For more than a month, farmers in parts of Bangladesh have protested outside government offices, blocked roads and gathered at fertilizer dealerships, saying they cannot get enough fertilizer for their crops.
The disruptions have continued even as the government says the country has sufficient stocks.
The timing is becoming more important. The Rabi season, Bangladesh’s largest crop-producing period, begins in about a month and accounts for nearly two-thirds of the country’s annual fertiliser demand. Early potato planting will begin within days in some areas, adding pressure to a distribution system already facing complaints during the current Kharif-2 season.
A review of media reports published between August 10 and September 9 found at least 15 protests by farmers over fertilizer supplies. The largest concentration was in the northern districts of Kurigram and Lalmonirhat.
Farmers have formed human chains, surrounded upazila administration offices and blocked roads and highways. In some places, crowds allegedly broke through doors or fences at dealers’ warehouses and took fertilizer.
A month after the protests began, farmers in several districts say supplies remain difficult to obtain.
Rasheda Begum, a resident of Daktarpara in Sonahat Union of Kurigram’s Bhurungamari upazila, cultivates five bighas of paddy and three bighas of eggplant.
“I have been going around for several days and finally managed to get a sack of TSP fertilizer today,” she told Daily Waadaa. “Before this, my husband and son went to the dealer several times but returned empty-handed.”
Her husband and son were at work that day, so she had come herself.
“I got one sack of TSP, but I need more,” she said.
In Naogaon’s Mahadebpur upazila, Moinuddin, who has cultivated paddy on six bighas for about 40 years, described a similar problem.
“Farming has become difficult,” he said. “The price of paddy is low, and on top of that, fertilizer is not available. Dealers are reportedly withholding fertilizer and selling it at higher prices.”
Another farmer in the area, Md Bidyut Hossain, questioned how fertiliser could remain available in retail markets at higher prices if supplies were genuinely scarce.
“Dealers and traders must be kept under proper monitoring when it comes to fertiliser,” he told Waadaa.
The Rabi season accounts for much of Bangladesh’s agricultural production. Around 60% of the country’s rice is produced during the period, alongside potatoes, onions, vegetables, maize, wheat, pulses and oilseeds.
These crops are largely irrigation-dependent and require substantial fertiliser applications. Potatoes are among the heavier users.
Interviews with farmers, dealers and agricultural officials in several northern districts indicate that concern is now shifting from the current Aman crop to the coming potato, maize and winter vegetable season.
Moinul Islam, a farmer from Parul Union in Rangpur’s Pirgachha upazila, told Waadaa that he was already receiving less fertilizer than he needed.
“I currently need 50kg of fertilizer per acre for my land, but I am getting only 20kg,” he said. “Since it is the Aman season, fertilizer requirements are relatively low, so somehow I am managing.”
His concern is what happens next.
“The potato season is approaching,” he said. “At that time, I will need at least 200kg of fertilizer per acre. Since fertiliser is not available adequately, naturally I am worried.”
Some dealers say the amount they receive is simply insufficient to meet the demand they encounter.
Nitai Chandra Saha, a Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation fertiliser dealer in Char Bhurungamari, Kurigram, said he had been allocated 49 tonnes of urea, 4.75 tonnes of TSP and 11.75 tonnes of DAP for the current month.
“The fertilizer allocated to me has already been distributed,” he said. “There is now no fertilizer left in my warehouse. But farmers still have significant demand. They are coming to collect fertilizer but are not getting it.”
Saha said part of the problem may lie in the way fertilizer demand is calculated.
Farmers sometimes apply more fertilizer than agricultural officials recommend, he said. But he also argued that the allocation system has not kept pace with changes in cultivation.
“The system for allocating fertilizer to dealers dates back 20 to 25 years,” he said. “But the amount of cultivated land in the district has increased, excluding river areas. The agriculture department does not have updated calculations for this additional land.”
In the past, he said, dealers could sometimes address local shortages by coordinating supplies with other districts. That option is no longer available.
