The demand for TSP was 2,677 tons, and 2,15 tons have been allocated. The demand for DAP fertilizer was 7,655 tons. 4,391 tons have been allocated.
The demand for MOP fertilizer was 7,436 tons. 3,120 tons have been allocated.
Deputy Director of the Department Agricultural Extension (DAE), Kishoreganj, dr. Sadiqur Rahman, said that within a week, the work of creating boro seedbeds in the haor area will start in full swing.
In addition, corn cultivation has now started. Fertilizer will be needed for seedbeds and corn in November. However, the fertilizer crisis will soon be over.
According to the information given by this official, the target area for hybrid, Ufshi and local varieties of Boro seedbeds in the district has been set at 7,843.10 hectares.
And the target area for Boro land cultivation has been set at 1,68,260 hectares. The target area for rice production is 7,96,686 tons.
On the other hand, the target area for maize cultivation has been set at 11,780 hectares.
Of this, the target area for haor-dominated upazilas of Nikli, Itna, Mithamoin, Ashtagram and Bajitpur is 9,375 hectares. This time, the target area for maize production in the district is 1,20,509 tons.
DD of DAE, dr. Sadiqur Rahman confirmed that at least 30 BCIC dealers in the district have got dealerships outside their own upazilas.
He said that the Ministry of Agriculture is in the process of formulating the ‘Integrated Policy on Fertilizer Dealer Appointment and Fertilizer Distribution-2025’.
It is expected that it will be finalized by next December. Once the policy is finalized, the opportunity to appoint dealers outside of one’s own union will be closed”
