Govt to give Tk 7.73b diesel subsidy in Boro season

---

S M Jahangir
The government is set to launch a cash subsidy scheme of Tk 7.73 billion to help farmers reduce their irrigation cost by at least 20 per cent by using diesel during the ensuing Boro cropping season, official sources said.
"We have almost finalised a proposal for providing farmers with 20 per cent cash subsidy on their use of diesel for irrigating the Boro-cropping land in the coming season," a senior agriculture ministry official told the FE.
The proposed diesel subsidy will be given in addition to the government's existing 20 per cent incentive for electricity-run irrigation pumps, the official added.
The agriculture ministry has already completed necessary groundwork for launching the diesel subsidy scheme, and the ministry will soon place the final proposal before the finance ministry for releasing the required fund.
According to the official estimate, a total of 25.77 million bighas or 3.48 million hectares of Boro-cropping land are expected to come under the coverage of such diesel subsidy in the coming Boro cultivation season.
Around 35 liters of diesel are required to run pumps
for irrigating one bigha of Boro cropping land. The proposed cash support will help farmers lessen their cost of purchasing nearly seven litres of diesel.
The government has taken up the diesel subsidy scheme, among other incentives, to help the farmers reduce their Boro cultivation cost, a senior agriculture ministry official said. The government has already taken some price-support measures for the farmers to boost the country's Boro production in the coming season, he added.
The country's Boro output, according to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), was estimated at about 18 million tonnes.
The direct cash subsidy on use of diesel for irrigation purpose was first introduced in 2007 by the past caretaker government.
The interim administration had initially allocated Tk 7.50 billion for disbursement of diesel subsidy among the Boro farmers in the 2007-08 cultivation season. Later the amount was cut short to Tk 2.4 billion.
Some 6.6-million listed Boro cultivators came under the direct cash support programme, official sources said.
In the following year the caretaker government also earmarked Tk 5.40 billion to be disbursed as diesel subsidy among the Boro farmers. But eventually, the programme was not implemented, they mentioned.
Official sources attributed the non-execution of the second diesel subsidy scheme to some alleged 'flaws', both in the selection of beneficiaries and disbursement of the fund.