“What agricultural experts say and what is happening on the ground are different,” Saha told Waadaa.
He also pointed to another factor: expectations of a shortage can themselves increase demand, as farmers buy fertiliser earlier than necessary and keep it for later use.
Other dealers say that is the principal problem.
Shahin Ahmed, a dealer in Bheladia Union of Bhurungamari, said his allocation was adequate.
“There is no shortage in fertilizer allocation,” he said. “The shortage exists in the minds of farmers. If everyone remains patient and collects fertilizer according to the government system, there will be no problem.”
Agriculture officials have made a similar argument.
The requirement for urea in Aman cultivation is nearing its end, they say, and allocations are expected to increase in October and November as farmers begin planting potatoes, maize and winter vegetables.
Abdullah Al Mamun, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Kurigram, said monthly allocations were sufficient for the estimated cultivated area.
“Farmers are trying to buy and stock fertiliser in advance for the Rabi season after listening to rumours of a shortage,” he told reporters in a recent media briefing.
“They are concerned that there may be shortages of fertilizer for maize or potato cultivation, so they are trying to buy extra fertilizer and stockpile it,” he said. “There is no possibility of a fertilizer shortage. Allocations will be increased further in October and November ahead of the Rabi season.”
At the national level, Ministry of Agriculture figures do not indicate an overall supply shortage.
The government estimates Bangladesh will require 5.805 million tonnes of urea, TSP, DAP and MOP in the current fiscal year. About 4.029 million tonnes — nearly 70% of the annual requirement — will be needed between October and February, the five months covering most of the Rabi season.
As of September 14, the country had 1.257 million tonnes of fertilizer in stock, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
That included 376,000 tonnes of urea, 397,000 tonnes of TSP, 322,000 tonnes of DAP and 162,000 tonnes of MOP.
A further 4.114 million tonnes is expected to arrive through imports and shipments already in transit by February, according to the ministry.
Taken together, the existing stocks and expected shipments would exceed the projected requirement for the Rabi period.
The figures, however, measure national availability rather than whether fertiliser reaches individual farmers at the time and place they need it.
An Agriculture Ministry official said implementation of a new fertiliser policy had also created problems. Some established dealers, dissatisfied with the changes, had been reluctant to lift or distribute fertiliser, the official said.
The ministry has also received complaints involving fertiliser being held back by dealers, sold at higher prices in retail markets or stockpiled locally.
Talking with Waadaa, Professor Jahangir Alam Khan, a former president of the Bangladesh Agricultural Economists Association, said the repeated problems despite adequate national stocks pointed to weaknesses in the distribution system.
“Fertilizer is part of a regular system. So how did a shortage emerge despite having stocks? Why did panic spread among farmers?” he told Waadaa. “I consider this a failure of the Ministry of Agriculture or those involved in fertilizer management.”
Khan also called for greater domestic production to reduce dependence on imports, particularly when international commodity markets are unstable.
“BCIC was established to produce fertiliser,” he said. “At one point, it produced 80% of the country’s fertilizer. Now it imports 80%.”
Agriculture Minister Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid said on September 12 that authorities were investigating reports of fertilizer being stored by people other than authorised dealers.
“If fertilizer that is supposed to be kept by dealers is found in another warehouse or in the possession of an individual, the matter is being investigated,” he said.
The minister rejected suggestions that Bangladesh faced a national shortage.
“There is currently no fertilizer shortage in the country,” Rashid said. “Fertiliser is imported in a planned manner based on annual demand. Demand varies from one season to another, and supplies and stocks are ensured accordingly.”
The ministry has formed several teams to monitor distribution and investigate reported irregularities, he said. The teams are operating from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. so complaints can be acted on quickly.
For farmers preparing for Rabi cultivation, the immediate question is less about how much fertilizer Bangladesh has nationally than whether those stocks reach local dealers as planting begins.
In Kurigram, Saha’s warehouse is already empty. Farmers are still coming to ask for fertilizer.
—