Jhenaidah Correspondent :
The farmers in Jhenaidah have been cheated by a section of seed selling agencies and dishonest seed traders.
Lack of proper supervision and monitoring was mainly liable for the situation, blamed the agriculture related department officials and dealers involved in selling government approved seed trading.
But the officials of seed certification agency in Jhenaidah has been claiming that the shortage of man power has been hampering their supervision and monitoring activities.
Some dealers of Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) in Jhenaidah said, they have been selling the authorized seeds supplied by the BADC in the district. But the number of unauthorized seeds sellers has increased in the district. As a result the authorized dealers were almost helpless to the unauthorized ones.
Some maize farmers at Ganna block under Jhenaidah Sadar upazila said, they were cheated when they had applied maize seeds that they had purchased for the seed vendor Sajedur Rahmaan in the local market.
Khalilur Rahman, sub assistant agriculture officer of the department of agriculture extension (DAE) for Ganna block when contacted, admitted the fact and said, the germination of the seeds was very poor. The said farmer could not expect optimum production from the plots if they could not apply seeds on the plots once again.
The SAAO said, during the Kharip seasons, huge vendors including the hishonest seed traders start selling below and sub standard seeds in the market. The innocent farmers are cheated by them as they were not enough aware in the issue although the DAE have been proving awareness training to the farmers, Khalilur Rahman said.
Nazmul Hossain, Golam Sarwar and some other farmers of Gobindapur village under Sailkupa upazia in Jhenaidah when contacted said, some of the chemical fertilizer and pesticides vendors convince the innocent farmers purchasing seeds covered with colourful packets.
As those seeds were not approved, the BADC does not take the responsibility for least or no germination of the seeds. This evil practices have been hampering the crop production badly, they said.
Farmer Anil Biswas at Hatgopalpur in Jhenaidah Sdar upazila when asked said, they were not informed who were the real seed vendors in the locality. As a result they believe and depend on the local chemical fertilizer and pesticides vendors choosing genuine seeds.
Senior assistant director of the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation in Jhenaidah Safiuddin Sabuj when contacted said, the number of authorized seeds dealers in the district was 78.
Of them 11 were selected in Jhenaidah Sadar, 16 in Kaliganj, seven in Kotchandpur, 19 in Moheshpur, 17 in Sailkupa and Harinakundu upazila each. The number of seed dealers might be incresed to 85 to 90 in the current season as per the demand of the farmers, he addded.
Each of the authorized dealers were provided allocation for 2,010 kilogram of wheat seeds along with 5,020 kilograms of paddy seeds for the current season.
The BADC appoints and supply the seeds, while the seed certification agency is responsible for supervision and monitoring the seeds thought the country, said the SAD.
Some BADC approved seed dealers said, the number of seed dealers in the district might be at least 4,500 as there was actually no monitoring on the system here. As a rewsult the dishonest people taking the advantages of the innocent farmers have been doing brisk business in every season. If proper supervision and monitoring could be ensured, the quantity of production could go higher, they expressed their opinion.
The farmers in Jhenaidah have been cheated by a section of seed selling agencies and dishonest seed traders.
Lack of proper supervision and monitoring was mainly liable for the situation, blamed the agriculture related department officials and dealers involved in selling government approved seed trading.
But the officials of seed certification agency in Jhenaidah has been claiming that the shortage of man power has been hampering their supervision and monitoring activities.
Some dealers of Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) in Jhenaidah said, they have been selling the authorized seeds supplied by the BADC in the district. But the number of unauthorized seeds sellers has increased in the district. As a result the authorized dealers were almost helpless to the unauthorized ones.
Some maize farmers at Ganna block under Jhenaidah Sadar upazila said, they were cheated when they had applied maize seeds that they had purchased for the seed vendor Sajedur Rahmaan in the local market.
Khalilur Rahman, sub assistant agriculture officer of the department of agriculture extension (DAE) for Ganna block when contacted, admitted the fact and said, the germination of the seeds was very poor. The said farmer could not expect optimum production from the plots if they could not apply seeds on the plots once again.
The SAAO said, during the Kharip seasons, huge vendors including the hishonest seed traders start selling below and sub standard seeds in the market. The innocent farmers are cheated by them as they were not enough aware in the issue although the DAE have been proving awareness training to the farmers, Khalilur Rahman said.
Nazmul Hossain, Golam Sarwar and some other farmers of Gobindapur village under Sailkupa upazia in Jhenaidah when contacted said, some of the chemical fertilizer and pesticides vendors convince the innocent farmers purchasing seeds covered with colourful packets.
As those seeds were not approved, the BADC does not take the responsibility for least or no germination of the seeds. This evil practices have been hampering the crop production badly, they said.
Farmer Anil Biswas at Hatgopalpur in Jhenaidah Sdar upazila when asked said, they were not informed who were the real seed vendors in the locality. As a result they believe and depend on the local chemical fertilizer and pesticides vendors choosing genuine seeds.
Senior assistant director of the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation in Jhenaidah Safiuddin Sabuj when contacted said, the number of authorized seeds dealers in the district was 78.
Of them 11 were selected in Jhenaidah Sadar, 16 in Kaliganj, seven in Kotchandpur, 19 in Moheshpur, 17 in Sailkupa and Harinakundu upazila each. The number of seed dealers might be incresed to 85 to 90 in the current season as per the demand of the farmers, he addded.
Each of the authorized dealers were provided allocation for 2,010 kilogram of wheat seeds along with 5,020 kilograms of paddy seeds for the current season.
The BADC appoints and supply the seeds, while the seed certification agency is responsible for supervision and monitoring the seeds thought the country, said the SAD.
Some BADC approved seed dealers said, the number of seed dealers in the district might be at least 4,500 as there was actually no monitoring on the system here. As a rewsult the dishonest people taking the advantages of the innocent farmers have been doing brisk business in every season. If proper supervision and monitoring could be ensured, the quantity of production could go higher, they expressed their opinion.
