The BADC fertiliser warehouse at Madarganj in Thakurgaon is built for 2,100 tonnes but holds about 7,000. Outside, 57 loaded trucks have stood for days waiting to unload. Despite these stocks, farmers working Aman rice and vegetables say they must buy fertiliser above the set price.
Md Rahat, the warehouse's assistant accounts officer, said the October allocation of non-urea fertiliser is 9,559 tonnes. The stock includes 2,921 tonnes of TSP, 2,040 tonnes of MoP and 2,007 tonnes of DAP. The warehouse says the trucks cannot be unloaded because the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) has not divided the allocation among dealers. In the district, 148 BADC dealers and 62 BCIC dealers supply farmers.
Majedul Islam, DAE deputy director and member secretary of the fertiliser and seed monitoring committee, said that although October's allocation could be lifted in advance from 15 September, Thakurgaon had not done so, adding that the instruction was not mandatory. An extra 2,000 tonnes of TSP and 1,000 tonnes of MoP were given in September, he said, and the regular October allocation is due to be released around 7-8 October. Dealers, he said, still hold enough from earlier allocations.
Dealers say otherwise. Raziur Rahman, a BCIC dealer in Chilarang union, said he received 41 tonnes of urea, 7 tonnes of TSP, 12.25 tonnes of DAP and 7.5 tonnes of MoP in September, far short of field demand. Raising existing dealers' allocations, he said, would work better than appointing more dealers.
Mamunur Rashid, a farmer from Nargun Koharpara, said he had to buy a sack of TSP, priced by the government at Tk 1,350, for Tk 1,550 on the open market, and urea at the same set price for Tk 1,600. Yusuf Ali of Begunbari, who farms 30 bighas, said he needs at least six sacks of TSP for the end of the Aman season but received only one after submitting his national ID, and wants an inquiry into where the rest goes.
Abdul Latif, president of Shushasoner Jonno Nagorik (SUJAN) in Thakurgaon, said that with a full warehouse and trucks queuing outside, farmers still cannot get fertiliser in the field. The question now, he said, is not whether fertiliser exists but where, how and at what price it reaches farmers when they need it.
The report is by Ajker Patrika's Thakurgaon correspondent Saddam Hossain.
Source: Ajker Patrika
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