Policy Issues for Long Term Growth of Fertilizer Use in Bangladesh

This paper discusses policy issues relevant to sustained rapid growth in Bangaladesh’s fertilizer consumption. Section II is an overview of fertilizer consumption as it has evolved over the years. It also provides comparative perspective on the performance of Bangaladesh among developing countries. Section III discusses policy requireemnets of long-term rapid growth in fertilizer use, keeping in mind various features of, and major forces behind, the past growth. The paper concludes that, notwithstanding the policy of phasing out fertilizer subsidies adopted by the government, there is a substantial scope for growth in fertilizer use. Utilization of this scope, however, requires a new policy orientation. The emphasis on prices needs to be replaced by concentration on the productivity and efficiency of fertilizer use as key target variables in policies to raise farmers’ returns on fertilizers. Different factors affecting growth in fertilizer use need to be viewed not in isolation from each other, but as a set of interacting variables which can be manipulated through policy interventions. The dominant aim of these interventions should be faster development and well-coordinated working of systems which influence the rate of growth in fertilizer use.