The Munshipara area of Kushtia’s Bheramara upazila. In an orchard that should be alive with green as far as the eye can see and the calls of birds, there is today only the silence of a cremation ground. On three bighas of land stand hundreds of skeletal, dead guava trees, row upon row. The 20 lakh taka dream of the farmer Ataullah — a day labourer who dreamed of becoming a successful entrepreneur — now lies in the dust. Behind this destruction, he alleges, lie a multinational company’s plant-hormone instructions and a puzzling silence from local agriculture officials.
On 20 Shrabon, Ataullah says, the area manager of Century Agro Ltd, Mehedi Hossain, induced him with the promise of a bigger yield to use the company’s hormone “Tonton,” which contains paclobutrazol. Although the experienced farmer repeatedly raised questions about the dose, he says he was reassured. Where an application of 10 ml would have been enough, he says, under the company’s prescription 50 ml was poured directly at the base of each tree. As a result, he says, the die-off began from 1 Ashwin. Healthy trees turned in a moment into so much dead wood.
After the orchard was destroyed, Ataullah says, the company shifted its ground — first “the age of the trees,” then “a virus,” a series of excuses to avoid responsibility. But the audio and video recordings in Ataullah’s hands tell a different story, he says: he says the area manager acknowledged an error in their instructions. As compensation for 20 lakh taka, he says, the manager offered to buy him only a few hundred saplings — which he calls a cruel joke.
According to Ataullah, officials of the Mirpur and Bheramara agriculture offices visited the orchard in person and found evidence of the excess dose. Even so, he says, the agriculture department is maintaining a puzzling silence. It is alleged locally that some dishonest field-level officials have an understanding with influential people at the company. As a result, he says, despite the destruction of a farmer’s 20 lakh taka in assets, Century Agro remains beyond reach.
With tears in his eyes, Ataullah asks: “My children’s education has stopped and I am at my wits’ end over the loan instalments. Was it my crime to believe what the company’s educated officers said?”
The deputy director of the district Department of Agricultural Extension, Dr Shawkat Hossain Bhuiyan, is awaiting a written complaint. Local people are asking why his field officers, knowing everything, are still silent.
The manager (product development) of Century Agro Ltd, Faisal Ahmed, said: “On learning that the guava orchard had been damaged, we sent an agriculturist responsible for Rajshahi from the company. He inspected the site and also spoke to the upazila agriculture officer. At that time it was discussed with the farmer that the agriculture office and the company would each run separate scientific trials with the product. If this happened because of the dose, then questions will arise about the quality of the product.” He further said the company’s same product is being used across the country and no such allegation has come from anywhere. In his view this did not happen because of the dose; rather the age of the trees, their care and overall management are responsible. He asked that technical experts be consulted before reporting on the matter.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report