Meeting fertiliser needs of Boro farmers

Chronic shortage of natural gas has been hampering fertiliser production especially at the five urea fertiliser-producing plants operated by the state-owned Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC). But Boro being the country's major dry season rice crop (January-February its peak planting season), its demand for fertilisers needs to be urgently met. Reports have it that the fertiliser factories remain out of production for most the time of the year (from April to November) for want of gas supply. So, to meet the Boro season's requirement, the BCIC in a recent letter reportedly requested the authorities concerned including the energy and the finance ministries as well as Petrobangla to ensure supply of at least 197 MMCFD (million cubic feet per day) of gas for keeping at least four of its fertiliser plants operational for 11 months in a row. The BCIC is learnt to have sent a proposal to the Ministry of Industry (MoI) recently, urging necessary steps in line with the recommendations made by a committee formed by the Energy and Mineral Resources Division. It has also requested the authorities concerned for amendment to the order issued by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) for raising the supply of gas to197 MMCFD in order to maintain uninterrupted gas supply.

With the present level of gas supply, only two fertiliser plants could be run, producing between 0.9 and 1.1 million metric tonnes of fertiliser. But that is much less than the target of 1.8 million metric tonnes. It is worthwhile to note that urea constitutes about 80 per cent of BCIC's total fertiliser output. But the factories cannot run in full installed capacity of 3.1 million tonnes per year. In fact, all the fertiliser plants of the country together can produce only a fraction of the actual demand of different kinds of fertilisers used for the country's agriculture. According to a projection of Agricultural Ministry, the demand is for about 6.0 million metric tonnes for the fiscal year 2025-26. Notably, natural gas is the backbone of urea fertiliser production as it is the source of both the raw material and the fuel to run the plants. But it is not only the supply shortage of gas, its price is also an issue, which has seen a sharp rise. 

As a result, the BCIC's current outstanding (unpaid) gas bills, as reported, stand at Tk20 billion. Also, the price the government has fixed for the locally produced fertiliser is far less than its production cost. In consequence, the BCIC plants have been constantly facing losses. But unlike in the case of imported fertilisers, the BCIC-produced fetiliser does not get any subsidy. To get around the gas scarcity and the related issues, the government had formed a high-powered panel, which reviewed the prospect of operating fertiliser plants with imported LNG (liquefied natural gas). However, the committee recommended that the four of the five urea plants be rather operated for 330 days at a stretch annually to produce at least 1.8 million metric tonnes of fertiliser. An average supply of 180.81MMCFD would be required for the purpose.  

To make that possible, as the committee report further informed, domestic gas production has to be increased, which would save foreign currency as well as create jobs and so on. Undoubtedly, there cannot be a better idea than meeting natural gas requirement of the fertiliser plants from the domestic sources. Understandably, that would require devising a long-term strategy. But for the short-run, especially for the ongoing Boro planting season, the government must take urgent measures to ensure that the farmers get the required supply of fertilisers.