A few years ago paclobutrazol (Cultar), a plant growth regulator, was smuggled into Chapainawabganj. The government has since allowed its use, and various pesticide companies in the country now make and sell it. That is where the trouble has started.

People in the mango trade say the market is now full of low-quality paclobutrazol. Farmers cannot tell which is genuine and which is fake, and are unsure what to do. Fake paclobutrazol is even being made with lime, water and various kinds of glue, so farmers get no benefit from using it.

The agriculture department says various firms in the country make paclobutrazol, and there is no way to tell from the bottle which is genuine and which is fake, so drives against it cannot be carried out in the usual way.

Motiur Rahman, a mango farmer from Baliadanga union in Sadar upazila, said: "I have been in the mango business for about 12 years, but I don't have much education. So I apply whichever company's paclobutrazol the shopkeeper tells me to. But I have noticed that for three years I have got no benefit from using it."

"Last year I used one firm's paclobutrazol on my GI-recognised Fazli mango trees but got no result. Now I am worried about which company's product will work. All in all, I am unsure whether to use paclobutrazol at all," he said.

Shibganj produces the most mangoes in the district. Hafizur Rahman of Pukuria in the upazila said: "I have about 200 mango trees, including Fazli, Ashwina, Khirsapat and Lakshmanbhog. I want to use paclobutrazol but cannot, because the market is full of fakes. Last year I bought a fake product and used it in my orchard, so I got no result."

Recently a drive in Shibganj destroyed a large quantity of fake paclobutrazol. Upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) Abul Hayat fined Ripon Ali, 28, of Durlabhpur union Tk 10,000 for selling it.

Ismail Khan Shamim, general secretary of the Shibganj Mango Producer Co-operative Society, told Jago News of another problem: most farmers apply paclobutrazol together with fertiliser, which they should not do. It should be applied at least 20-25 days after fertiliser has been applied to the tree.

He said mango farmers are not getting the benefit of paclobutrazol first because they lack proper guidance, and because the market is flooded with low-quality products, leaving ordinary farmers unable to judge which company's product to use.

Shariful Islam, the Shibganj upazila agriculture officer, said paclobutrazol, or Cultar, is a plant growth regulator available in both liquid and powder form. "We are trying to reduce the menace of low-quality paclobutrazol, but it is not going away, because you cannot tell genuine from fake by looking at it," he said. So far about 6-7 firms' paclobutrazol has been sent to a laboratory for testing, and this is mainly why no action can yet be taken against sellers of the low-quality product.

Palash Sarkar, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Chapainawabganj, said the amount of low-quality paclobutrazol on the market is growing, but action cannot be taken because genuine and fake cannot be told apart by sight, and the fakes are much cheaper. That is why mango farmers are using them and getting no benefit. "We are always keeping watch and advising farmers," he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.