Dealers stockpile fertilizer for black market sales
The Bangladesh Krishak-Mazdur Sanghati has called for the urgent development of an emergency fertiliser distribution task force in the midst of national instability and a serious fertiliser scarcity during the Aman paddy season. The statement released on Monday evening by General Secretary Abdul Alim and Organization President Dewan Abdur Rashid (Neelu), strongly condemned continuous corruption, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and poor management in the fertiliser supply chain that puts farmers at risk.
The farmer association claims that corrupt government-designated traders have built up covert reserves of subsidised fertiliser to support a booming black market, compelling desperate farmers to purchase necessary crop supplies at outrageous costs. The Ministry of Agriculture and other government representatives have consistently rejected any serious scarcity by pointing to sufficient national stocks, but the actual situation on the ground is far different. Major agricultural hubs like Rajshahi, Naogaon, Thakurgaon, Rangpur, Kurigram, Jhenaidah, and Kushtia have seen widespread protests. On Sunday, in Bhurungamari, Kurigram, enraged farmers stormed a local dealer’s covert warehouse to seize 197 sacks of fertiliser.
The Krishak-Mazdur Sanghati proposed a comprehensive five-point demand to protect national food security and re-establish order. Among their main recommendations are the creation of an emergency distribution task force with active farmer representatives, the implementation of severe sanctions against corrupt dealers and bureaucratic officials, the scheduling of immediate fertiliser imports from China, Russia, and the Middle East, the gradual cancellation of syndicated dealers’ licenses, and the introduction of direct open-market sales through digital QR-code monitoring in addition to direct cash subsidies via farmer cards.
