Bangladesh to provide farmers with stimulus package after flood damage

The government plans to have a new pot of money to pass out to farmers in the Haor region after recent flash floods destroyed their crops.

Floods in early April damaged paddy on around 6,500 hectares of land in the region during the Boro season, according to the government. Croplands in Sylhet, Kishoreganj and Netrakona suffered heavy damage due to the flooding.

Speaking to journalists at the Secretariat after a meeting on Tuesday, Agriculture Minister Mohammad Abdur Razzaque said that his ministry is yet to figure out the exact extent of the damage.

According to their estimation, farmers across the country produce 20 million tonnes of paddy in the Boro season. At least 1.2 million tonnes of this paddy grow in the Haor region. “That’s no small amount,” the minister said.

He said crops do not usually grow much in the marshland region during the Aman season. “So, we’ve decided to provide the farmers with a stimulus package during the Aush season.”

Rice is cultivated in Bangladesh throughout the year as Aush, Aman or Boro. Aman is generally cultivated in December-January, Boro in March-May, and Aush in July-August cropping seasons.

Razzaque said farmers in Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Sylhet are the ministry’s primary focus in its plan to disburse the money.

Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, Matia Chowdhury, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on agriculture ministry, Agriculture Secretary Md Sayedul Islam and Industries Secretary Zakia Sultana also attended the meeting of the National Co-ordination and Advisory Committee on Fertiliser Distribution.

GOVERNMENT TO SUBSIDISE FERTILISER MASSIVELY

Razzaque said he is under pressure from the finance ministry to cut fertiliser subsidy to some extent, but Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina insisted that the agriculture ministry should add Tk 2 billion to the Tk 28 billion funds already allocated to subsidise fertiliser.

If the government ends up using Tk 300 billion as a subsidy for fertiliser for the fiscal, it will be at least four times larger than the last fiscal’s allocation.

The government spent Tk 7.717 billion on subsidies for fertiliser in the last fiscal.

“The price of fertiliser is rising exponentially. We're very concerned about it. But the prime minister said if needed, she would put a pause on other development projects to allocate funds for fertiliser subsidies,” Razzaque said.

He blamed the pandemic and the war between Russia and Ukraine for increased fertiliser prices and pointed out that Indian farmers pay more for fertilisers than Bangladeshi farmers.

He also warned against manipulating fertiliser prices, threatening stern action for irregularities. Razzaque, however, dismissed allegations that the price hike happened because of irregularities in the distribution channel.