Taking advantage of fertiliser shortages and farmers' demand, makers in Saidpur, Nilphamari, are producing and selling adulterated fertiliser and pesticides as 'organic fertiliser', according to a Barta24 report. Made from low-grade materials in factories and warehouses around the town and upazila, the products are sold in attractive packaging through more than a hundred shops.
Many packets in local markets carry no manufacturing or expiry date, batch number or registration number; some leave the registration box blank or give no full address for the maker. Fertilisers such as zinc, magnesium, borax, boron, gypsum and sulphur, and granular pesticides including carbofuran and diazinon, are allegedly sold under assorted names. Farmers say the packets copy well-known brands so closely that they cannot tell real from fake.
Saidpur agriculturist Akhtar Hossain explained that genuine organic fertiliser is made by decomposing materials such as cow dung, bone meal, ash, eggshells, tea leaves, water hyacinth and poultry litter over a long period. Some producers in Saidpur, he alleged, mix dyed sand, red soil, a little ash and chemicals and sell the result as organic fertiliser, cheating farmers and putting soil fertility and yields at risk.
Rafiqul Islam, a farmer in Botlagari union, said many farmers buy on the strength of the packaging but often see no result, and some have had crops damaged. He called for samples from the market to be tested and for swift legal action against those responsible.
The agriculture ministry's fertiliser management and monitoring wing has told district and upazila agriculture officers to act against fake fertiliser and pesticides, but local farmers say regular raids and inspections are not happening in Saidpur.
Saidpur upazila agriculture officer Dhiman Bhushan Roy said a raid will be carried out shortly with the upazila executive officer and the assistant commissioner (land), and strict legal action taken if adulteration is found. Farmers want the factories, stores and supply networks targeted, not just market seizures, along with more campaigns to help them recognise approved products.
Reporting: District correspondent, Nilphamari, Barta24
Photo: Ksd5 / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Source: Barta24
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