No shortage of fertiliser in country: Agri minister

Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque told Parliament on Monday that there is sufficient stock of fertiliser in the country against the demand.

"The amount of stocked fertiliser is enough against the demand. There is no shortage," he said, replying to a starred question from ruling party MP Nurunnabi Chowdhury (Bhola-3).

The minister placed a statistic in the House over the stock of different fertilisers till March 22, 2022 and their demands in April 2022.

The amount of stored urea is 475,000 metric tonnes (mts) against the possible demand of 70,000mts in April, as per the statistics.

Besides, the stock of TSP is 186,000 mts against the demand of 22,000mts, while MOP is 341,000mts against the demand of 21,000mts and DAP 389,000 mts against the demand of 51,000mts.

Dr Razzaque said the production in the country's different fertiliser factories and the import of fertilisers will also continue.

It was estimated that the demand for urea is 2,600,000mts in the country in the 2021-22 fiscal year, while that for TSP is 750,000mts, MOP is 750,000mts and DAP is 1,650,000mts, he said.

Alongside the local production, BCIC, BADC and private firms are importing necessary amount of fertilisers to the country, as per the estimated demand, the minister added.

Meanwhile, Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury told Parliament that some Tk 8.32 billion was collected as land development taxes in the last fiscal year 2020-21 through the land offices across the country.

The amount was only Tk 2.24 billion in 2008-09 fiscal year, he said replying to a scripted question from AL MP Mamunur Rashid Kiron (Noakhali-3).