40,000 tonnes of fertiliser damaged under open sky

Some 40,000 tonnes of fertilisers kept under the open sky in Khulna -- covered only with tarpaulin for a year due to a lack of storage space -- have got damaged, said sources at Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC).

The three types of fertilisers were damaged during rain and when some of the areas got flooded.

The BADC sources said the fertilisers  -- triple super phosphate (TSP), murate of potash (MOP) and dye ammonium phosphate (DAP) -- were imported from Morocco, Canada and Saudi Arabia during 2018-19 fiscal.

Usually, contractors supervise the process until it enters the BADC warehouse.

Visiting the spot, the news agency found that the fertilisers were kept in the open at Roosevelt Jetty on the bank of the Bhairab River, along the main road of Fulbari gate area.

According to the sources, the matter was raised at a BADC meeting on July 27 when the corporation informed that the contractors normally preserve fertilisers before shipping those to warehouses.

Proshanto Kumar Saha, joint director (fertiliser) of Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation in Khulna, said the fertilisers were imported during June-July in 2018. “More will be imported in the coming days. The capacity of the warehouse is 13,000 tonnes. So, there’s no extra space to store the fertilisers. Besides, warehouses on rent aren’t available,” he said.

Quamrul Ashraf Khan, owner of contractor firm Poton Traders Ltd, said, “The amount of fertiliser being imported is greater than the capacity of the warehouse.”

Meanwhile, Pankaj Kanti Majumder, deputy director of Department of Agricultural Extension, said a huge quantity of fertiliser is needed in Khulna region.

“The imported fertilisers are kept covered in the open for lack of enough space in the warehouses in Khulna,” he pointed out.

“The fertilisers may be damaged if kept under the sky. Those can remain in good condition if preserved in an airtight space,” he added.