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Where is the fertiliser?
Adnan Khandker and Abul Kalam Azad find out why despite government claims that there is enough fertiliser in stock, farmers are breaking into violent protests over shortages
photo by Al-Emrun Garjon
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On November 13, a big mob of farmers attacked the residence of Balikandi upazila agriculture officer and looted fertiliser from the store of a dealer. Witnesses said nearly 2000 farmers thronged the godowns of the fertiliser dealer Sujit Saha and Mridha Store in the morning for fertiliser and at one point they swooped on the house of the agriculture officer and looted the fertiliser godown. On November 8, hundreds of farmers blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway for an hour and a half at Uthuli bus stand in Maikganj and assaulted the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) protesting fertiliser shortage. They also confined the UNO and a fertiliser dealer at the bus stand.
Reports from all over the country specially the northern region echo one thing only; there is a massive fertiliser crisis in the country. Shortage of triple super phosphate (TSP), urea and muriate of potash (MOP) fertilisers in Bogra is hindering the cultivation of vegetables. Due to the fertiliser crisis, farmers fear they would not be able sow potatoes in time this season in Munshiganj district, which accounts for roughly 40 per cent of the country’s potato production. Fertiliser, particularly urea, has become scarce in many parts of the northern region, where farmers are making desperate attempts to get fertiliser in time.
According to the statistics of the agriculture ministry, estimated demand for urea for the current fiscal year is 28.18 lakh tonnes, against local production capacity of 15 lakh tonnes, which may fluctuate. The government will procure 4.5 lakh tonnes of urea from Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company while nine lakh tonnes will be imported to meet the demand, according to official records.
‘This year, the government has also increased the target of importing urea fertiliser at 13.5 lakh tonnes whereas the country’s highest record of importing urea is 7.5 lakh tonnes till date. We have enough fertiliser in stock, the problem is not the availability of fertiliser,’ says a top agriculture ministry official.
Despite of the government assurance, the crisis, irrespective of whether it was caused by production shortfall or by artificial reasons, is for real. According to a New Age investigation, major glitches in distribution with the abandonment of the previous system, the failure of the government to anticipate a sudden rise demand because of a change in crop variety, the traditional barriers such as hoarding, smuggling and production shortfalls, as well as the government attitude, have all contributed in creating a crisis.
An official of the agricultural ministry admits that the crisis is creating uncertainty amongst farmers, which has led them to turn to violence and chaos. News reports from all over the country over the last two months has reported clashes between farmers and authorities.
Farmers in the northern region of the country say that they are staring at a production shortfall of winter crops and vegetables due to the fertiliser crisis. Moreover, they allege that the cost of production is on the rise across the country due to changes in the prices of fertiliser attributed to the crisis.
‘We need fertiliser in time to grow seasonal crops and any delay will reduce production,’ says one farmer at Jhalmalia Bazar in Rajshahi, who managed to get six sacks of fertiliser for his potato field at Tk 200 to Tk 500 more on each bag.
According to economists, if the shortfall in Aman production caused by the floods is not recovered by an abundant production of Boro, the safety level of food stock will fall and will create further inflationary pressures on the country’s economy.
Experts feel that the demand for fertilisers was not properly diagnosed and this is causing the crisis. Dr Qazi Shahabuddin, director general of the BIDS, feels that the government did not anticipate a growth in demand during this period. Moreover, he points out that the winter crops require more intense use of fertiliser, which is causing the demand to rise.
‘There was massive loss due to the flooding and the aman production fell greatly. But we must remember that the farmers are innovative in nature. Therefore they quickly recognised the opportunity of offsetting the aman loss by growing vegetables before the boro season. Vegetables require a higher amount of fertiliser therefore the usage of fertiliser is also larger in comparison to other crops. Thus the demand for fertiliser has grown at a rate higher than expected,’ said Qazi.
Starting from farmers to agriculturists, one and all blame kinks in the distribution systems and its monitoring for the crisis. Dr Enamul Haque, an eminent agricultural economist says that postponement of the traditional system of fertiliser circulation without setting up a new arrangement has prompted a crisis of fertiliser across the country. The government cancelled participation of about 25,000 small traders in the distribution system from March this year to introduce ‘farmers card system’. But due to recurring floods the initiative for the card system was suspended until April next year.
‘Lack of coordination between Agriculture Extension Department and UNO office in different upazilas has added to the fertiliser distribution problem. The system has become too complex as farmers now need to collect fertiliser allocation slip from upazila agriculture office or union parishad chairman to buy subsidised fertiliser from dealers. A culmination of these things has lead to farmers not getting proper access,’ argues Enamul.
Enamul also reckons that the number access points for collecting fertiliser has also dropped and thus farmers may need to travel far to collect their fertiliser. A large number of dealers are switching over to other business opportunities as they were dependent on the small traders for their fertiliser business. The shortage of dealers has resulted in the demand for fertiliser to rise, as the dealership allowed to operate has decreased. ‘Dealers are expecting a fall in profits in the future if the government introduces farmer’s card,’ explains Enamul.
