Farmers suffer as fertiliser flows to Myanmar
Farmers in Char Fasson upazila of Bhola are facing an acute fertiliser shortage, even as government-supplied fertiliser is allegedly being smuggled to Myanmar through coastal waterways.
Although the Coast Guard and police have occasionally seized consignments, local sources claim the quantities intercepted are negligible compared with the volume allegedly smuggled out of the country.
Farmers are struggling to obtain fertiliser even at higher prices, with allegations pointing to a syndicate involving dishonest dealers and smugglers.
According to the upazila agriculture office, Char Fasson municipality and 22 unions have a total of 22 registered fertiliser dealers.
Each dealer receives a monthly allocation of 22 tonnes of urea, triple superphosphate (TSP), muriate of potash (MOP) and diammonium phosphate (DAP) through government delivery orders.
The dealers are supposed to sell the fertiliser to wholesalers, retailers and farmers at government-fixed prices.
Several dealers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the island unions have fewer farmers and less cultivable land than mainland areas. Yet dealers there receive the same monthly allocation of 22 tonnes.
Taking advantage of lower local demand, some unscrupulous dealers allegedly sell their surplus stocks to smugglers at higher prices instead of supplying the local market.
Local retailers and farmers alleged that dealers first create an artificial shortage and then charge higher prices to farmers and small retailers.
At the end of the month, a substantial portion of the remaining stock is allegedly sold secretly to smugglers, who transport it to Myanmar by trawlers under cover of darkness.
Frustrated farmers said the surplus could have been sold to growers in other areas if dealers had not diverted it to smugglers.
However, Mohammad Zakir Hossain, a fertiliser dealer in the isolated Char Kukri-Mukri union and owner of Messrs Zakir Traders, denied the allegations.
He said fertiliser under his dealership was being sold to farmers in full compliance with regulations and denied any involvement in black marketing or illegal sales.
Local residents and farmers have called for a reassessment of fertiliser allocations based on the number of farmers and the volume of cultivable land in the island unions.
They have also urged the Coast Guard and police to strengthen patrols along coastal waterways to prevent smuggling.
The latest seizure took place on Wednesday night, when Coast Guard members from the Charmontaz South Zone recovered 492 sacks of urea fertiliser from the Tetulia River under South Aicha Police Station in Char Fasson. Eight people were detained.
They were identified as Azgar Hossain and Selim Mia of Noakhali; Kabir Hossain of Lakshmipur; Abdul Momin of Bhola; Md Shamim and Md Yusuf of Char Fasson; Md Siraj of Dularhat; and Md Raihan of Daulatkhan.
Coast Guard media officer Lieutenant Commander Sabbir Alam Sujon confirmed the seizure in a press release on Thursday night.
Earlier, on August 12, police seized 293 sacks of fertiliser from the Betua New Fishery Ghat area in Ward 9 of Aslampur union. They also seized a truck and a large fishing boat allegedly used to transport the fertiliser and detained four people.
The detainees were identified as Siraj, 60, Sohel, 32, and Shahraj, 43, from Noakhali, and Parvez, 40, from Char Fasson. They were subsequently sent to jail in connection with the case.
A boatman from the Betua area, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an organised group had been using the waterway for a long time to smuggle fertiliser and other goods to Myanmar. He also alleged that the group brought back consignments of yaba and other drugs on return trips.
In another incident on August 23, the Coast Guard seized a trawler carrying 175 sacks of fertiliser at Char Kachhapia Ghat. The consignment included 100 sacks of urea, 40 of DAP, 15 of TSP and 20 of MOP.
However, the trawler and fertiliser were subsequently released after an undertaking was signed in the presence of Upazila Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officer Lokman Hossain.
Lokman had told the media that retail dealer Malek Gazi had collected the fertiliser from Zahid Hasan, owner of Messrs Jisan Traders, a Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) fertiliser dealer.
The consignment was being transported for farmers in Char Kukri-Mukri, and the Coast Guard had seized it based on incorrect information, he said.
Char Fasson Upazila Agriculture Officer Nazmul Huda told that legal action had been taken against those detained and the trawlers seized in connection with fertiliser smuggling.
However, he said the authorities had not been able to determine the source of the seized fertiliser. Police also failed to obtain significant information from the detainees during questioning.
The matter was still being investigated, he added.