Boro to be costly as diesel, fertiliser prices spiral
Boro farmers will have to count additional production cost this season due to increase in prices of diesel and fertiliser.
In the district, the extra cost for the purpose will stand around Tk 50 crore, said agriculture experts.
This year the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in the district set a target to cultivate boro on 78,212 hectares of land while last year the paddy was cultivated on 78,490 hectares, officials said.
Higher price of diesel and fertiliser might be the cause behind the slight fall in cultivation target, said farmers.
Farmers in the district will use 24,600 diesel-run shallow pumps and three diesel-run deep tube-wells in the ongoing boro season to irrigate 61,500 hectares of land out of a total 78,212 hectares while electricity-run shallow pumps and deep tube-wells will irrigate the rest, DAE sources said.
Farmers informed that it needs 370-litre diesel to irrigate a hectare of land during three-month boro season that usually requires 18 times irrigation on an average.
Four months ago, diesel sold at Tk 46 per litre while its present government rate is Tk 61. Accordingly, farmers have to spend additional Tk 34 crore for buying diesel for irrigation of 61,500 hectares of land. Given the fact that diesel in rural areas is selling for Tk 63-64 per litre, the cost will be even more.
Besides, a bag of urea is selling at Tk 1000 which was Tk 600 before June last year. As farmers will need five bags of urea containing 50 kg each to spray on a hectare of boro land, they will need additional Tk 2000/ to buy the fertiliser for the same land.
Accordingly, farmers have to spend additional Tk 16 crore to buy urea for 78,212 hectares of boro land.
And so, farmers in the district have to spend additional Tk 50 crore for buying diesel and urea in this boro season, said agriculture experts.
Farmers Tayed Ali, Wahed of Kishoreganj upazila, Ramjan Ali, Mohabbat Hossain of Dimla upazila said they cut cultivation target as the price of agricultural products like paddy, jute and vegetables have decreased alarmingly while prices of diesel, urea and agricultural tools are increasing.
Mostafizar Rahman, district training officer of the DAE, admitted that farmers have to spend additional money for buying fuel and urea.
He, however, claimed that farmers' total expenditure will not increase that much as the government reduced the prices of murate of potash and triple super phosphate.
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