The farmers in turn blame the dealers for creating an artificial crisis to raise the prices, suggesting that there is hoarding and price tampering going on in the market. Field visits revealed that dealers and traders made the situation complicated in some areas. ‘If you ask a dealer for fertiliser, he will readily tell you that there is no supply. But if you offer additional prices, say Tk 300 to Tk 500 for each sack, the same dealer will manage it for you ,’ said a farmer in Natore town as he was rushing from one shop to another for urea. In July, the Nachole probe team said a few dishonest traders are taking advantage of the growing demand for fertiliser and doing illegal marketing allegedly with the help of administrative officials, creating artificial fertiliser crisis in the northern districts.
‘Crisis of fertiliser has always been there, but it seems that the crisis has deepened this time around,’ a small farmer at Kafuria in Natore said. He alleged that a section of people were out to make a fortune out of farmers’ woes. Landlords were somehow managing to get fertilisers by paying additional money or using influence, but marginal farmers were struggling to have even a sack to use in their small holdings.
Department of Agriculture Extension deputy director Aftab Uddin Khan said there was a little shortage of fertiliser supply, but hoarding by dealers has made the situation worse. The president of fertiliser dealers’ association of the district, Abdul Hakim brushed aside the allegation, saying they were selling what they had received from the government. ‘There is no artificial crisis. We are rather getting far less fertiliser than what we need to meet the demand,’ he claimed.
Officials of the industries ministry claim that the fertiliser crisis in many parts of the country has intensified due to urea fertiliser smuggling to India and Myanmar through different river routes. ‘There is a wide price gap between the fertiliser sold in Bangladesh and in our neighboring countries. This creates huge demand for Bangladesh’s urea and smugglers capitalise on this demand to smuggle fertiliser outside the country. In the last nine months, authorities have nabbed 5,176 tonnes of urea worth amounting Tk 10.12 crore in its regular drive from different zones,’ adds the official.
The officials of intelligence agencies suggest that the illegal trade got momentum after suspension of the joint drive of the navy and coastguards in different river routes in the country’s southern region. The special drive began in October 2006 and continued till the national committee to resist smuggling, suspended it in July this year. The authorities thought the regular patrol of the navy and coastguards would be enough to check smuggling.
Top officials of the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) admit that production shortfall may compound the fertiliser crisis. The production activities of the fertiliser companies under BCIC have been hampered by frequent stoppages in operations due to technical problems and maintenance requirements. Thus, they failed to meet the production target. On November 13, production in the country’s two largest fertiliser factories was suspended due to gas-pipeline pigging operation in the region.
‘In January, six fertiliser factories under the BCIC until the middle of January had produced only 9.87 lakh tonnes against the production target of 18.75 lakh tonnes. Stoppages in operations of factories have caused them to fail to meet the production targets. But the shortage in production has not been significant enough to cause any crisis. The production shortfall should not be considered as a major reason behind the crisis. The government can meet any production shortfall by importing fertiliser,’ says a top official of BCIC.
Many experts blame that the poor attitude of the government has played a role. For a long time, the government did not recognise the crisis. Agriculture ministry officials blamed it on the farmer’s reluctance to wait in queues to buy fertiliser. The government suggested that it was instigated by some political elements who were beneficiaries of the earlier system. In an interview with the BBC Bangla service, the industry adviser, Geeteara Safiya Choudhury said the fertiliser shortage was a myth created by the media and those farmers unwilling to queue up.
Red tape is also a problem as it hinders the swift import of fertiliser into the country. According to officials of BCIC, the paperwork often necessary for import of fertiliser is unduly long. ‘The requests for fertiliser import are submitted via the Prime Minister’s Office. After the requests are filed and processed, the Prime Minister’s Office starts looking for funds to finance the imports. The entire process takes about three months,’ says a BCIC official.
The government is determined to create 14,400 sales centres across the country to ensure proper delivery of it to the farmers. The farmers, however, will have to pay Tk 0.50 more per kilogram of fertiliser. ‘Fertiliser prices at the new sales centres would be a little higher due to extra transport costs, which the district fertiliser and seeds management committee will adjust. The extra price would not exceed 50 paisa per kg,’ said agriculture adviser CS Karim.
Agriculture ministry officials inform that the dealers would now run the new sales centres through sales representatives. ‘Every dealer will take on three sales representatives so that fertiliser can be handed out from four stalls in every union. District commissioners, who head fertiliser and seeds monitoring committee at district level, will reasonably adjust new prices by adding costs for carrying fertiliser from dealers’ warehouses to new sale centres,’ added an agriculture ministry official.
CRISIS AT A GLANCE
l Economists say postponement of the traditional system of fertiliser circulation without setting up a new arrangement has prompted a crisis
l Farmers have resorted to winter crops to make up for Aman shortfall. Winter crops require more intense use of fertiliser. Government did not anticipate this rise in demand
l Hoarding and price tampering, smuggling to India and Myanmar and frequent stoppages in operations at fertiliser factories under BCIC have all contributed to the crisis
l The government attitude and the red tape involved in trying to import fertiliser are amongst the factors contributing to the crisis
l The government will create 14,400 sales centres across the country. The farmers will have to pay Tk 0.50 more per kilogram of fertiliser
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