BSS, Dhaka
Expecting high returns from the biggest-ever allocation for agriculture sector, Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury today brushed aside the notion of providing Taka 2,700 crore fresh subsidy to fertilizer a problem for the new government.
“The government has the ability to afford the money required to give the subsidy on fertilizer. If we did not have the money, we did not take the steps,” she told BSS.
There is a saying that the farmers will return Taka three, if Taka one is spent on them, the agriculture minister said. She hoped the people will get the benefit of the government steps soon.
“Earlier we gave subsidy on fertilizer and succeeded to provide the people with rice at Taka 10 per kilogram,” she said and expressed optimism that this time too the government would be able to lower the rice prices by reducing the fertilizer prices.
Matia Chowdhury pointed out that the prices of winter vegetables are still high in the market as the farmers could not use costly phosphoric fertilizer adequately to increase output.
The government on Wednesday cut nearly 50 percent of non- urea fertilizer prices to enable farmers to grow more rice for achieving food security and fulfilling its election pledges. Talking to BSS, eminent economist Prof Abu Ahmed welcomed the initiative to reduce prices of fertilizers, but said it might be a problem for the government to arrange the money required for the job.
“It is good that the government has fulfilled one of its election pledges, but the administration will be under pressure to supply the money,” he said.
Noted economist Dr Atiur Rahman does not like to see the money to be spent on fertilizer as subsidy. “It is a big investment on the farmers who will surely make huge returns through production,” he told BSS.
Atiur Rahman said arranging money for the purpose would not be a problem for the government. There are “fatty budgets” for many unproductive sectors and the government can easily divert those allocations to agriculture, he suggested.
Terming the reduction of fertilizer prices “a timely and well- thought-out action”, he said and added the wealth it would generate would be huge compared to the investment.
It would increase agriculture production and reduce import of foodgrains and thus help the farmers save the country’s foreign exchange reserves and improve the overall economy, he observed.
Agriculture Minister Bagum Matia Chowdhury and Industries Minister Dilip Barua in a joint press conference on Wednesday announced that the prices of triple super phosphate (TSP), di- ammonium phosphate (DAP) and murate of potash (MoP) were slashed at almost half the previous prices.
Courtesy: nation.ittefaq.com
