Union Agricultural Information and Consultation Centers Locked for Long in Sariakandi

The 'Farmers Information and Consultation Centers' (FIAC) centers in 5 unions in Sariakandi Upazila of Bogra have been locked for a long time. As a result, farmers are not getting any assistance from the union information centers. Farmers have to go to the Upazila Agriculture Office for any information and advice.

These farmer information and consultation centers were established under the 'National Agricultural Technology' Project (NATP) project. But since the centers are closed, farmers are suffering time and financially without getting assistance from it. However, union agricultural officials say that even though the centers are not open, they regularly advise farmers at the field level.

According to sources from the Upazila Agriculture Department, this project was started in a coordinated manner with agriculture, livestock and fisheries. Since the livestock and fisheries project has not expired, the FIAC centers of the union have stopped their activities. But the Department of Agriculture has kept the agricultural activities going under the partner project. There will be a Deputy Assistant Agricultural Officer at the FIAC center from 3 pm to 5 pm to provide advice. But even if it is only on paper, in reality the offices remain closed year after year and the farmers of the concerned unions do not get any services from there.

All the activities of 'FIAC' are carried out from two rooms allocated in the Union Parishad Complex building for the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) and the Department of Livestock and Fisheries. The Senior Deputy Assistant Agricultural Officer (SAAO) of each union is the responsible officer of the unit.

There are FIAC centers in five union parishads of Sariakandi Upazila, namely, Sariakandi Sadar, Hatfulbari, Narchi, Bhelabari, Kutubpur. The Department of Agriculture has taken this initiative with the aim that farmers at the union level do not waste time going to the agricultural office of the upazila. A Deputy Assistant Agriculture Officer, who will take agricultural services to the doorstep of the farmer, will be at the FIAC center from 2 pm to 5 pm.

From here, he will provide accurate information about modern agricultural technology, high-yielding varieties of seeds, fertilizers and cultivation methods to the marginal farmers. He will also ensure immediate solutions and remedies for crop diseases or insect attacks.

The FIAC centers will work to develop the skills of farmers at the field level and make them aware of sustainable agriculture. This service program for farmers will be a business that will help all categories of farmers meet their various needs related to crops, fisheries and livestock at their doorstep. All farmers of a union will get all kinds of services and technical assistance related to agriculture, fisheries and livestock at the same place.

When we went to the ground and talked to the locals, it was found that they did not even know that there is such a thing as FIAC centers to provide agricultural services at the union level. Last Sunday (January 25) at 3 pm, when I went to Narchi Union Parishad and spoke to the secretary, he showed me that there is an agricultural office on the second floor. When I went to the second floor, I saw two rooms side by side locked. The rust on the lock indicates that this center has not been opened in the last few years.

A farmer from Tarafdar Para of Narchi Union said, I did not know that there is a FIAC center in the Union Parishad. However, the people of the agricultural office come to the field and if we need anything, we call them and they come and tell us how to solve the problem.

When I spoke to a few deputy assistant agricultural officers, they said, we are always by the side of the farmers. When we hear about any problem of the farmers, we rush there and solve it. For various reasons, we do not sit at the FIAC center. The gate of the FIAC center of Hatfulbari Union Parishad is locked, so we cannot sit there even if we want to. The deputy assistant agricultural officers of the FIAC center of Narchi Union Parishad said that they open the FIAC centers occasionally.

Fulbari Union Chairman Md. Anwarut Tariq said, there is a FIAC center in my union parishad. No officer comes to it, it is always locked.

Sariakandi Upazila Agriculture Officer

Agriculturist Mohammad Ali Jinnah said, there are 3 sub-assistant agricultural officers in each agricultural block of a union. There is a rule for sub-assistant agricultural officers to sit in FIAC centers under the partner project. But they may not be able to sit in the field. Now I have told everyone to sit in FIAC centers regularly.