Against a background of fertiliser shortages this Aman season, the agriculture department in Kurigram has begun a new scheme for farmers.

In the coming Rabi season, fertiliser will be distributed to genuine farmers against a soil health protection card.

The temporary card will carry the farmer's photograph, name, address, national identity number and the size of the holding.

Each time fertiliser is taken, the quantity, the crop and the date of issue will be written on the card.

The agriculture department says this will make it harder for anyone other than a genuine farmer to draw fertiliser, and will keep a record of how much each farmer has taken.

Farmers in the district blocked roads and demonstrated over fertiliser this season, and the deputy director of the extension department was transferred over the disorder in distribution.

Recording the allocation against the size of the holding is the card's central logic: it narrows the room for drawing extra and reselling it.

Source: The Daily Star