More than a hundred maize farmers in Chuadanga Sadar have suffered heavy losses after planting the 'Naba Zero 55' variety. The farmers, from Subdia, Kotbari, Pirojkhali and Nimtala villages in the upazila's Padmabila and Titudah unions, bought the seed from the company Naba Crop Care Limited.

The farmers say the plants produced no cobs, leaving them completely ruined. Many spent Tk 18,000 to Tk 20,000 a bigha on ploughing, fertiliser, irrigation and labour, yet could not bring home the crop they expected.

Md Selim Uddin, a farmer from Subdia, said: "I grew maize on three bighas. The plants grew well, but no cobs came. I spent about Tk 60,000. Forget a yield, I did not get anything I could even use as fodder."

Md Abdar Rahman of the same village said he had sown two bighas, and all the plants in the field now stood empty. "This is a big blow for farmers of limited means like us."

Md Tuhin Ali, a farmer from Kotbari, said the seed company's representatives had told them it was an improved variety that would yield well, and the agriculture office had also provided the seed for demonstration plots. "But we have been cheated. This seed produced no yield."

Md Fazlul Haque, from the same village, said they had been told at sowing that this maize set cobs quickly and yielded well. "In reality not only did the cobs never come, the land was damaged too."

Farmers in Pirojkhali and Nimtala said they had paid for seed, fertiliser and labour from their savings and with borrowed money. With no cobs, repaying their loans has become difficult and many are deeply worried for their families. The affected farmers include Md Ashraful Islam, Md Rashidul Islam, Md Litu Ali, Md Wahed Ali, Md Mizanur Rahman, Md Rafiqul Islam, Md Raju, Md Sohel Rana, Md Hafizur Rahman, Md Monirul Islam, Md Ashikur Rahman and Md Shahin, among many others.

The farmers have lodged written complaints with the Chuadanga Sadar upazila agriculture officer, the deputy commissioner and the secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture. The complaint says the 'Naba Zero 55' maize seed was substandard and produced no cobs, causing the farmers financial loss as well as mental distress.

The complaint was submitted on the farmers' behalf by Md Sarak Hossain of Subdia and Md Mohammad Ali of Kotbari. They are demanding legal action against the company that supplied the adulterated seed and guaranteed compensation.

Firoz Ahmed, area manager of the supplier Naba Crop Care Limited, said the company had supplied seed worth about Tk 1 crore through its sales representatives in Chuadanga Sadar upazila and surrounding areas, and many farmers had got the yields they hoped for. However, a maize disease had appeared since last year, and a failure to take proper measures against it may have caused some farmers' losses.

He said the company was looking into the matter through its marketing officer. Retailers had taken seed from the company on conditions, and the company was also investigating whether they were using some farmers' losses as an excuse to delay paying their dues.

Masudur Rahman Sarkar, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Chuadanga, said the matter was being taken seriously and a field investigation had begun. If the allegations are proved, action will be taken against the seed supplier under the law.

The farmers say this is not only a loss for one season: incidents like this are making them lose faith in the farming system. They are demanding strict oversight of seed approval and marketing to protect farmers in future.

According to the district DAE, Chuadanga is one of the country's top three maize-producing districts. This year maize has been grown on 47,955 hectares in the district, 500 hectares more than last year, and production is expected to reach 575,000 tonnes. The district's total cultivable land is 94,222 hectares.

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