4 Warehouses in Dinajpur, Joypurhat
40,000 tonnes of urea rotting under open sky
Huge quantity of fertiliser is kept under the open sky on the premises of this warehouse of Bangladesh Fertiliser Association in Dinajpur Sadar upazila, making the agriculture input vulnerable to damage by sun and rain. Photo: STAR
Around 40 thousand tonnes of urea fertiliser, kept under the open sky on the premises of four warehouses in Dinajpur and Joypurhat districts, is gradually losing quality due to long time exposure to the sun. The huge quantity of fertiliser also remains vulnerable to serious damage in case of sudden rainfall, said officials. The situation has arisen as there is shortage of accommodation in the warehouses and dealers are dilly-dallying to receive their allocated amounts due to farmers' reluctance to buy the fertiliser following its price hike. The dealers are not collecting their full allotments as farmers now prefer other types of urea including guti urea to save money, said Md Abdul Mannan, president of Joypurhat unit of Bangladesh Fertiliser Association (BFA). In Dinajpur district, the warehouses in Parbatipur, Dinajpur Sadar and Birampur upazilas can accommodate 10000, 6000 and 6000 tonnes of fertiliser but 18,300, 16,936 and 12,932 tonnes of urea were kept in the warehouses till Sunday, warehouse sources said. Department of Agriculture (DAE) officials in Dinajpur said according to their estimate 71,780 tonnes of urea would be required during the Irri-Boro season. In January and February, 139 distribution dealers under the district collected 15,998 and 21,403 tonnes of urea although they were to collect 18,000 and 21,403 tonnes respectively, according to the data of DAE of Dinajpur. The dealers are scheduled to collect 17,412 tonnes of fertiliser in March but none of them collected their allotments as of filing this report yesterday, sources said. The 2,000-tonne capacity warehouse in Joypurhat has a stock of 12,000 tonnes and so, 10,000 tonnes are left under the open sky on its premises, said officials of Joypurhat unit of BFA. The demand of urea in the district for current Irri-Boro season is 15,298 tonnes but most of the 57 fertiliser distribution dealers in the district did not withdraw their full allocation, said officials of DAE in Joypurhat. Md Anwarul Islam, deputy director of Dinajpur DAE, said the accommodation problem in the warehouses would ease if the dealers collect their allotment timely. As per agreement, dealers are bound to collect their allotment in instalments and the agreement can be cancelled if the allotments are not collected, said a few dealers. But due to price hike of the fertiliser most farmers now prefer guti urea and so, dealers are reluctant to withdraw their allocation thinking that it would remain unsold, they said. "Quality of fertiliser declines if it remains exposed to the sun for long. And it is vulnerable to serious damage if it rains," said Nazrul islam, assistant agricultural officer of Dinajpur DAE.
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