DAE deputy director (DD) Abul Bashar said farmers must apply urea in their fields within 15 to 20 days of paddy transplantation during first phase of Boro cultivation,.

In the second phase, farmers should have to apply urea within 35 to 40 days of Boro cultivation to ensure its good production, the DD said. In some areas of three districts of greater Dinajpur, farmers apply urea in fields after 50 to 55 days of cultivation due to its late transplantation.

Application of insufficient doses of urea in fields is also another reason of probable shortfall of paddy production in the northern districts, said another senior official of DAE here.

Because of this phenomenon, Boro production is likely to be decreased by 15 to 20 percent in the region. Irrigation problem in some areas will aggravate the situation, he said.

Farmer Azaher and son of Ersad of Khutiapara Haripara village under Ghoraghat upazila in Dinajpur came to Haque and Sons, a fertiliser dealer in Bogra town to collect a sack of urea on March 24. He told this correspondent that he had transplanted Boro on 20 bighas of land about one and a half months ago. He needed more fertiliser for applying in fields during second phase of paddy cultivation. Earlier, he failed to collect the required fertiliser in Dinajpur on time.

Another farmer, Farooq, son of Sattar Mondal of Sheikhpara village in Shabgram Union of Bogra Sadar Upazila came to the same dealer for a sack of fertiliser the same day. He transplanted paddy on about five bighas of land but failed to collect even one sack of urea during second phase of paddy cultivation.

Nazrul Islam, another farmer of Hatikumrul Village under Ullapara Upazila in Sirajgonj district said to local journalists he got a slip for fertiliser from the local Block Supervisor (BS) of DAE about one and half months ago, but he failed to collect it although he approached the local dealer several times.

On the same day, Abdul Aziz, another farmer under Sadar Upazila in Caddarmorh Village in the same district said to this correspondent that he did not receive urea during second phase of Boro cultivation.

On the same day, Mohammed Elam Uddin, son of late Maksud Ali of Pustumpur village in Sadar Upazila in Chapainawabgonj district said to this correspondent over cell phone that he had transplanted Boro paddy on more than 27 bighas of land. The second phase of paddy cultivation is about to pass, but he did not get urea.

Farmer Abdul Malek of Palashbari Village under Kurigram Sadar upazila said to this correspondent that he had transplanted paddy saplings on two bighas of land about two months ago. He applied less quantity of urea than the required 70 kilogram. He got 50 kilogram of urea against his demand. He said he needed one sack of urea to apply in fields during second phase of its cultivation but he could not manage the required fertiliser the same day.