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Govt starts with good fertiliser stock

Challenge is ensuring availability in market

Staff Correspondent
The new government has started its journey with a favourable stock of fertiliser to meet the demands of farmers in Boro season while experts have suggested making urea available in the market instead of distributing it through a controlled system.
“We have arrangement for over 13 lakh tonnes of urea against an estimated demand for 12 lakh tonnes in Boro season. We are hopeful that there will be no shortage of fertiliser," Mokhlesur Rahman, chairman of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BC1C),
toldThe DailyStar yesterday.
He said the current stock of urea is 5.13 lakh tonnes while about four lakh tonnes are to be produced in BC1C factories and five lakh tonnes are in import pipeline.
The remark of the officials of BCIC, the agency responsible for urea production and procurement, comes at a time when farmers have started cultivating rice for the Boro season and use of urea as well as other fertilisers remains high.
Of the total estimated demand of 28.50 lakh tonnes urea in the fiscal year 2008-09, the demand for urea has been fixed at about 12 lakh tonnes during January-March period, the peak time lor Boro
cultivation.
The demand for non-urea fertiliser, mainly TSP and MoP, is also high during the Rabi and Boro crop season. In the FY 2009, the requirement of non-urea fertliser such as TSP, MoP and DAP has been estimated at about 11 lakh tonnes.
Kafiluddin Ahmad, chairman of Bangladesh Fertiliser Association (BFA), said they have adequate stock of non-urea fertiliser to meet demand in the current season.
"The present stock position looks favourable to meet demand during Boro season. We may meet farmers' demand
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till May with the current stock," said the chairman of BFA. the federating body of fertiliser importers and dealers.
Mahabub Hossain, an agriculture researcher and also the executive director of BRAC, said the demand for fertiliser would remain high tillApril.
“There is a trend that farmers cultivate Boro crop after harvesting vegetables and various crops during winter. So, the demand for fertiliser may remain high tillApril," he said.
Citing fertiliser price fall on the global market, he said such price drop would enable the government to provide less amount of subsidy than before.
At present, local farmers buy a kilogram of urea fertiliser between Tk 12 and Tk 14, increased from Tk 6 in May this year. The price of TSP fertiliser also rose toTk75-80akgfromTk 34 in May while MoP price reached Tk 45-48 from Tk 30 in the same month.
But according to a local research organisation Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), urea price dropped by 70 percent to $225 from $770 per tonne on the world market during August-December, 2008. The prices of other fertilisers, except MoR also declined.
“In such a scenario, government should ensure adequate supply of urea and make it available in the market to help
farmers buy whenever they need," said Hossain.
At present, the government offers urea to farmers through a controlled distribution system that compels farmers to buy urea from one dealer in each union and they, in most cases, do not get desired quantity of urea.
"Farmers dislike buying fertiliser standing in line. It is better to make fertiliser available in the open market." he said.
Hossain also suggested the government import all types of fertiliser instead of allowing private importers to import. As the government is providing subsidy, it is better to import directly instead of depending on private ones, he said.
Uttam Kumar Deb, head of research of CPD, also echoed Hossain to make fertiliser available in the open market