The New Nation - Internet Edition

Shamim Jahangir

Farmers are likely to face fertiliser crisis in the current fiscal as the government has fixed low consumption target of different varieties of fertilisers against the actual demand, according to Agriculture Ministry sources.

The Government has fixed the distribution target of fertilisers at 42.90 lakh tonnes against the actual demand of 73.79 lakh tonnes, sources added.

With this target of distribution of fertiliser, the government plans to produce over 650 lakh tonnes of different varieties of crops in 2008-09 session.

Of the projected distribution of fertilisers, 28.50 lakh tonnes are urea fertiliser, 5 lakh tonnes TSP, 4 lakh tonnes MOP, 2 lakh tonnes DAP, 1 lakh tonnes SSP, 1.50 lakh tonnes NPKS, 1.50 lakh tonnes gypsum, 50,000 tonnes zincs sulphur, 20,000 tonnes ammonium sulphur and 20,000 tonnes magnesium sulphur.

The target of fertilisers distribution is less than 30.89 lakh tonnes of the actual demand, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture from March to April this year.

The officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension at upazila level conducted the 20-day survey to assess the fertilisers demand across the country.

The survey put the demand of urea fertiliser at 46.94 lakh metric tonnes, TSP at 11.45 lakh tonnes, MOP at 8.58 lakh tonnes, DAP at 2.26 lakh tonnes, SSP at .60 lakh tonnes, NPKS at 1.50 lakh tonnes, gypsum at 1.60 lakh tonnes, zincs sulphur at 50,000 tonnes.

Some officials of the Agriculture Ministry have expressed the apprehension that farmers will not get fertilisers according to their requirement even by making additional payment as their supply will be little compared to demand. Consequently, production of crops will be short of target, according to them.

The Ministry of Agriculture has fixed the consumption target of different varieties of fertilisers in accordance with the consumption ratio of last year. The farmers have used around 43 lakhs tonnes of fertilisers last year, sources said.

Director General of Department Agriculture Extension (DAE) M Shamsul Islam told the New Nation that they were motivating farmers to use Guti urea to reduce pressure on traditional urea.

The farmers in several districts have already adopted guti urea and our department is trying to motivate more farmers to use it, he added.

Besides, the government has taken steps to produce compost fertiliser through its VGF and other programmes, he further said.

"Distribution of fertiliser lower than the actual demand will adversely affect crops production this year," a high official of the Ministry of Agriculture said.

Fertiliser subsidy worth Tk 36.68 billion has been earmarked in the budget for the current fiscal.

The country's urea and MoP consumption has increased substantially since 2004 following cultivation of high yielding varieties and hybrid paddy on a wide scale, sources said.

The government has planned to import around 11 lakh tonnes of urea while the rest would be produced locally to meet the projected demand of 28.50 lakh tonnes this fiscal.