Home ›› 31 Aug 2022 ›› Opinion
There is an energy and food crisis worldwide. None of the global supply systems is in a normal state. Amid this, if we want to produce more food, we must maintain the supply of fertilisers because it is directly related to food production.
Fertilisers are essential for crop production systems in modern agriculture. Among the regulators affecting crop production, fertilisers play a very important role in increasing yield. The success of the Bangladesh agricultural production system is dependent on inorganic fertilisers. Because these fertilisers are responsible for 50 per cent of the total production. However, the contribution of fertilisers to crop production also depends on the crop, crop density, season, soil properties and management etc.
Chemical (Inorganic) fertilisers were introduced in Bangladesh in the early fifties as a supplementary source of plant nutrients. But with the introduction and expansion of modern varieties of crops and the creation of irrigation facilities, the use of these fertilisers has steadily increased since the mid-sixties. The trend of increasing fertiliser use, especially urea-nitrogen, continues.
Due to the increase in the price of fertiliser in the international market and the Russia-Ukraine war, the government of Bangladesh has to buy fertiliser at least three times the price. On the other hand, the prices of fertilisers sold at subsidized prices in the local market are not able to increase. As a result, the amount of subsidy is increasing. The government of Bangladesh is describing it as 'both crises'.
Although Bangladesh is a major agricultural country, almost all of its fertiliser requirements are imported from abroad. But regardless of the import price, the government sells the fertiliser to the farmer at a nominal price, adding a subsidy. But in the last year, the price of fertiliser in the international market has almost tripled. Bangladesh is taking several new steps in agriculture.
Most of the fertiliser we need in our country has to be brought from abroad. But due to the coronavirus, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the increase in oil prices, the prices of fertilisers have gone up a lot. Fertiliser factories in many countries have closed, and they have stopped or reduced exports. As a result, the demand has increased compared to the supply, so the price has also increased.
Urea, TSP, DAP and MOP fertilisers are mainly used in agriculture in Bangladesh. But a year ago, one metric ton of urea was bought for 500 dollars from the international market, but now it has exceeded 800 dollars. The price of TSP fertiliser is 200/300 dollars but it is being sold at 600/700 dollars. As a result, the government is forced to buy fertilisers at higher prices.
With the increase in oil prices, the cost of transportation has also increased. That is also added to the price.
According to media reports, Bangladesh requires 26.5 lakh tons of urea fertiliser every year. But the production in Bangladesh is about 10 lakh tons. The rest of the demand is imported from Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Seven and a half lakh metric tons of TSP fertiliser are required. But production in the country is one lakh metric tons. The rest is imported from Morocco, and Tunisia. 1.6 lakhs of DAP fertiliser are required. Out of that, 1.5 million metric tons of fertiliser are imported from abroad. This fertiliser is mainly imported from China and Jordan. The demand for MOP fertiliser is 8 lakhs, all of which is imported from Belarus, Russia, and Canada.
Urea fertiliser production could have been increased in the country. But our country does not have raw material mines for the production of other fertilisers. Those raw materials can be imported from abroad rather than the cost of production by importing them in the country. For this reason, many major agricultural countries, including neighbouring India, import these fertilisers from certain countries, which have mines and factories for these raw materials.
But this industry is also under pressure due to the gas crisis, lack of raw materials, the Russia-Ukraine war, and coronavirus. Many countries have restricted the export of fertilisers to increase their production. For example, China is the main exporter of DAP fertiliser in the world, but the country has banned the export of this fertiliser until June 2022.
According to media reports, Bangladesh has no shortage of urea till December, meaning there will be no crisis in the Aman season. But Bangladesh needs to look beyond Aman and to the Boro, which is the biggest crop and requires 60% of fertiliser supplies. A deal was agreed by Moscow and Kyiv on Friday to allow Ukrainian grain exports, which had been halted since February. Approximately 22 million tons of grain from Ukraine that have been trapped in silos will now be sold on the international market.
Therefore, similar agreements on the sale of fertiliser may also be reached, especially because the US government is secretly encouraging maritime and agricultural firms to purchase and transport more Russian fertiliser.
Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque said to the media on July 20 that "It's sad that local urea fertiliser production has ceased because of a gas constraint. But regardless of the cost, we have already started taking steps to gather urea from different sources."
Fertilisers are one of Russia's main exports to Bangladesh. Due to the sanctions imposed on Russia as a result of their invasion of Ukraine, Bangladesh must search elsewhere and pay more for its fertiliser needs. Belarus, a significant fertiliser supplier to Bangladesh, has also been negatively hit by the conflict.
Bangladesh always sells fertilisers to farmers at subsidized prices, even though it is bought at a higher price from the world market.
Being an agricultural country, the government of Bangladesh has always been subsidizing agricultural equipment and materials. In the last century, the amount of that subsidy has increased a lot.
But there is hope that the secretary of the agriculture ministry has ordered regular operation of the mobile court to prevent an artificial shortage of fertilisers or anyone can charge high prices. He said, the country has sufficient stock of fertilisers, and there is no chance of a shortage of fertilisers anywhere. So, he gave this instruction as part of regular monitoring.
On Sunday (August 21), the Secretary of Agriculture gave these instructions to the field level officers in a virtual meeting on ‘Overall Fertiliser Situation Review’ at the Secretariat in Dhaka. In the meeting, the Deputy Directors of the Directorate of Agricultural Extension of each district highlighted the overall situation of fertilisers.
The agriculture secretary said that the agriculture officials should take extra precautions if some people are deliberately trying to catch fish in the murky waters by spreading rumours. At the end of the discussion, the secretary gave some instructions to the field officers to ensure the proper distribution and sale of fertilisers.
He said that monitoring should be strengthened up to the union level to ensure that the dealers lift the allotted fertilisers on time. Some dealers are rationing the sale of fertilisers due to the non-removal of allotted fertilisers on time which is illegal. As a result, a kind of artificial fear is created among the farmers at the field level. Fertilisers should not be sold without a receipt. The fertiliser price list should be displayed digitally or digitally in dealers' and retailers' shops. The secretary also said to confirm the arrival of fertiliser by visiting the dealer's warehouse.
Apart from this, the agriculture department will maintain close contact with the district administration and Upazila administration and should conduct regular mobile courts. Any information or news of the sale of fertilisers at higher prices should be reported immediately and disciplinary action should be taken against the concerned dealers.
At the Upazila level, under the chairmanship of the Upazila executive officer, the Upazila agriculture officer, police officers and dealers should be informed about the adequacy of fertilisers including farmers, public representatives and journalists.
According to media reports, it was informed in the meeting that there is sufficient stock of all kinds of fertilisers in the country against the demand. At present (August 21) stock of urea fertiliser is 6,49,000 metric tons, TSP 3,94,000 tons, DAP 7,36,000 tons, MOP 2,73,000 tons. Against the current stock of fertilisers, demand for fertilisers in Amon season (From August to October) is 6,19,000 tons of urea, 1,19,000 tons of TSP, 2,25000 tons of DAP, and 1,37000 tons of MOP.
The current stock of fertiliser is higher than in the same period last year. At this time last year, the stock of urea fertiliser was 6,06,000 metric tons, TSP 2,7,000 tons, DAP 5,56,000 tons and MOP 1,96,000 tons.
The writer is a freelance columnist. She can be contacted at mehjabinbhanu1579@gmail.com
