Enough fertilizer in stock to last till December: Agriculture Secretary

There will be no crisis with the stock of fertilizers, whether urea or non-urea, in the country till December, according to the secretary to the Agriculture Ministry on Sunday.

There is at present a stock of 10.63 lakh metric tonnes of fertilizer, Secretary Emdad Ullah Mian said on Sunday.

“With the current stock of fertilizers, the demand can be met till December. However, there is still some crisis in opening the LC of fertilizer import but we are constantly working to resolve the issue,” he said, while speaking at a view-exchange meeting with Bangladesh Agriculture Reporters Forum (BARF) at the ministry.

However, the process to provide incentives to the affected farmers in the flood-hit areas is ongoing, he said.

So far, Tk 193 crore has been allocated for the farmers which will be used for agriculture rehabilitation in phases, he added.

More than 14 lakh farmers in 23 districts have been affected by the floods, but mainly 11 districts have suffered extensive damage and most of the incentives are being given to the farmers of these districts, said secretary Emdad.

Besides, seedbeds of Aman have been made in all the unused lands of the agriculture department in these affected districts and adjoining districts which will be distributed among Aman farmers.

Under the rehabilitation programme, 80,000 small and marginal farmers of nine districts will be given free seeds of Ufsi variety, 10 kg of fertilizer assistance and Tk 1000 cash through mobile banking services for cultivating one bigha of land, he said.

Meanwhile, around 1.5 lakh farmers in 22 districts will be given seeds of different varieties of vegetables and Tk 1,000 in cash for early winter vegetable cultivation at homesteads.

The floods were caused by the onrush of water from upstream and torrential rainfall from August 16 to August 30, he said.

Almost ten lakh metric tonnes of produce including paddy, fruits and vegetable were damaged in the flood, incurring a damage of Tk 3,346 crore.

Besides, a total of 3,72,733 hectares of land have been damaged in the flood.