Fertiliser prices become prohibitive on short supply

The monsoon water has receded from most of the low-lying lands, including the Padma chars, in Pabna Sadar and Sujanagar upazilas of the district, unfolding the soil surface and in just two to three weeks, the season of onion farming will begin.

For this, farmers in this region has been taking land on lease, collecting seeds and making other preparations in advance.

But at the beginning of the cultivation, farmers are facing extreme difficulties with the fertilisers that they need the most.

They have to go to retailers or authorised dealers and hear stories of shortage of the key farm input.However, fertilisers are available with retailers at additional prices beyond the prices fixed by the government. Fertilisers can also be bought directly from dealers, but even in that case, price as much as Tk 700 has to be counted per bag.

Farmers said that the additional prices of fartilisers will increase their cultivation cost by about Tk 5,000 per bigha of land in the current season.

The growers are spending days worrying whether the same situation will be repeated this time as they suffered from poor yields and market prices in the past. Farmer Niamat Ali of Kolchari areaunder Chartarapur union of Pabna Sadar upazila cultivated Muri Kata variety of onion on six bighas of land on the Padma char (shoal). He managed the production expenditure amounting Tk 7 lakh by selling his three cows.

But since the price and yield were not good, he could recover Tk 0.25 million (2.5 lakh) only of the cost by selling onion. The rest went into the loss account.Bangla DAP fertiliser will be required at the beginning of planting onion seeds.

So, he goes to various shops or dealers to buy fertiliser at the price fixed by the government. But he is worried after hearing about the fertiliser shortage and excessive prices.

Farmer Baku Khan said that Tk 1,400 was being charged for BADC DAP which was usually available at Tk 1,050, while Tk 2,200 was being demanded for Bangla DAP whereas its price was Tk 1,500 only.

Last year, the cost of fertilisers and pesticides per bigha was Tk 3,500 to Tk 5,000 but this time it will be Tk8,000 to Tk 10,000; that is the cost cultivation per bigha will increase by about Tk 5,000. Farmers and market sources have learnt that a few months before the start of the cultivation season, an unscrupulous business syndicate created an artificial crisis of fertilisers. For this reason, stories of fertiliser crisis spread among farmers and retailers before the season started. Then, during the planting season, the prices of almost every fertiliser and pesticide were increased by exploiting this crisis.

Currently, the demand for fertiliser and pesticide has increased as large-scale cultivation of onion and early vegetables has started in various upazilas of Pabna. Taking this as an opportunity to earn extra profit, additional price of fertiliser is being charged. Currently, no fertiliser is available in Pabna, including Sadar and Sujanagar upazilas, at the government-set price.

Bangla DAP of Tk 1,500 is being sold at Tk 2,200, BADC DAP of Tk 1,500 is being sold at Tk 1,380 to Tk 1,400, MOP of Tk 1,000 is being sold at Tk 1,150 and TSP of Tk 1,350 is being sold at Tk 1,750, to cover the cost of per bigha. Thus, urea fertiliser and other fertilisers are being sold in bags at different increased prices.

The price is even higher in kg or retail. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the price of pesticides is also being charged higher.

Meanwhile, in protest, farmers recently observed a symbolic strike at Kolchari Bahirchar in Chartarapur union of Pabna Sadar upazila. They alleged that even though the government or local administration said that there was no shortage of fertiliser, traders were charging higher prices for them citing the shortage.

But no effective role is being played in this. In this regard, farmers demand immediate stabilisation in the fertiliser market.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Paban, Md. Jahangir Alam Pramanik told The Financial Express that the fertiliser needs of farmers were met through 247 dealers in nine upazilas of Pabna. So far, there is no shortage of fertilisers in the market.

"We are not aware of any information about charging excessive prices. However, if anyone charges a higher price, there will be no mercy for this. They will definitely be brought under punishment," he warned.

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