Mr. Mizanur Rahman Badal, Manikganj:
The spraying of the fungicide 'Gondar' in the mustard fields of various villages of Saesta Union in Singair Upazila of Manikganj has completely destroyed the crops of about 50 bighas of land. There is frustration and anger among the local farmers over this incident. At the same time, the local farmers are not able to trust the pesticides.
Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer Asim Kumar inspected the 35 percent destroyed mustard field of farmer Moslem Uddin at Tan Gopalnagar Chowk in Sayesta Union of the upazila on Tuesday (February 4) afternoon. He confirmed that the mustard in the field was 100 percent destroyed due to the spraying of fungicide Gandara.
It has been revealed that Monir Hossain, a fertilizer and pesticide dealer in Sahrail Bazar, is freely selling Acme Company's fungicide 'Gondar' to farmers, promising higher yields. The mustard plants of farmers who sprayed this pesticide since mid-January have been burnt.
Investigations have revealed that so far, the crops of about 50 bighas of land belonging to 25/30 farmers have been completely destroyed.
Moktar Hossain, a farmer from Baliadangi village, said that 140 percent of his mustard land was completely destroyed due to the pesticide spray. He demanded a fair trial and compensation for the damage. Babar Ali, a farmer from Dakshin Sahrail village, lamented, "After applying this poison, my mustard seeds have turned to ashes. My eyes water when I go to the field." Those who lost their crops include Abdul Jalil from Gopalnagar village, Mazahar from Lakshipur village, Halima Khatun and Yunus from Baliadangi village, Sheikh Golam Mostafa from Atharo Paikha village, and Abdul Alim from Mahishdia village in Sholla union of neighboring Nawabganj upazila, along with many others.
Pesticide seller Monir Hossain said, "This year, I sold this poison to about 28 farmers for the first time. The crops of those who sprayed it on their fields were completely burnt within a week."
Nitai Chandra, the territory officer of ECMI in charge of this upazila, admitted that the crop was damaged and said, "The matter has been reported to the higher authorities. We are and will be by the side of the farmers."
In this regard, Upazila Agriculture Officer and agronomist Md. Habibul Bashar Chowdhury said, "The people of that company were called after receiving news of crop damage due to the effect of the fungicide Gandhar. They said that they would compensate the farmers. Along with this, this pesticide will be sent for testing. If the quality is not good, it will be stopped," he also said.
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Muh. Mizanur Rahman Badal
