Farmers across Kishoreganj are facing a severe fertilizer shortage as the Boro and maize cultivation seasons begin, raising concerns among officials about achieving this year’s production targets. Despite repeated visits to local dealers, many farmers are receiving only a fraction of the fertilizers they need, as allocations have been slashed to nearly half of the district’s demand.
Farid Mia, a farmer from Purbo Shingpur village in Nikli upazila’s Shingpur Union, cultivated 12 acres this Boro season. He recently visited the local BCIC fertilizer dealer to purchase five sacks but managed to get only two. Dealers told him that the government’s allocation this year was significantly lower than usual.
During a visit on Sunday to several villages including Goradigha, Rashidpur, and Purbo Shingpur, farmers told this correspondent that fertilizer scarcity has gripped the region. Many said they wait all day at dealers’ shops only to receive a single sack. They fear that if the shortage continues, both cultivation and yields will suffer.
Rashidpur residents Harun Mia and Abdus Salam, each cultivating five acres, said they too were unable to secure enough fertilizer. Similar complaints came from Nistar Mia and Haris Mia of Goradigha village. Farmers alleged that the fertilizer dealer assigned to Shingpur Union is from Bhairab upazila, about 40 kilometers away. The dealer, Jasim Uddin, served for 20 years before his son, Al Amin, took over a decade ago. Farmers claim that fertilizer supplies have since fallen short and are urging authorities to appoint a local dealer to ease the crisis. Al Amin, however, assured that fertilizer would reach Shingpur within a week.
Under the Ministry of Agriculture’s guidelines, dealers may be appointed from nearby areas only if no local candidates are available. However, multiple dealers said it is not permissible for someone from one upazila to hold a dealership in another. Despite this, Nikli upazila has a dealer from Bhairab, bypassing two intervening upazilas. Such practices often fuel allegations that allocated fertilizers are diverted and sold illegally outside farming zones at higher prices.
Farmers in Itna upazila, another haor region, reported similar issues. In Elongjuri Union, the BCIC dealer is also from Bhairab. Abdul Jabbar, a farmer from Montoshpara, filed a written complaint with the district commissioner and the District Fertilizer and Seed Monitoring Committee Chairperson Fauzia Khan on July 29 regarding the irregularities.
According to Khalekuzzaman, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Fertilizer Association’s Kishoreganj district committee, there are 175 BCIC dealers and 65 BADC dealers in the district. He confirmed that BADC dealers have no record of holding licenses outside their own upazilas.
Data from the District Department of Agricultural Extension show that Kishoreganj had requested 10,164 tons of urea for November but received only 4,877 tons. For TSP, 2,677 tons were requested, and 2,015 tons were allocated. Of 7,655 tons of DAP demanded, 4,391 tons were supplied, while 3,120 tons of MOP were provided against a demand of 7,436 tons.
Dr. Sadiqur Rahman, Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension and Member Secretary of the District Fertilizer and Seed Monitoring Committee, said full-scale Boro seedbed preparation will begin in the haor regions within a week, alongside ongoing maize cultivation. He acknowledged that fertilizers are most needed in November but expressed optimism that the shortage will ease soon.
According to him, the district has set a target of 7,843.10 hectares for hybrid, Ufshi, and local Boro seedbeds, with 168,260 hectares earmarked for Boro cultivation. The rice production target is 796,686 tons. Maize cultivation is projected across 11,780 hectares, of which 9,375 hectares fall within haor-dominated upazilas including Nikli, Itna, Mithamain, Austagram, and Bajitpur. The maize production target is 120,509 tons.
Dr. Rahman also confirmed that at least 30 BCIC dealers in Kishoreganj currently hold licenses for upazilas other than their own. He added that the Ministry of Agriculture is finalizing a new “Integrated Fertilizer Dealer Appointment and Distribution Policy 2025,” expected by December. Once implemented, it will prohibit dealers from being appointed outside their own unions.
