Fertiliser prices high in Nilphamari

State Minister for Education ANM Ehsanul Haq Milan, who is minister-in-charge of the district, at a meeting Tuesday night asked the district administration to take steps to reduce fetrtiliser prices. But this yielded little result.

The Deputy Director of Agriculture Extension Department of Sakhawat Hossen admitted the high price of fertilisers and said this is due to less supply and more demand.

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On Thursday, he held a meting of the district fertiliser monitoring committee at the conference room of the Deputy Commissioner, where fertiliser dealers told him that prices have increased due to their increase in the international market. It is not possible for them to sell fertilisers at government-fixed prices, they told the meeting, according to sources.

But this correspondent gathered that prices of imported fertiliser have increased by around 20 dollars pet ton. Taking this into account, prices should increase by only Tk1.20 per kg.

At markets, a 50-kg bag of Urea is now sold at between Tk 320 and 325 against the government-fixed price of Tk 280 and Tk 290.

Bangladesh-made TSP (triple super phosphate) is sold at Tk 850-880 against Tk 750-780; TSP imported from America at Tk 700-725 against Tk 650-685 and DAP at around Tk 925 against Tk 800-825.

It is alleged that a handful of big traders have purchased quotas from all the 74 dealers in the district and are controlling the prices.

It is also alleged that the dishonest traders are deceiving the farmers by re-packing below standard imported TSP and marketing those as Bangladeshi TSP, which is better.

Sources said over 92,000 tonnes of fertiliser will be needed to cultivate IRRI-Boro on targeted 63,200 hectares of lands in the district this year.

But the government allotment is less than 15,000 tonnes, sources said.