Newly appointed fertiliser dealers will lose their licences if they are found guilty of irregularities, corruption or harassing farmers, and any official involved will face departmental action, Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid said on Tuesday (3 November). He was speaking at a meeting on fertiliser supply for the coming rabi season at the Secretariat, the Agriculture Information Service (AIS) reported.
The meeting, chaired by Agriculture Secretary Md Selim Khan, was joined online by deputy commissioners and Department of Agricultural Extension deputy directors from every district. The minister said new dealers' areas should be fixed when licences are issued, taking account of farmland, the number of farmers and cropping intensity.
To make sure fertiliser sells at the government price, every dealer must display a price list and stock information. He called for mobile courts and regular drives against artificial shortages, overcharging, hoarding and smuggling across the border, and told officials to use farmer cards and farmer lists so that fertiliser reaches genuine farmers.
The minister said more fertiliser than demand has been supplied this year and no new crop has expanded significantly, though the government is ready if demand rises. Because non-urea fertilisers fetch higher prices in parts of neighbouring countries, there is a risk they will be smuggled out, and urea could also leave where it is scarce across the border, so he ordered close watch in border districts.
He told officials to act quickly on reports of urea being used as an industrial raw material in textile and dyeing factories, and asked district fertiliser monitoring committees to meet regularly. Deputy commissioners will be held accountable for irregularities in their districts, he said.
Whether farmers get fertiliser on time and at the government price this rabi season will depend on how well this dealer-level oversight works.
Photo: LHcheM / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: AIS
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