Farmers in Sarail, Brahmanbaria, say fertiliser is being held in stores to fake a shortage during the Aman season and sold for Tk 400-1,000 a bag above the official price; only 5-7 of the 32 dealers on a 2009 list are active.
Farmers in Shayestaganj, Habiganj, say they are paying more than the fixed price for urea, TSP, DAP and MoP as some dealers create an artificial shortage; they want regular market monitoring.
At a Bijoynagar press conference BFA chairman Md Mosharraf Hossain said BCIC dealers appointed in 1995 paid Tk 2 lakh deposits while BADC seed dealers were made fertiliser dealers in 2009 on Tk 25,000, and most irregularities now surfacing involve them; the government granted Tk 1 a kg of the Tk 4 c
Farmers in Teota union of Manikganj's Shibalay upazila say retail dealer Maruf Hossain's shop at Jamduara bazar is rarely open, yet on Monday four bags of MOP and seven of TSP left it for Shakrail village in Shimulia union; the BADC dealer says he supplied 65 bags last month; the sub-assistant agric
At Ghogadaha in Kurigram Sadar, 120 sacks of urea were due for distribution but the dealer never opened; farmers assaulted sub-assistant agriculture officer Mamun Or Rashid, who fled to a trader's house. The dealer faces a show-cause notice.
Hundreds queued at dealer points in Kurigram Sadar on Sunday and briefly blocked roads over short allocations and alleged irregularities; the DAE says the district holds about 1,000 tonnes of urea above demand.
A mobile court found 21 tonnes of fertiliser beyond the official allocation in an unlisted warehouse of BCIC dealer SS Traders in Boalkhali union, seized it and fined the manager Tk 15,000 under the Fertiliser Management Act.
At Gabtola bazar in Nageshwari, Kurigram, farmers who arrived at the scheduled hour found the dealer's 80 sacks already gone; they confined a sub-assistant agriculture officer in the warehouse and blocked the road with tree trunks until the UNO freed him around noon.
Farmers in four Faridpur upazilas have petitioned the deputy commissioner, alleging dealers charge Tk 10-12 a kilogram above the government rate for subsidised fertiliser and refuse to issue cash memos.
Footage of sacks on a cart bound for Tarash in Sirajganj spread on Facebook; the dealer says two farmers bought 16 sacks with receipts, and the upazila agriculture officer has promised an inquiry.
A BNP leader who holds the Rajibpur dealership is accused of holding back 500 sacks of government urea to sell above the fixed price; officials distributed the stock and are moving against a second dealer.
Demand for the four main fertilisers is 5.8 million tonnes this year; 1.219 million tonnes have been distributed since July and 1.2579 million tonnes are in stock, the ministry told the standing committee, where at least three members reported local scarcity.
Laboratory tests on 16 samples collected at Saturia in Manikganj found products from eight companies to be adulterated; the upazila has more than 37,000 farmers.
