SDNP Bangladesh

Agriculture Needs More Attention
The demand for the new fertiliser, known as DAP, (Di-Ammonium Phosphate) is growing
among farmers for its high-yielding characteristics, writes Monirozzaman Khan Majlis

THE glorification of science is visible in every sphere of life. Bangladesh is an agricultural country. About eighty per cent of her population depend on agriculture. It occupies a very important place and is considered the backbone of our national economy. The patterns of our cultivable lands are fragmented and holdings are very small. Poverty, illiteracy and lack of cooperative farming hindered the adoption of the blessings of science like the use of mechanised equipment in agriculture.

Farmers work hard to cultivate their lands with wooden ploughs, pairs of bullocks, flails and ladders and get low yields of returns in comparison to mechanised farming. On the other hand, with the passage of time and the necessity of more crops, farmers are becoming familiar and using high-yielding chemical fertilisers, seeds and pesticides. Irrigation facilities and construction of embankments have also been increased.

In the last four years the country attained consecutive bumper crops despite flood in 1998. In fact, agriculture is the only sector where foodgrain growth is flourishing. It is beyond doubt that chemical fertiliser is one of the main inputs of agricultural activity. The fertiliser industry in Bangladesh is constituted by seven ammonia urea fertiliser factories, one ammonium sulphate plant, one phosphate fertiliser factory producing both TSP and SSP. The Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), the largest state-owned corporation, runs six capital-intensive urea fertiliser factories, one phosphate fertiliser factory and one sulphate plant fertiliser constituting the single biggest sub-sector representing about 69 per cent of the total production. The lone largest ammonia-urea fertiliser complex, namely the Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company (KAFCO), is a hundred per cent export-oriented factory having the capacity of 0.5 million tonnes of ammonia and 0.575 tonnes the urea. KAFCO is the biggest joint venture company of the country, BCIC being the equity holder of 41.25 per cent.

There are various chemical fertilisers, namely Urea, TSP, SSP, gypsum, potash, sulphur, zinc and the recent innovation is DAP (Di-Ammonium Phosphate). Among these, urea fertiliser is now being used widely. In our country, the demand for urea fertiliser is increasing fast. For instance, during the year of 1975-76, the production and demand for urea fertiliser were around 0.286 tonnes and 0.278 tonnes respectively, while the present production and demand stood at 1.8 million tonnes and 2.3 million tonnes. The installed annual production capacity of six urea fertiliser factories was 23 million tonnes. Mentionably, after meeting the local demand, Bangladesh was able to export surplus urea fertiliser since 80-81, but it came to a halt during 95-96 due to massive local demand. On the other hand, due to old age of existing factories, mechanical trouble and short supply of natural gas, the production of urea fertiliser started declining. Moreover, to meet the local demand, the country has been importing urea fertiliser for the last five years.

For last four years, the whole gamut of urea fertiliser production, distribution and importation are being carried out satisfactorily by the BCIC under the guidance of the "National Fertiliser Advisory Committee". Over the years, the BCIC (Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation) has acquired worthwhile expertise required for smooth operation of a fertiliser industry. This has enabled the fertiliser factories to operate at a high level of capacity. The first fertiliser factory, Natural Gas Fertiliser Factory, was established in 1961. It represented old technology. Jamuna Fertiliser Factory, Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Factory and Karnaphuli Fertiliser Factory have the most sophisticated technology. Technologically, all other units like Zia Fertiliser Factory, Urea Fertiliser Factory, Polash Urea Fertiliser Factory stand in-between. Jamuna Fertiliser Factory and KAFCO produce granular urea fertiliser while the rest produce prilled urea fertiliser.

Due to constant advancement of science and technology, the world is blessed with various innovations in everyday life. In this process a lot of qualitative improvements, changes and innovation are a mixed DAP fertiliser. DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate), high yielding and friendly to soil, is a mixed fertiliser of TSP and urea. DAP is a two-in-one which contains phosphate and nitrogen having the properties of TSP and urea fertiliser. DAP contains 46 per cent phosphate and 18 per cent nitrogen like TSP fertiliser.

Some 100 kg DAP is equivalent of 100 kg TSP or 250 kg SSP and 40 kg urea fertiliser. It has other advantages also. It is granular like TSP and easy to scatter in the cultivable land in all directions. It is easily melted in water, which helps rapid growth of plants. DAP fertiliser is very useful for short-term cultivation. Generally, a few percentage of nitrogen evaporates as ammonia gas for urea fertiliser, while due to mixed presence of nitrogen and phosphate evaporation is possible in case of DAP. Moreover, DAP is more nutrient than urea fertiliser in the limy alluvial soil.

It may be mentioned here that DAP fertiliser was imported for the first time by the BCIC during the financial year of 97-98 and the demand is growing among the farmers for its high yielding characteristics.

To meet the growing local demand for chemical fertiliser locally with our natural gas and to attain long-cherished food autarky, the BCIC has signed two contracts with Japan and China to set up two DAP factories at Chittagong. The annual production capacity of each factory is 240 million tonnes of DAP fertiliser.

It is expected that construction and installation work will be taken up soon. After successful implementation of these two factories, the demand for urea as well as TSP will be minimised and import will come down. On the other hand, another big urea fertiliser factory is going to be established at the western side of Bangabandhu Bridge at Serajgonj with techno-financial assistance of China. The annual installed production capacity of the proposed factory is 0.561 million tonnes. All these initiatives by the BCIC as well as the government are timely and encouraging.

It is believed that the BCIC will be able to successfully operate these factories with it own expertise to boost up fertiliser production and uphold the builtup image of the country through smooth distribution of fertiliser at reasonable price with its buffer go downs and sales outlets. It is further expected in the near future that the country will regain the export market of urea fertiliser after meeting the local demand.

Source: The Financial Express

© Copyright and Fair Use . SDNP Bangladesh holds the © copyright to its publications and web pages but
encourages duplication of these materials for noncommercial purposes. Proper citation is required.
Sustainable Development Networking Project (SDNP)
E-17 Agargaon, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka-1207, Bangladesh. Email: info@sdnbd.org