Rising prices of agriculture inputs

IT is learnt that the prices of different agricultural inputs have increased by at least 20 per cent recently and this has pushed up the cost of Boro plantation across the country.
Boro accounts for 55 per cent of the total rice output in the country and if costs of inputs including seed, irrigation, fertiliser, and pesticides surge by 25-30 per cent during this Boro season, it will severely affect the rice market. Traders are charging much higher than that of normal prices for plough, irrigation, seed, pesticides due to high paddy prices. On the other hand, irrigation cost increased to Tk 1,250 per bigha from Tk 1,000 last year. So the output cost per bigha is likely to go up by a minimum of 25 per cent.
Farmers need to use 24-25 kgs of urea, 10 kgs of TSP, 8 kgs of MOP per bigha which have surged to 30, 12 and 10 kgs respectively this year. Local sellers were also charging additional Tk 2-Tk 5 per kg for fertiliser against government-fixed prices. Fertiliser cost is set to increase by Tk 250 per bigha at the firld level this year. Pesticide cost also rose by Tk 200 per bigha while labour cost by Tk 600-Tk 750.
Apart from indirect fertiliser subsidy, farmers should be encouraged with cash incentives in the flood-affected districts which could minimise production costs to some extent. Rice prices, however, increased by Tk 1.0-Tk 2.0 per kg in last four days in the market as coarse rice was sold at Tk 46-Tk 50, medium quality Brridhan-28 at Tk 55-Tk 60 and finer variety Miniket, Jeerashail and Najirshail at Tk 62-Tk 75 a kg.
Rice prices are still 22-31 per cent higher compared to a year ago and if necessary measures cannot be taken to reduce the input prices, it will push up the rice prices further.
Fazlur Rahman
Dhanmondi, Dhaka