Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque said around Tk 300 billion will be needed to subsidise fertiliser in the current fiscal year.

 The minister was speaking to journalists after a meeting of National Coordination and Advisory Committee at the Secretariat in Dhaka on Tuesday.   

Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, Parleamentary Standing Committee Chairman Begum Matia Chowdhury, Md. Joaherul Islam MP, Agriculture Secretary Md Sayedul Islam, Industries Secreatry Zakia Sultana and Additional Agriculture Secretary Balaikrishna Hazra attended the meeting.

Dr. Abdur Razzaque said the fertiliser tariff increased to unprecedented level after the surge of Covid-19 cases.

Now the supply of the fertiliser has been disrupted again due to the Russia-Ukraine war, he said.

The minister said the fertilizer subsidy was Tk 77.17 billion in the last fiscal year. “But it has increased four-fold now.”

The agriculture minister termed the providing of Tk 300 billion subsidy in fertiliser a “rare incident” in the world.

Explaining the reasons behind the high subsidy in fertiliser for agriculture sector, the minister said the government put emphasis on ensuring food security of the people.

 Dr. Razzaque said that the fertiliser prices increased three-fold in the global market in the fiscal year 2021-22.

The demand of fertiliser in the country is about 6.7 million metric tonnes a year, he said, adding that the country has no crisis in fertiliser supply.

Of the country’s fertiliser demand, the demand for urea is 2.6 million metric tonnes, TSP 0.7 million metric tonnes, DAP 1.5 million metric tonnes, MOP 0.75 million metric tonnes and gypsum 0.55 million metric tonnes.