UNB, Khulna :
Shortage of urea fertiliser has appeared to be a big concern for the farmers of nine upazilas in the district during the ongoing peak season of aman paddy cultivation.
To meet the need of urea for September, the district administration has faxed a letter seeking allotment of additional 1,000 tonnes of the fertiliser from the Agriculture Ministry on an emergency basis. Sources concerned said supply of urea in the district fell short of requirement as cultivation acreage of aman has exceeded its target in the district this season.
Officials at the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Khulna said a target was fixed to bring 91,758 hectares of land under aman farming in the district this year. However, farmers in the district have already cultivated the paddy on 382 more hectares of land than the target set by DAE.
In the letter sent to the agriculture secretary, it was mentioned that the authorities had allotted 1,690 tonnes of urea for September for the district, an amount which is about 1,000 tonnes less than the actual requirement.
To meet the shortage of urea, the district administration has demanded allotment of the required fertiliser on an emergency basis from the buffer stock of the government go-down in the city.
Amid such situation, private fertiliser importers are alleged to have raised the prices of the non-urea fertilisers which have high demand in the district.
At a meeting of the District Fertiliser and Seed Monitoring Committee held recently, deputy director of DAE, Khulna, Kazi Anisuzzaman demanded action against a dealer of Ghatbhog union under Rupsha upazila for not lifting non-urea fertilisers from go-down.
The meeting stressed the importance of vigilance by law enforcing agencies to stop smuggling of urea and non-urea fertilisers out of the country.
Meanwhile, representatives of the District Fertiliser and Seed Monitoring Committee upon an investigation found proof of supply of sub-standard fertilisers to the dealers by the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation.
During a visit to the BADC godown in the district, the committee also found each 50 kg sack of TSP (Triple Superphosphate), MOP (Muriate of Potash) and DAP (Diammonium Phosphate) contained 3-4 kg less than the mentioned quantity.
