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Fertiliser prices halved

Markdown to give Boro major boost; govt subsidy for non-urea fertilisers will now stand at 1 k 2,700cr

StaffCorrespondent
The government yesterday slashed the prices of non-urea fertilisers to almost half per kilogram to help farmers during the country's biggest crop season, Boro.
From now, farmers will be able to buy 1 kg TSP (triple super phosphate) at Tk 40, MoP (muriate of potash) at Tk 35 and DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) atTk 45 from dealers and their agents at the union parishad level.
Previously TSP cost Tk 75-80 a kg, MoP Tk 65-75 and DAPTk80-85
Farmers, however, will have to buy urea at the previous price ofTk 12 a kg
The move is meant to bring down the prices of essentials by cutting farmers' production cost, which had soared in the recent past because of a rise in the diesel and fertiliser prices.
The government cut the prices of non-urea fertilisers after reducing the price of diesel, a key factor for irrigation during
tioncostbyTkl toTk2.5akg.
" It was one of our commitments in the election manifesto to ensure easy supply of fertiliser to farmers. We are happy to have fulfilled the promise and enable millions of farmers to get fertiliser at a
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lower rate," said Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury at a press briefing at her office yesterday.
Accompanied by Industries Minister Dilip Barua, Matia announced that the subsidy for non-urea fertilisers has been increased to 55 percent from the previous 15 percent. This means total subsidy to bail out the existing stock of non-urea fertilisers might stand at over Tk 2,700 crore in fiscal year 2008-09
During the beginning of the current fiscal year the then caretaker government allocated about Tk 4,300 crore in subsidy to fertiliser, electricity and others, up from the previous year's actual allocation of about Tk 4,000 crore, a senior official of the agriculture ministry said.
The Awami League-led grand alliance had pledged in its electoral manifesto to enhance subsidy to agricultural inputs to ensure food for all.
Referring to the decision in the cabinet meeting last Wednesday, Matia unveiled the move to cut the fertiliser prices after a meeting at the finance ministry.
Despite a gradual drop in the non-urea fertiliser prices on the global market since last August, the prices remained high on the local market, which discouraged farmers to use the inputs. This resulted in a huge amount of unsold non-urea fertilisers at the dealers' level.
Farmers mainly used urea during the last couple of months although the then caretaker government raised its price to Tk 12akg.
Matia said their governmentnow gives a subsidy ofTk 30 for 1kg of urea.
The demand for urea in January-March period, the peak season for Boro cultivation, has been forecast at over 12 lakh tonnes. The total demand for urea in the current fiscal year is projected at 28.50 lakh tonnes, officials said.
The demand for non-urea fertilisers for the January-
March period has been projected at about 3 lakh tonnes against a yearly projected demand of about 11 lakh tonnes for the current fiscal, they said.
Presently about 4,900 dealers distribute fertilisers across the country.
The government said there are adequate stocks of fertilisers to meet the farmers’ demands this Boro season.
"We have adequate stock of fertiliser for tne current Boro season. I urge all stakeholders in fertiliser management to carry out their tasks in a transparent manner to help ensure smooth agricultural production," Dilip Barua said at a meeting with Bangladesh Fertiliser Association, the federating body of fertiliser importers and dealers, at his office yesterday evening.