Government initiative to protect farmers from syndicates
Agriculture Minister Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid said that the government is taking initiatives to protect farmers from business syndicates. The Agriculture Minister said this in Parliament today (April 15) in response to a written question by Md. Abdus Sattar, a member of the opposition party (Jamaat-e-Islami) from Nilphamari-1 constituency. Mohammad Amin Ur Rashid said that the government has taken various steps to provide fertilizers and seeds to farmers on time and to free them from harassment by business syndicates at the beginning of the season.
The Agriculture Minister said that in order to make the fertilizer distribution system more timely and effective, the ‘Integrated Policy on Fertilizer Traders and Fertilizer Distribution-2025’ has already been launched, which has come into effect from November 13 last year. Amin Ur Rashid further said that according to the existing policy, it will be possible to easily reach fertilizer to remote areas through dealers appointed in every union, municipality and city corporation, eliminating harassment of farmers through ward-based retail sales centers.
The Agriculture Minister said that the annual allocation is determined by assessing the demand for chemical fertilizers at the beginning of the year based on the cultivated land of the previous year. The allocation of chemical fertilizers is kept higher in the months when the most crops are produced, especially in the Rabi season (October-March), and the annual allocation is determined monthly.
Stating that the allocation for the next month will be given by the 30th of every month, the Agriculture Minister said that the Department of Agricultural Extension and the district and upazila administrations are closely monitoring the allocated chemical fertilizer dealers at all levels from extraction to distribution. The demand for seeds of various crops is determined and informed to the Ministry of Agriculture at least two months before the start of the three agricultural seasons.
