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| Drought effect: Fertiliser sales down by 33.5 LT |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi Oct 02, 2009, 10:43 IST |
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Fertiliser sales declined by at least 33.5 lakh tonnes during this kharif season after drought descended on about half of the country, jeopardising the scope of using farm nutrients.
If the demand placed by different states is an indicator of consumption level, sales have lagged significantly the supply by the Centre, especially in case of urea and MOP, official data showed.
"We have provided the states adequate fertilisers during the kharif so that they do not face any shortage but sales have been low," Fertiliser Secretary Atul Chaturvedi said.
He said states had not been able to exhaust the supply granted to them and, in most cases, drought was to be blamed for the low sales.
While the Ministry has provided 115 lakh tonnes (LT) of urea, sales of the most widely-used fertiliser during the kharif season stand at 107 LT, Chaturvedi pointed out. Interestingly, states had submitted demand for 135 LT of urea for the kharif season.
The secretary said the Ministry would have granted more of fertilisers had states needed it. Instead, they could not sell the entire quantity provided to them as demand from farmers came down due to drought.
Similarly, against the supply of 17.36 LT of MOP, states could offload 16 lakh tonnes this kharif season, though they had sought 21.45 lakh tonnes.
In the case of Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP), the Centre had allocated States 62 LT against demand of 49 LT. Though sales figure are yet to be finalised, demand is expected to have been low in this fertiliser variety.
Urea, DAP and MOP are the key fertilisers used for improving health and productivity of crops.
Chaturvedi also ruled out any shortage of fertilisers during the coming rabi season. The country requires about 263 LT of fertiliser for the 2009-10 rabi season, which is slightly more than the year-ago period.
The demand for urea has been pegged at 143.75 LT, that for DAP at 57.48 LT, MOP at 21.47 LT, and complexes (combination of two or more farm nutrients) at 40.21 LT for winter crops.
The Fertiliser Secretary, who attended a seminar late last month organised by the Agriculture Ministry to form strategies for the rabi season, assured states of adequate supply for winter-sown crops.
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