Fertiliser distribution problems
Thursday, 15 November 2007
FERTILISER has remained a vexing issue for both the government and the farmers. The media has since long been covering stories about how the farmers face problems relating the supply of this vital input for agriculture, especially during the time of the year when they have to till and prepare their fields. As usual, the problem comes to a head when the farmers start to get violent in the face of any severe supply shortage of fertiliser at that time of the year.
As such the fact that the peasants are getting agitated again over fertiliser-related problems, particularly ahead of the seasons for winter crops and boro paddy, is neither surprising nor an unpredictable development. One can regularly find in the newspapers and on the electronic media reports on how farmers are suffering as a result of the shortage of fertiliser at the field-level in the countryside. However, the government, the dealers and importers of fertiliser have been claiming that there is no shortage of fertiliser be that in the distribution channel, or in the government depots. Moreover, they are also giving assurance that the cost of fertiliser, too, should not be a problem for the farmers since the government is providing a large amount of subsidy on this farm input so that its price may remain within their buying capacity. Moreover, as a further measure to ensure that this farm input may reach the doorstep of the farmers free from any encumbrance, the government has also employed fertiliser dealers as well as block supervisors under the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) at the union level. The block supervisors will issue fertiliser slips for the farmers, who upon producing those to the dealers would get the required amount of fertiliser. But in spite of all these arrangements by the government, things are not happening according to expectation. And the farmers' woes relating to availability of fertiliser continues as before.
The farmers in the northern districts have reportedly been complaining that they are facing scarcity of fertilisers and seeds for rabi crops and boro paddy. The farmers fear if the problem continues, it will affect not only the cost of production of the crops, but also their yield. Reports coming from Rajshahi districts say that potato and rabi crop farmers there are being compelled to buy di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), muriate of potash (MoP), triple super phosphate (TSP) and urea from dealers or from the open market at more than twice the prices fixed by the government at subsidised rates.
Now the question is, if there is enough stock of fertiliser in the country, and if the distribution channels for this farm input are also in place as stated by the functionaries of the government, why should then farmers continue to face problems regarding availability and price of fertiliser? Now the importers of fertiliser, who also agree that there is no shortage of fertiliser in the country, are pointing fingers at the distribution system of fertiliser. They are particularly critical of the new system of fertiliser distribution in which DAE's block supervisors issue slips for the input to the farmers. They have also held the farmers themselves responsible for the problems in the fertiliser regime. The media have also been blamed by responsible quarters for flaring up the "problems" in fertiliser supply. While all should play responsible roles in projecting the real situation, none should ignore the realities at the ground-level. If the farmers face problems in areas of distribution of fertiliser and some of them start panic buying of this key agri-input in the present circumstances amidst rumours of its impending crunch spread by irresponsible quarters, the authorities concerned should concentrate their efforts on mitigating their (farmers') difficulties. If the current situation about the availability of fertiliser at the farmers' level relates to problems in distribution and not to the overall availability of this vital agri-input, the issue should accordingly be addressed. The blame-game will not help address it.
As such the fact that the peasants are getting agitated again over fertiliser-related problems, particularly ahead of the seasons for winter crops and boro paddy, is neither surprising nor an unpredictable development. One can regularly find in the newspapers and on the electronic media reports on how farmers are suffering as a result of the shortage of fertiliser at the field-level in the countryside. However, the government, the dealers and importers of fertiliser have been claiming that there is no shortage of fertiliser be that in the distribution channel, or in the government depots. Moreover, they are also giving assurance that the cost of fertiliser, too, should not be a problem for the farmers since the government is providing a large amount of subsidy on this farm input so that its price may remain within their buying capacity. Moreover, as a further measure to ensure that this farm input may reach the doorstep of the farmers free from any encumbrance, the government has also employed fertiliser dealers as well as block supervisors under the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) at the union level. The block supervisors will issue fertiliser slips for the farmers, who upon producing those to the dealers would get the required amount of fertiliser. But in spite of all these arrangements by the government, things are not happening according to expectation. And the farmers' woes relating to availability of fertiliser continues as before.
The farmers in the northern districts have reportedly been complaining that they are facing scarcity of fertilisers and seeds for rabi crops and boro paddy. The farmers fear if the problem continues, it will affect not only the cost of production of the crops, but also their yield. Reports coming from Rajshahi districts say that potato and rabi crop farmers there are being compelled to buy di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), muriate of potash (MoP), triple super phosphate (TSP) and urea from dealers or from the open market at more than twice the prices fixed by the government at subsidised rates.
Now the question is, if there is enough stock of fertiliser in the country, and if the distribution channels for this farm input are also in place as stated by the functionaries of the government, why should then farmers continue to face problems regarding availability and price of fertiliser? Now the importers of fertiliser, who also agree that there is no shortage of fertiliser in the country, are pointing fingers at the distribution system of fertiliser. They are particularly critical of the new system of fertiliser distribution in which DAE's block supervisors issue slips for the input to the farmers. They have also held the farmers themselves responsible for the problems in the fertiliser regime. The media have also been blamed by responsible quarters for flaring up the "problems" in fertiliser supply. While all should play responsible roles in projecting the real situation, none should ignore the realities at the ground-level. If the farmers face problems in areas of distribution of fertiliser and some of them start panic buying of this key agri-input in the present circumstances amidst rumours of its impending crunch spread by irresponsible quarters, the authorities concerned should concentrate their efforts on mitigating their (farmers') difficulties. If the current situation about the availability of fertiliser at the farmers' level relates to problems in distribution and not to the overall availability of this vital agri-input, the issue should accordingly be addressed. The blame-game will not help address it.