Costly inputs, erratic cyclones swallow farmers' profit

Exorbitant input prices coupled with erratic cyclones dent farmers' profit in the outgoing year 2023, despite crop-price rises that, in the other way round, cost the consumers dearly, sector sources say.
The two-way headwinds facing farming resulted in a general rise in prices of farm produce in a phenomenon termed agflation.
Experts warn that this challenging condition may pass through the upcoming year 2024, as current global trends indicate unfavorable prospect for both farmers and consumers.

In the third quarter of 2022, the government had raised prices of diesel by 42.5 per cent which was set to raise the overall production cost notably from the beginning of 2023 Boro season. Another blow was a hike in fertiliser prices by 20-25 per cent in April, farm-economist Prof Dr Rashidul Hasan has said.
He said the situation turned for the worst in March-July period as the country witnessed a record low rain that affected rice farming and led to a sharp rise in irrigation costs in both Aus and Boro seasons.
"Both winter-and summer vegetable, potato, mustard and other oilseeds, pulses, mango, and litchi production cost rose notably alone for the rise in irrigation costs," he said.
He also mentions that random cyclones have also caused severe damage to food and cash crops, fruits, livestock, fisheries and salt fields this year.
Cyclones cast devastating impacts on Aman and Boro fields in Jashore, Khulna, Barishal, Noakhali, Cumilla, Chattogram, Kushtia and Rajshahi regions.
"But farmers got little compensation in the regions either from the government or from any of developed nations responsible for the global climate change," he said.
Bangladesh Agricultural Farm Labour Federation (BAFLF) secretary Golam Sarowar says their primary prediction is that the farmers' production cost has risen by 20 per cent on average due to fertiliser, pesticide, labour, transportation, seed, diesel and other cost surges by 15 to 42.5 per cent in 2023.
"Potato and onion farmers are spending 70-80-percent more this year to source seeds while they have to go for farming twice as cyclone Hamoon hit the early crops in October," he told the FE correspondent.
He said prices of crops increased 10-12 per cent at farmer's end in 2023 but their production cost rose by 15-20 per cent, depending on districts, eroding income of the peasantry.
Apart from crops, poultry, fisheries and livestock farmers in the agricultural subsectors suffered across in the year as feed prices recorded further hike in 2023.
Prices of day-old-chicks (DoCs) or fish fry, PLs shot up 25-30 per cent, making farming costlier for small-scale investors, he said.
Bangladesh Poultry Association president Sumon Hawladar has said though prices of eggs and chickens surged to a record high in August 2023, marginal farmers hardly could reap any benefit out of it.
"With government declaration for import as well as a drop in consumption, big poultry companies reduced egg prices to a record low that handed immense losses to 30,000 small-and medium-scale farmers," he says about tricks of the trade.
As regards such market maneuvering the association chief said the companies which produce eggs also have feed factories and hatcheries in their expanding domain.
They raised feed prices to Tk 65-70 a kg while DoCs at Tk 70-75 per bird, which was Tk 23-40 in 2022, making it hard for the farmers to get minimum 10-percent profits.
He said many of small farmers stopped farming in 2023 for such volatile poultry market.
Dr Prof Abdul Hamid, chairman of Agrarian Research Foundation, Bangladesh (ARF), has said the government should give direct cash subsidy for additional rise in irrigation and fertiliser costs to keep them in farming which is very challenging in this new millennium.
He said proper subsidy for hike in input costs and compensation for loss and damages due to odd climate is also important for the consumers also.
"As such, compensation for the producers helps ease prices of produce," he said. Mr Hamid, also an agronomist, notes that the country is now going through the El-Nino phase, which might persist for some more years.
"During this El-Nino period, both droughts and floods might be common. The government should take national strategic plan to pass out the El-Nino phase," he suggests.
Dr Wais Kabir, former executive chairman of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council(BARC), says the United Nations adopted a loss-and-damage fund in its last climate conference (COP28).
"Random cyclones---like four times in a year in Bangladesh-are surely an impact of global climate change," he said.
Bangladesh should assess properly its loss and damages owing to the random oceanic storms and global warming to gain its legal share from the fund, he added.
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