Dealers' appointment at union level starts next month

FE Team | Published: June 28, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Sarwar Zahan
Appointment of a dealer in every union will start from next month for distribution of fertiliser and some selected agricultural inputs.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) sources, the government earlier decided to appoint a local inhabitant as the dealer of fertiliser in each union.
Several teams are gathering information on prospective fertiliser dealers at respective unions to select suitable dealers, they said.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) sources said allotment of fertiliser to the existing dealers has been reduced significantly.
The distribution of fertiliser started falling from May last to prepare for switching over to the new system of distribution channels, the sources said.
They said the quantity of fertiliser released to the present dealers for the May-July season has been estimated at less than 0.2 million tonnes against the target of 0.4 million tonnes. This has created a severe fertiliser supply shortfall in the current lean period at different places in the country.
Bangladesh Fertiliser Association sources said farmers in different areas are experiencing fertiliser shortage in the lean season for the first time in a decade.
It will hamper production of vegetables, they added.
The sources said the change in the system of fertiliser distribution through appointment of new dealers at the union level might face some hurdles at the initial stage and cause dislocations in supply timely.
The new dealer in the union level will have to invest Tk 2.50 million each to run the business. It might limit their capacity to sell fertiliser on credit to the farmers. In rural areas many farmers get fertiliser on credit and repay the money later, sources said.
The total demand for fertiliser this year has been estimated at 4.40 million tonnes including 2.90 million tonnes of urea. But the authorities have not yet decided on the production and supply line.
It might cause sufferings to the local farmers, who will fail to get fertiliser timely, sources added.
Meanwhile, UNB adds: Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) under the Industries Ministry allocated 152,630 tonnes of urea fertiliser for distribution among farmers for the month of July, under an alternative marketing mechanism in the making under the caretaker regime.
"An urgent message on the allocation was conveyed Monday on behalf of the corporation to the concerned Deputy Commissioners, Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNOs) and the management of fertiliser factories," said an official announcement Sunday.
BCIC allocated the farming input against the demand placed by Agriculture Ministry, it said.
The government authorities directed the UNOs to take necessary steps for withdrawing and distributing the fertilisers among the farmers through the approved dealers in the upazilas from July 1.
District fertiliser and seed monitoring committees have been instructed to monitor the withdrawal, transportation and distribution of the fertiliser among the farmers as per their demand in time.