Ban on liquid fertiliser causes flooding of counterfeit ones

Khairul Islam Back from Comilla | Published: September 14, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

Farmers have been deprived of getting benefits from liquid fertiliser due to marketing of counterfeit input by some dishonest companies.
Such harmful fertilisers have triggered farmers' concern over normal crop production.
Many farmers have demanded immediate supply of popular and genuine variety of liquid fertiliser like Wokozim Crop Plus, a product of Syngenta, locally known as 'Vitamin' in the market to get optimum production.
Earlier, on April 20, 2013, the government imposed a ban on import of all kinds of liquid fertiliser as the authorities found counterfeit products in such imports, resulting in simultaneous restriction on Wokozim import too.
In a recent field-level visit to many areas including Comilla and Kishoreganj districts, this reporter talked to many farmers who expressed their frustration over disruption in supply chain of such a useful fertiliser.
Â "We could use Wokozim without any hesitation in our fields as the product had proved beneficial", said an elderly farmer Abdul Khalek Patwari (65) of Barura upazila in Comilla district.
Chairman of Etoborpur Union Parishad under Chandina upazila AKM Mamunur Rahman, also a prominent farmer of the union, said currently local market is flooded with a number of counterfeit fertilisers as the government imposed ban on branded liquid items.
Terming the upazila as a vegetable belt, having almost 85 per cent land suitable for vegetable, a field-level official of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) Fakhruddin Ahmed told the FE that farmers have always been asking him about the imported product since the fertiliser is out of market now.
"Actually, I don't know why the authorities banned the widely-used liquid product", the official said adding that it might be because of marketing of other counterfeit fertilisers across the country.
He said the farmers will need the fertiliser badly when they will go for extensive cultivation of vegetables and seasonal crops soon after the flood water recedes.
The official, however, called upon the government to increase its market regulation to check marketing of fake and harmful liquid items that frequently trap the uneducated peasants.
Manjurul Islam, another aged farmer from Kishoreganj district, said some of the imported liquid items including Wokozim were very effective in getting expected production of vegetables like potato, tomato, brinjal, cucumber and many kinds of gourds and chillis.
When contacted, officials of Syngenta Bangladesh Limited expressed their frustration over the government decision that deprived the farmers of a quality input.
Mohammad Habibullah, Manager, Stewardship, Syngenta Bangladesh Limited told the FE that farmers across the country are creating pressure on their sales personnel, stockists and retailers for the product.
"Terming the product as safe for use, the high official said considering the demand they have repeatedly applied to the authorities including the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Fertiliser Standardisation Committee for reviewing the import ban to make it available in the country," he said.