The balanced use of fertilizer can increase the production of crops by 8% to 14% and save Tk 20,000 crore in a year, said  researchers.

They said  the government has so far provided Tk 8,000 crore yearly as subsidy in the fertilizer sector and the amount of subsidy now stands at Tk 30,000 crore due to the rise in fertilizer prices  in the international market.

They were speaking at a programme on ‘Fertilizer Policy Dialogue’ held at the auditorium of Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (BARC) on Tuesday.

The researchers and experts  urged the farmers to use fertilizer in a moderate and balanced way in their fields.

Wahida Akter, secretary to the Agriculture Ministry, said the government has taken a decision to reduce the use of urea fertilizer after increasing the use of DAP fertilizer. “But it is noticed that the use of urea is increasing day by day alongside the use of DAP. As a result, the fertilizer is being misused and the cost of import if rising,” she said.

If farmers use increase use of DAP fertilizer by one kg on a land they can cut urea fertilizer  use by 400 grams, she said.

Wahida also stressed the need for making farmers conscious about balanced use of fertilizer after checking the soil on regional basis.

Besides, a keynote paper with recommendations of  Professor of Australia's Murdoch University and also the project leader Dr Rechard W Bell was presented at the dialogue where it is shown that  through balanced fertilizer use, the production of paddy will be increased by more than 75 lakh tonnes in a year.