Many sub-assistant agriculture officers (formerly block supervisors) of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in some northern districts have taken self-retirement to get rid of wrath of farmers following introduction of rationing system of fertiliser, DAE sources said.

Some of them are Roghunath Barmon, Abdul Qayum, Rafiqul Islam, Fazlul Haque, Debnath Kumar, Atul Chandra Pramanik of Ulipur upazila in Kurigram, Azizar Rahman, Mozammel

Hoque and Abdur Razzak of Pirgachha upazila, Abdul Jalil of Rangpur Sadar upazila, Lutfar Rahman, Durgacharon of Qaunia upazila and Sahadat Hosen of Birganj upazila.

About 70 others have also applied for retirement from jobs but their applications are yet to be accepted officially, DAE sources said.

Sources said, the DAE high officials are trying to convince them to withdraw their applications.

Ulipur upazila agriculture officer Mohammad Ali said the officers who worked for at least 25 years can take self-retirement.

However, Kurigram DAE deputy director Moshin Ali denied the reason of farmers' wrath for self-retirement of the sub-assistant agriculture officers saying they sought retirement because they were suffering from various diseases. In such a situation, they are unable to do hard work, he said.

But the retired officers alleged that their life was at stake at the villages because many farmers have gone crazy for fertiliser. At places they beat them up for failure to meet their demand, they

alleged.

Motiar Rahman, a sub-assistant agriculture officer in Gangachara upazila said he had applied for selfretirement after being scared of farmers. He said, 'We were friends of farmers, but we have become their foes due to fertiliser.'

Under the present rationing system, the sub-assistant agriculture officers are assigned to issue allotment card for urea to farmers.

Motiar said farmers in his block got urea in the first installment. They were assured that they would get more urea in two other installments but they were suspicious.

Abdur Razzak, another officer in Pirgachha upazila said it is a tough job to deal with farmers who often rebuked him for failure to supply urea according to their expectations.

Shah Alam, of Modhupur block under Baderganj upazila said he fell ill due to excessive pressure of farmers. Unruly farmers attacked him at Modhupur fertiliser depot on August 31. Later, he took treatment at Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RMCH). Although, he was released from hospital, still he is sick, he said. Farmers attacked him as he failed to supply them urea according to their demand. He has demanded action against the farmers for injuring him, Shah Alam said.

Abdul Jalil, a retired officer of Rangpur municipality said he took retirement in May to get rid of farmers' wrath.

On contact, Rangpur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Khandker Atiar Rahman said many farmers complained that they did not get adequate urea although there is huge stock of it in the district.

Rangpur DAE assistant director Kazi Najimuddin blamed the farmers for the untoward incidents.

But Afsar Ali Choudhury, a farmer at Monurchhara under Pirgachha upazila said he needed 10 bags (50 kg) of urea for cultivation of aman paddy on his 6 acres of land but he got five bags of urea in two installments.

Kanti Bhushan Sarker, another farmer at Ramdhan of Bamon-danga union in Sundarganj upazila said he needed eight bags of urea for cultivation of aman paddy on his 20 bighas of land but he got only three bags.

Other farmers echoed the same story.