Fertiliser retailers protest new policy

Fertiliser retailers left out of the government's new distribution policy staged a sit-in in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka on Monday, demanding the restoration of their retailer cards and licences so they can continue supplying fertiliser to farmers.

The protest, organised by the Retail Fertiliser Retailers Association of Bangladesh, brought together retailers from different parts of the country.

The retailers said they had been selling fertiliser with government approval and official cards since 2009 and warned that the new policy could put the livelihoods of around 44,000 retailers and many others who depend on them at risk.

The government issued a revised fertiliser distribution policy on August 10. According to the retailers, the new policy leaves out many card-holding retailers who have been supplying fertiliser at the local level for years.

"We have been serving the farmers of this country for 40 years. We have no other source of income," said Md Forkan, president of the association.

"The government should review this unfair policy to protect the livelihoods of 44,000 families," he said.

According to the retailers, around 44,000 card-holding retailers operate at the union level and have been working with government approval since 2009. They said farmers in many areas depend on these retailers for local access to fertiliser.

Under the new system, the separate dealer systems of the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) and the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) are being replaced by a single distribution system.

The retailers fear that many existing retailers will be dropped from the new system and that the change could make it more difficult to deliver fertiliser to farmers at the local level.

Md Shahinul Islam, general secretary of the association, said they would announce tougher programmes, including a blockade of the Secretariat, if the government failed to accept their demands.

A five-member delegation of the association is scheduled to meet officials at the Secretariat to discuss the issue.

The retailers' licences are due to expire at the end of this month following the introduction of the new policy.