SUKANTA HALDER, S DILIP ROY and DIPANKAR ROY

Mamunur Rashid expects to harvest his Boro paddy and maize in the coming months. The crops need no more fertiliser before reaping, and so far, he has not faced any major supply problem.

Now he is preparing plots for green chillies, brinjal and two hybrid varieties of paddy. Those crops will require different nutrients.

The farmer in northern district Kurigram said there have been no supply disruptions or price hikes for high-nitrogen urea or muriate of potash (MOP), a concentrated potassium fertiliser.

But phosphate fertilisers are another matter. Rashid said supplies of both di ammonium phosphate, known as DAP, and triple superphosphate, or TSP, are thin on the ground and prices are higher than usual.

The US-Israel’s war on Iran and the wider Middle East conflict have rattled global fertiliser supply chains, pushing up prices and fuelling food security concerns worldwide. In a recent report, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Bangladesh faces an “extreme risk profile” in fertiliser supply.

Officials, however, reject the idea of an imminent crunch. They say urea stocks will last until June and non-urea supplies until October.

However, The Daily Star, after speaking to farmers in at least 10 districts across the country, found instances of overpricing linked to supply shortages, which officials attributed to attempts to cash in on war-driven disruptions.

Zahurul Haque, a farmer at Aditmari upazila of Lalmonirhat, said the local authorised dealer could not provide enough phosphate fertiliser. He bought TSP and DAP from retailers instead, paying more.

Phosphate fertilisers are vital for strong plant growth and better yields. Without them, productivity suffers.

According to the Bangladesh Agricultural Development But Rafiqul