Bangladesh farmers face fertilizer squeeze as domestic production collapses

Severe gas and raw material shortages have halted production at five of Bangladesh’s seven fertilizer factories, deepening reliance on imports and fueling panic among farmers.

Fertilizer plants need 329 million cubic feet of gas a day but are receiving only 141 million cubic feet. Four state-owned plants are shut because of gas shortages, while Bangladesh’s only diammonium phosphate (DAP) plant has stopped because of raw material shortages.

Annual domestic production has fallen to about 450,000 tons despite capacity of 3.7 million tons. Bangladesh now imports about 80% of its fertilizer needs. Imports cost 34,714 crore taka (approximately $2.84 billion) in fiscal 2025-26, up 4,500 crore taka (approximately $368 million) from a year earlier.

“Due to the gas crisis, there is a fertilizer crisis. Because of the fertilizer crisis, farmers are not getting fertilizer. If farmers don’t get it, they cannot apply it to the land. If it’s not applied to the land, plant growth is affected. If there is no plant growth, you won’t get paddy—which means a massive crisis is brewing within the next six months,” said one farmer impacted by the shortage.

Shortages spilled into unrest Sunday in Bhurungamari, Kurigram, where a crowd broke into M/S Shah Amanat Fertilizer and took 197 50-kilogram bags. Authorities said 100 bags were later returned.

“The police administration was outside, but inside the room, some people forced me in. It was a near-death situation. One person instigated everyone to cause today’s incident,” owner Taifur Rahman Mukul said.

A five-member committee was formed to investigate.