Agriculture Minister and Awami League presidium member Dr Md Abdur Razzaque commented that the increase in the price of urea fertilizer by Tk 6 per kg will not affect the production. At the same time, he said that if the price of fertilizer decreases in the international market, the price of fertilizer will also be reduced in the country.
The minister said these things while interacting with journalists before the start of the workshop on increasing production of oil crops and rice in coastal areas including Barisal division at Shilpakala Academy auditorium in Barisal city on Wednesday morning. Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BR) and Directorate of Agricultural Extension (DAE) organized workshops.
The minister said that the government has been emphasizing on balanced use of urea fertilizers. Farmers tend to overuse urea fertilizers. DAP fertilizer contains 18% nitrogen or urea fertilizer content. Therefore, to increase the use of DAP and reduce the unnecessary and excessive use of urea fertilizer, the government has reduced the price of DAP fertilizer from Tk 90 to Tk 25 per kg first (in 2009), and then in 2019 from Tk 25 to Tk 16. As a result of this initiative, the use of DAP fertilizer has doubled in the last few years. On the other hand, the increase in use of DAP was expected to reduce the use of urea fertilizers, but it did not.
The minister expressed hope that the increase in price will reduce the use of urea. It may be noted that the government has increased the price of urea fertilizer by 6 taka per kg from August 1, 2022, increasing the maximum retail price at dealer level from taka 14 (fourteen) per kg to taka 20 (twenty) per kg and at the farmer level from taka 16 (sixteen) per kg to taka 22 per kg. (twenty two) has re-fixed The current price of urea fertilizer per kg in the international market is 81 taka.
In response to another question from the journalists, the minister said that the BNP is trying to exploit the international crisis to fish in murky waters and take advantage of the crisis. They are living in the heaven of ego. The people of this country are very aware and realistic. People have not forgotten BNP's misrule, looting and corruption. During the tenure of BNP, the economy of the country collapsed, a reign of terror was created in the country, an anarchy was created.
The minister said that developed countries are also struggling to deal with the current global crisis. Inflation is much higher than Bangladesh in many countries including USA, UK, Germany, Turkey, Pakistan. As a result of the international crisis, the people of the country are experiencing some temporary suffering. But there will be no extreme crisis in the country, no shortage of food or any lamentation. BNP could not produce a megawatt of electricity in their 5 years. So, no matter how hard BNP, Jamaat try, it will not succeed. The people of the country will not turn away from the current Awami League government. People have always been with us and will be with us in the future.
Under the chairmanship of Agriculture Secretary Md Saidul Islam, Barisal City Corporation Mayor Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah, BRI Director General Shahjahan Kabir, Agriculture Extension Directorate Director General Benazir Alam, BADC Chairman AFM Hayatullah, Bari Director General Debashish Sarkar and others spoke. The workshop focused on increasing production through rapid expansion of oil crops and high-yielding rice varieties in coastal saline lands.