A huge quantity of urea fertiliser is set to be lost due to the cold and foggy weather as bags are piled up in the open in front of the warehouse in the district due to a lack of space inside.

The buffer warehouse in Caibandha was built 36 years ago with a capacity of two thousand tonnes. Since then, authorities have not taken any initiative for construction of another warehouse to accommodate the huge stock of fertiliser delivered from the factory.

The district had a bumper production of boro crop and the demand for fertiliser varied from 7,000 to 14,000 tonnes per month in the peak period of boro farming, but the warehouse

cannot accommodate such a huge quantity of fertiliser.

Hyder Ali, in-charge of the warehouse, said the district's fertiliser dealers took 40 percent of their stock from the warehouse and the remaining 60 percent from the Jamuna fertiliser factory. But this year, the dealers are totally dependent on the warehouse, as the factory has ceased fertiliser distribution.

The warehouse was built according to the demand of that time, but now the requirement for fertiliser has multiplied. The government has decided to construct 13 more warehouses in the country during this fiscal year, but Gaibandha district is not on the priority list, he added.

One hundred and eleven BCIC dealers have been distributing fertiliser among farmers round-the-year. In January, the authorities allocated 10,030 tonnes for boro farming. At present, 8,066 tonnes are piled up in and outside the warehouse, he said.

One thousand tonnes of last year's stock have become spoiled due to adverse weather. The spoiled fertiliser is powdered and repacked, but farmers refuse to buy it.

"We buy fertiliser from the warehouse and from Jamuna fertiliser factory. We often face harassment during the peak period of boro farming, so cannot get the fertiliser to farmers in due time," said Zillur Rahman Raju, president of the dis-

trict fertiliser trading association.

He demanded the construction of more warehouses to accommodate additional fertiliser stock, so that quality can be ensured.

At least 50 bags of clotted fertiliser still remained unsold, as farmers refuse to purchase it, said Abdur Rashid Sarker, a dealer in Sundarganj upazila.

"I have 150 bags of unsold clotted fertiliser, which I could not dispose off to farmers as yet," says Ayub Ali, a dealer in Dhopadanga in Sundarganj upazila.

According to the warehouse in-charge, however, the quality of clotted fertiliser remains intact unless it is melted, so farmers need not worry.