A severe fertiliser shortage has hit Chapainawabganj. Many farmers queue from dawn and wait for hours, only to go home empty-handed. Some dealers have fertiliser, but farmers must pay extra for it. Growers fear that unless the crisis is tackled, the current vegetable crop will face great uncertainty.

At a fertiliser dealer's shop in Shyampur union of Shibganj upazila, farmers were seen rushing in at dawn in the hope of getting urea, potash and DAP. To mark their place in the long queue, some leave bricks, others bamboo or other objects. Often they cannot get fertiliser even by paying extra cash, leaving them frustrated.

Abdus Salam of Shyampur union in Shibganj recently finished selling the mangoes from his orchard and now needs enough fertiliser to care for the trees, but cannot get as much as he needs. In the same account, the report quotes Jamal Uddin as saying he has been going round different dealers' shops for 10 days without getting fertiliser, so he is buying it at extra cost for his mango orchard, and that dealers are even setting various conditions for selling it.

Rony Al-Manun of Hazar Bighi village in the upazila said: "I grow winter vegetables, but this time I cannot get fertiliser. I left a brick in front of the fertiliser shop at dawn to hold my place in the queue. Yesterday I went and got one sack, but I need five. I am worried about my vegetable yield."

Atikur Rahman Swajan of the Sadar upazila said fertiliser was not available, and when it was, about Tk 300 extra was charged per sack. "I grow strawberries, but I still cannot get fertiliser, so I am worried about my strawberry yield."

Denying any fertiliser crisis, Dr Yasin Ali, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Chapainawabganj, said action is being taken when complaints of overpricing are received.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Dr Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian has said there is no chance of a fertiliser shortage until December.

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