The government has hiked the prices of fertilisers – including urea and TSP – by Tk 5 per kg, citing an increase in rates in the international market as the reason behind this decision.
A notification, signed by agriculture ministry Deputy Secretary Hossain Ahmed and issued on Monday, says the elevated prices will be effective immediately.
It adds that the readjustment was made to tackle the price hike of fertilisers in the international market due to ongoing global economic crisis, with the goal to keep imports at a logical level, and ensure maximum utilisation.
The Finance Division – operating under the finance ministry – had earlier sent a letter to the agriculture secretary seeking readjustment of fertiliser prices.
According to the notification, at the farmer level, the price of per kg urea and TSP will go up from Tk 22 to Tk 27, DAP from Tk 16 to Tk 21, and MoP from Tk 15 to Tk 20.
Besides, at the dealer level, the price of per kg urea and TSP will rise from Tk 20 to Tk 25, DAP from Tk 14 to Tk 19, and MoP from Tk 13 to Tk 18.
On April 3, just seven days ago, Agriculture Minister Md Abdur Razzaque had said the government will not hike fertiliser prices this year. Industry insiders say the sudden price hike will put further pressure on farmers.
It should be noted that on August 1 last year, the government had hiked prices of urea from Tk 14 to Tk 20 at the retail level, and Tk 16 to Tk 22 at the farmer level.
