Barua says enough urea in store to meet boro demand

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FE Report
Industries Minister Dilip Barua Sunday ruled out any crisis of fertiliser in the ongoing boro season as the government go-downs have ample stocks of urea that can meet the entire demand of the late winter crop.
Bangladesh needs at least 1.5 million tonnes of urea in the boro season, but presently the government warehouses have a stockpile of 1.7 million tonnes of the fertiliser, Barua said.
"Unlike in the past, I am confident there will be no crisis of fertiliser this season," the minister told a press briefing at his office in Motijheel.
The boro or dry season crop accounts for more than 50 per cent of the country's total rice yield in a year but a good harvest largely depends on adequate supply of urea to the farms.
"We have built a buffer stock of urea across the country. We have also procured huge quantity from Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company Limited (KAFCO) in a bid to avert any crisis," he said.
The minister was briefing reporters after two separate meetings with officials of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) and Bangladesh Sugar & Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC).
He said the government has also beefed up monitoring to avoid any supply-side anomalies or constraints.
"Separate wings of the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Industries are working round the clock to ensure proper and timely distribution of urea."
The minister said the government has moved to encourage farming of hybrid sugarcanes in the country to boost domestic production of sugar in the state-owned mills.
Currently, the state-run sugar mills produce between 60,000-100,000 tonnes of sugar annually, which is one-fifteenth of the country's total demand for the sweetener.
"Our mills can never meet the entire domestic demand of sugar. But we can popularise farming of hybrid sugarcanes to increase domestic production of the crop for boosting local sugar output," he said.
"We have held in-depth discussion with representatives from all stakeholders such as Ministry of Food and Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute on the issue," he said.
He said the price of sugar is a sensitive issue in Bangladesh as in the case of other essentials such as rice and wheat.
The minister said there is no way but to import sugar as production of the sweetener has never come close to the spiralling demand. "Still, BSFIC has been told to take necessary steps," he said.
Mr. Barua said the government has stressed hybrid crop production to jack up sugar content of the cane. "I have urged the Sugarcane Institute to do more research so that we can raise recovery of sugar content to at least 10 per cent from the current level of 7.15 per cent."
The issue of generating electricity from molasses has also come up during the meeting, he said.
The minister said the government has also decided to start sugar production at two more mills by crushing raw materials. "Plans for setting up two more distilleries in sugar-mills have also been discussed."