Bablu, a farmer from Kajihata village in Godagari, Rajshahi, has cultivated Aman rice on 10 bighas of land this year. He needs urea for his fields but could not obtain any from the distributor in his own village.
On Tuesday morning, he went to the shop of a distributor in Deopara union, near Damkura Bazar. After waiting in a long queue, he was offered only 20 kg of fertiliser. Disappointed, Bablu, 50, returned home without taking it.
Farmers now need fertiliser for their Aman rice fields. Like Bablu, they are crowding government-appointed distributors’ shops to obtain supplies. A field visit to Rajshahi found that one shop had DAP (Diammonium Phosphate) but no urea, while another had TSP (Triple Super Phosphate) but no DAP.
In some places where fertiliser is available, however, farmers are having to pay higher prices. Meanwhile, in Jashore, there are reports of a shortage of TSP fertiliser as well as allegations that other fertilisers are being sold at inflated prices on the open market.
Farmers have alleged that shortages are occurring because government-appointed distributors are selling subsidised fertiliser on the black market.
The fertiliser is subsequently sold at higher prices on the open market. Over the past three days, authorities have fined four distributors in four upazilas of Rajshahi a total of Tk 85,000 for allegedly diverting fertiliser allocated to one area to another.
In Jashore, mobile courts fined two distributors a total of Tk 10,500 on 2 August for allegedly selling fertiliser at higher prices.
Kazi Shahidul Islam, president of the District Fertiliser and Seed Monitoring Committee and Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi, claimed that sufficient fertiliser was available in the market.
He told Prothom Alo, “Whenever we find fertiliser being sold at higher prices or diverted elsewhere, we immediately take legal action through mobile courts.”
Farmers gather every day at the BCIC distributor Nazrul Islam’s shop in Deopara Union of Godagari upazila, Rajshahi, to collect fertiliser.
A visit to the shop at around noon on Tuesday found that some farmers had waited for an hour and others for two hours without receiving any fertiliser.
Regarding the matter, distributor Nazrul Islam told Prothom Alo, “Farmers are showing larger areas of cultivated land so that they can obtain more fertiliser. We check their requirements and give each farmer only the amount they need.”
Palpur village in Godagari lies five kilometres from Deopara. A visit to Palpur at around 1:00 pm on Tuesday found no fertiliser at the shop of distributor Abdur Rahim. Abdur Rahim said he had already distributed his entire allocated supply.
However, amid demands from farmers, officials opened a warehouse and found around 100 sacks of MOP fertiliser.
After the matter was reported to the deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension, officials conducted a raid that afternoon, seized 22 sacks of MOP fertiliser and fined him Tk 10,000.
Mohammed Nasir Uddin, deputy director of the District Department of Agricultural Extension, said the allocation of fertiliser was slightly lower than demand. He said, “We take action whenever we receive complaints of irregularities.”
Meanwhile, there have also been allegations that retailers are selling fertiliser at prices higher than those fixed by the Government.
On Monday afternoon (17 August), farmer Momin from Mulkidaing village bought a 50 kg sack of DAP fertiliser from Shahidul Traders at Rajabari Bazar in Godagari for Tk 1,750. According to the Government-fixed price, however, DAP should be sold at Tk 1,050 per sack.
Md Abdul Alim, a farmer from Narangali village in Jhikargachha, Jashore, has cultivated Aman rice on four bighas of land this year.
He said, “After a great deal of difficulty and searching around, I bought 20 kg of TSP from the open market at Tk 52 per kilogram and applied it to the field. I also bought two sacks of urea at Tk 1,500 each. The seedlings are now 20 days old. I need to apply TSP fertiliser to the field, but I cannot find any.”