‘Fertiliser price will not increase in coming years’

Staff Reporter :
Over 68 lakh tonnes of chemical fertiliser will be needed in the next fiscal year (2023-24) for the country’s farmers to cultivate their multiple crops, while the government has no plan to raise the prices of fertilisers in the coming years too.
Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said this while talking to reporters after attending the meeting of National Coordination and Advisory Committee on fertiliser at the Secretariat on Monday.
The government has fixed a target that a total of 68,42,500 tonnes of chemical fertilisers will be needed in the coming fiscal years.
According to the Agriculture Minister, there is a demand of 27 lakh tonnes of urea fertiliser while 5-6 lakh tonnes of DAP fertiliser in the fiscal year 2023-24 but the government has now fixed it by 16 lakh tonnes.
Besides, there is a demand of 750,000 tonnes of TSP fertilizer and 900,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser, he added.
Replying to a question about how much fertilizers is in stock now, the minister said there are four lakh tonnes of urea fertiliser in stock and 200,000 tonnes of TSP, 250,000 tonnes of DAP, 200,000 tonnes of MoP fertiliser in stock.
Dr Razzaque, however, said that the prices of fertilisers will not be increased further and the government will ensure that the farmers get enough fertilisers as per their demands.
 “We won’t allow any crisis to be created over fertilizer for the continuation of food production and the government will take measures so that the farmers would not face any harassment. If they face any harassment regarding fertiliser then we will see poor crop production,” the Minister said.
He also assured of holding a high level meeting to produce urea fertiliser locally and the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources will be requested to provide sufficient gas to the fertiliser factories.
 “If the gas supply remains undisrupted, a little amount of fertiliser will be imported from abroad as the capability of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) has been increased. But many factories keep their production suspended due to shortage of gas,” Dr Razzaque said.
The Agriculture Minister said that in the last four years, the Prime Minister has not increased the price of fertiliser even by single penny, he said.
“The Ministry of Finance is repeatedly pressuring on us to increase the price of fertilizer as the Finance Ministry not able to collect money. Even, the Finance Ministry said that they are not able to give us money, but the Prime Minister is adamant that she will not increase the price of fertilisers,” Dr Razzaque said .
He further said that the government wants to achieve self-sufficiency in food production and it is working towards that goal by taking various programmes to increase agricultural production.
A former Member of Parliament from Narsingdi Quamrul Ashraf Khan Poton embezzled Tk 582 crore worth of fertiliser, but no action has been taken against him till now.
When attention was drawn to this matter, the Agriculture Minister said, “We have blacklisted him. He cannot participate in any of our tenders of the ministry. Action against him is definitely underway. On the contrary, he filed a case against us. How the court ruled in their favor.”
He, however, said that the government is trying to dependency on imported fertilisers by keeping the fertiliser factories operational in the country.