Pabna dealers stop taking delivery as farmers refuse to buy 'rotten' fertiliser
Large amount also getting damaged under open sky in Gaibandha
Fertiliser dealers of Pabna district have decided not to take delivery of imported fertilisers from buffer godowns due to its 'poor quality' while thousands of tonnes of urea is rotting under the open sky on the premises of buffer godowns in Gaibandha district.
A meeting of Pabna District Fertiliser Dealers' Association on Monday afternoon decided that dealers will not take delivery of imported fertiliser from buffer godowns in this month as most of the earlier received 'damaged' fertilisers have remained unsold, reports our Pabna correspondent.
“Imported buffer fertilisers have lost quality. Kept under the open sky without proper maintenance, these fertilisers have turned into hard stuff and reduced in weight. The bags have become discoloured too. So, farmers do not want to buy these fertilisers,” said Abul Hossain Khan Mohon, secretary of District Fertiliser Dealers' Association, also director of Bangladesh Fertiliser Association.
The BCIC allotted 8640 tonnes of buffer fertilisers for 103 dealers of the district in January and the dealers took delivery of 7142 tonnes, DAE officials said.
For February, 9810 tonnes of fertilisers have been allotted but the dealers have not taken any delivery of fertiliser till February 9 although the highest amount of fertiliser is needed in February for Boro cultivation, they said.
Several dealers said most of the fertiliser they took in January has remained unsold as farmers are waiting for locally produced 'superior quality' fertiliser.
“The dealers in the district took delivery of 7142 tonnes of buffer fertilisers but 75 percent of it is still unsold. The farmers prefer 'Jamuna fertiliser' due to its superior quality,” Md Idris Ali Biswas, president of Pabna District Fertiliser Dealers Association.
This year the BCIC has allotted only imported fertilisers in January and February whereas in earlier years 50 percent of the allotted fertilisers were country-made, fertiliser dealers' association leaders said.
They have demanded allotment of locally produced fertilisers instead of imported buffer fertiliser.
If the dealers do not take timely delivery of fertilisers in this peak season, boro cultivation may be hampered, said an official of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in the district.
Our Gaibandha Correspondent reports: Thousands of tonnes of urea fertiliser, kept under the open sky due to lack of accommodation in the buffer godowns in the district, see gradual decline in quality.
Of the yearly requirement of 65 thousand tonnes of urea fertiliser in Gaibandha, 37 thousand tonnes is needed for boro paddy farming from January to March and the BCIC authority has allocated 35 thousand 47 tonnes of fertiliser in this boro season, said DAE officials in the district.
The BCIC authority in this boro season allocated 35 thousand 47 tonnes of fertiliser in Gaibandha district.
As the buffer stock go-downs with four thousand-tonne capacity is too inadequate to accommodate the present stock, authorities have stockpiled huge fertiliser under the open sky on and around the go-down premises.
This season plantation of boro seedlings is being delayed as farmers could not work in the field due to prolonged cold spell and foggy weather.
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