Rice farmers in Lalmonirhat have expressed discontent with the spiralling fertiliser demand and ensuing price increase, blaming it on the tobacco growers who are reportedly administering large quantities of fertilisers on their farmland.
They said they were struggling to keep up with the high market prices and alleged preferential treatment being extended to their competitors while purchasing fertilisers.
According to sources, about 1.3 tonnes of fertilisers are usually required to grow tobacco on one hectare of farmland and the demand for fertilisers increased in recent times with the growth in tobacco acreage.
Tobacco is being cultivated on at least 50,000 hectares of land in the district this year, which is double the area of land used last year. Fertilisers such as urea, DAP, MOP and Potash are used for this purpose.
“I have already used four maunds of fertilisers on my three-bigha land and will have required another 10-11 maunds by the end of this month,” said Kashem Ali, a tobacco grower of Paschim Baruya village in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila.
“At least five maunds of fertilisers, especially urea, must be used on a one-bigha field to get the expected result.”
However, rice grower Hasinul Islam of the same village alleged that farmers like him had to suffer fertiliser shortage while tobacco growers were getting their supply easily. “It is unfortunate and so is the competition that we are facing from them.”
Hasinul has a twelve-bigha land on which he grows rice. “We feel deprived when the fertiliser dealers extend preferential treatment to the tobacco cultivators, who have a steady source of income.” “Some of the dealers have stakes in tobacco farming and so they make fertilisers available for this purpose for their own interests.”
He demanded an end to supply of fertilisers for tobacco farming to ease pressure on the rice growers.
Another rice grower, Jahedur Rahman of Aditmari upazila, said he had first cultivated tobacco on his five-bigha land but then turned back to paddy cultivation.
“Agriculture officials do not seem very enthusiastic about discouraging farmers from tobacco cultivation. This negative growth in tobacco acreage has something to do with the lack of awareness among farmers in general,” he added.
However, Rafiqul Islam, a fertiliser dealer in Aditmari, denied the allegations of extending undue favours to tobacco growers, saying dealers sold fertilisers to whoever needed them, regardless of what they needed them for.
“Some dealers might have secret links with the tobacco companies. But it is not true that all have similar links.”
Contacted, Deputy Director of the Agriculture Extension Department in Lalmonirhat Abduol Mazid said the amounts of fertilisers to be sent by the agriculture department depended on the market demand.
“But tobacco farming is not counted when the demand is gauged. It is true that excessive use of fertilisers in tobacco fields may create a fertiliser shortage, but we are conducting campaigns to dissuade farmers from cultivating tobacco,” he said.
“The problem is, campaigns do not work always. Sometimes farmers are more interested in boosting their profits by cultivating tobacco.”