A field level agriculture officer of the department of agriculture extension (DAE) had provided fake seeds to satisfy a private seed producing company.
It has been hampering the research activities of the government in local crop production activities. The matter has created sparks among the farmers of a Shailkupa village in Jhenidah. They have demanded probe in to the matter before harvesting of the onion seeds.
But the office of the upazila agriculture office in Shailkupahad expressed their position that they would not take responsibility of any misdeeds by any of the staff anyway.
When the media activists talked to a number of onion plots came to learn that the local upazila agriculture office had sanctioned one acre of land as the demonstration plot for BARI peaj-1 at Sadhuhati village under Hakimpur union.
Farmer Manirul Islam said the sub assistant agriculture officer (SAAO), locally known as block supervisor Kanaj Kumar has supplied the seeds for his demonstration plot.
He was not aware about the variety of the seeds. The said SAAO has also hanged a demonstration signboard on the plot stating as BARI Peaj-1.
“I was not aware what I the difference between BARI Peaj-1 and Lalteer. I believed that the variety was Later, while the people visiting the plot had informed him that it was Lalteer, not BARI Peaj-1”. The demonstration activities was started on December 10 last year, Manirul Islam said.
Bachchu Mandal, Bellal Shaikh, Nazrul Islam Mollah, Kamiruddin and some other farmers when talked, said the plot was enriched with lalteer, where there was no trace o-f BARI Peaj-1. The upazila level officials of the agriculture department had visited the plots time and again and sat for discussion with the farmers several times, while they also did not describe the seeds as Lateer as against BARI Peaj-1.
Contacted SAAO Kanaj Kumar said he was not aware whether it was BARI Peaj-1 or Lalteer as it was supplied by the upazila agriculture office. He denied of taking any advantages from a private seed company to foil the government research progarmee. Kanaj Kumar did not do so for his personal interest and claimed himself as innocent.
Upazila agriculture officer (UAO) in ShailkupaSanjoy Kumar Kundu when contacted said he was informed about the changing the variety by locals and some of the media activists. But he could not understand why the said SAAO had changed the variety of demonstration seeds of BARI and cheated the farmers, which is completely cheating with the research activities of the government. UAO also said his office will not bear the responsibility of any fault done by any of the staff working in the fields.
