Patuakhali farmers demand smooth supply of fertiliser
Several hundred farmers brought out a procession in Kalapara upazila town yesterday demanding smooth supply of fertiliser.
The farmers are facing an 'artificial' fertiliser crisis in the district and the retail sellers are charging exorbitant price for urea sources said.
Yesterday, farmers from different places of Kalapara upazila went to the fertiliser shops in the town in the morning but the dealers turned them away in the name of crisis.
Abdur Rob Mridha, a farmer of Takhali village told this correspondent that he went to Miraj Traders, a fertiliser shop to buy urea but the shopkeeper charged Tk 1200 per sack (50 Kg) urea while the government rate is Tk 1,000.
The shopkeeper also asked him to buy insecticides with the fertiliser, otherwise he would not sell the urea, he added.
Alam Sikder, a farmer of Lasker village in Nilganj union parishad said he came to Kalapara town at least 10 times in the last three days and collected only a sack of urea at a cost of Tk 1070 from Kheya Enterprise.
“But when I came to the shop yesterday, the shopkeeper asked me to buy insecticides along with urea. They returned my money as I refused to buy insecticides along with urea," he said.
Bazlur Rahman, another farmer of Dhankhali village said that the dealers are charging extra rate making an artificial crisis of urea.
"It is the time for using urea in the aman fields but we are not getting it", he lamented.
Finding no alternatives, hundreds of farmers who gathered in front of fertiliser shops in the bazar area, yesterday brought a procession. The farmers paraded the main streets of the town and gathered in front of the UNO office.
Later the UNO with the help of police opened all the fertiliser shops in the upazila town to resume sell of urea.
Official sources said, 97 MT urea reached Kalapara on Friday while another 76 MT will be supplied by today. Crisis of urea will be over very soon, they added.
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