50,000 tonnes of fertilisers exposed to damage
UNB
KHULNA: Around 50,000 tonnes of fertilisers are facing damage being kept under the open sky at Roosevelt Jetty in Khulna district for several months for want of space and other reasons.The fertilisers left piled up there are set to lose their effectiveness due to long exposure to rainwater and dusty wind, reports UNB. Sources said the fertilisers of various types, including MOP, TSP, DAP and urea, were stacked there several months ago showing reasons of the ongoing repair works of the warehouses and easier supply and physical verification.
During a resent visit, the UNB correspondent found that despite there being adequate space for fertiliser storage in the eight warehouses of the district, a huge quantity of fertilisers were piled up in 11 spots in Roosevelt Jetty area, Gate Colony and WASA gate area.
There are eight warehouses for fertilisers in Roosevelt, Boyra and Shiromoni areas under Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) in Khulna. Sources at the BADC said most of the fertilisers stacked in the ghat area are urea and for them it is now difficult to manage those.
Kamal Uddin Molla, assistant director (fertilisers) of BADC, Khulna, said the warehouses were kept vacant for physical verification of the fertiliser supply situation last year and repair works were underway in some warehouses.
The fertiliser sacks have been kept covered with thick polythene sheets and it will save them from damage, he added. Probhash Kumar, joint director of BADC, said there is a huge stock of fertilisers in the warehouses as fertilisers was imported exceeding their demand this year.
The demand for fertilisers is low in the rainy season and it is not possible to transport them due to shabby condition of the roads, he said. On the other hand, despite availability of fartilisers, farmers in Koyra upazila allegedly have to buy the same at high prices.
Sources said there are seven dealers of BADC in seven unions of the upazila while 63 are retailers. While talking to this correspondent, some farmers alleged that they had to buy fertilisers at prices higher than the government-fixed prices.
They had to buy urea at Tk17 per kg instead of Tk16 fixed by the government while TSP fertiliser cost them Tk24 per kg instead of Tk22 government price. Price of potash is set at Tk15 per kg but it is sold at Tk16 and DAP is available at Tk26/27 instead of Tk25. Bruising aside the allegation, Anwarul Islam, a trader in Koyra upazila headquarters, said there is an adequate supply of fertilisers and they sell them at the government-fixed prices.
SM Mizan Mahmud, upazila agriculture officer, said all the dealers have been asked to sell fertilisers at the prices fixed by the government. Dealership will be canceled if anyone is found involved in selling fertilisers at higher price, he warned.
Besides, the farmers in Tala upazila who are involved in fish farming also feel the necessity of ferilisers. Most of the crop fields in the upazila were inundated by rainwater. The farmers are now creating dams in some water bodies and farming fish there.
Rezaul Islam Reza, a fish trader, said farmers are using fertilisers in their fish enclosures as needed and there is no lack of fertiliser this year.
Mokhlesur Rahman, a fertiliser dealer of Tala Sadar union, said the demand for fertilisers has dropped as rainwater caused huge damage to aman paddy this monsoon. And the situation necessitated the storage of the fertilisers.
Besides, they are counting heavy losses as they have to sell urea at lower price than the government fixed one but Tunisian phosphate fertiliser is being sold at Tk5/7 higher than the government fixed price.
