“DAP bazaar mein nahi hai (There is not any di-ammonium phosphate out there),” says Pritam Singh Hanjra.
Like many others, this farmer from Urlana Khurd village in Madlauda tehsil of Haryana’s Panipat district is seeking India’s second most consumed fertilizer after urea. Containing 46% phosphorous, which is important for root institution and improvement, farmers largely apply DAP as a basal dose earlier than sowing.
“It is neither available in nearby Madlauda and Safidon mandis nor in more distant mandis in Karnal and Kaithal. Farmers who go to sell paddy (currently being harvested) usually bring back the DAP for their next wheat crop on the same tractor trolley to avoid burning diesel. But this time, they are all returning empty,” notes Hanjra.
Farmers require about 110 kg of urea, 50 kg of DAP and 20 kg of MOP (Murate of Potash) per acre of wheat. First dose of urea could be given 25-26 days after sowing. But DAP cannot wait and we want it nicely earlier than sowing begins within the first week of November.
Frustration is excessive for potatoes, the place sowing is already underway in Punjab and extends from mid-October to early November in Uttar Pradesh. For this the fertilizer requirement per acre is about 110 kg urea, 90 kg DAP and 80 kg MOP.
Harjinder Singh of Malliwal village in Shahkot tehsil of Punjab’s Jalandhar district plans to domesticate potatoes in 85 acres, with 47 acres of his personal land and the remainder taken on lease.
“I have a complex fertilizer containing just 30 bags (50 kg each) of DAP and 10 bags of 12:32:16 (12% nitrogen or N, 32% phosphorus or P and 16% potassium or K). These are my There will be enough for barely a quarter of the area,” he complains.
The image offered by farmers – there are viral media movies of lathi-charges and even vans being raided – is in keeping with the inventory place of key vitamins, based on the federal government’s personal information.
Stocks opening this month had been lower than half their year-ago ranges when it comes to DAP and MOP, whereas additionally decrease for the Urea and NPKS complexes.
Rise in world costs is especially resulting from unsure shares forward of Rabi sowing and essential meeting elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand due in February-March.
The landed value of DAP imported into India is now $675-680 per tonne (price plus freight), up from $370 on the time of final yr. The mop was imported a yr in the past at $230 a tonne, whereas as we speak it’s out there for as little as $500.
Urea (starting from $280-285 to $660-665) and phosphoric acid (starting from $689 to $1,160), ammonia ($230 to $615-625), rock phosphate ($100 to $150) and sulfur (from $80 ) as costs for intermediates have equally elevated. -85 to $250-260).
The Narendra Modi authorities on October 12 authorised a rise in DAP subsidy from Rs 24,231 to Rs 33,000 per tonne, along with Rs 18,377 to Rs 20,377 at three NPKS campuses for 12:32:16, Rs 16,293 to Rs 10:10. 18,293 for 26:26 and Rs 13,131 to Rs 15,131 for 20:20:0:13, 0, zero potassium, 13% sulphur.)
The resolution was taken to make it viable for fertilizer companies to import and forestall them from elevating the utmost retail value (MRP) too sharply, particularly in view of the upcoming state elections. Some corporations had already elevated the MRP of the favored 12:32:16 complicated to Rs 34,000 per tonne from Rs 23,700-24,000. With the most recent subsidy announcement, it’s anticipated to return again partially to the extent of Rs 29,000-29,500.
But the primary concern is availability: Are the excessive subsidies too late?
“There will definitely be incentives to import extra now. I count on the ships to begin arriving from late October to early November. The authorities ought to monitor around the clock in order that as a substitute of stocking the imported materials, it’s taken on to the consumption centres. Secondly, some form of ration is required. DAP could also be reserved primarily for wheat rising areas, 12:32:16 going for oilseeds; 10:26:26 for Rabi paddy, pulses, sugarcane and potato; and 20:20:0:13 for common software,” explains trade skilled G Ravi Prasad Sunday Express.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
