Farmers faced 23 lakh tonnes of fertiliser crunch

The country witnessed fertiliser supply crunch of over 23 lakh tonnes during the kharif season, even though drought curtailed the demand for the crop nutrients.

Kharif crops are sown during June-September while harvesting begins from October. The demand for fertiliser was limited as drought in major parts of the country pulled down the area under kharif crops by more than four per cent.

Even as huge cultivable areas was left unsown, the demand for fertilisers was estimated at 250 lakh tonnes (LT).

But, the availability of all fertilisers including Urea, Di-Ammonium Phosphate(DAP) and Muriate of Potash (MOP) in the entire Kharif season was only 227 LT till September 24, as per the government data.

Urea, DAP, MOP and complexes are the key fertilisers used for improving the health and productivity of crops.

In the country, there was a shortage of about 18 LT of urea, a major nutrient for rice crop, with the availability down at 115 LT against the demand of 133 LT till September 24.

Similarly, MoP was 4.30 LT short of demand and complex (NPK) by about 10 LT. Only DAP was 11 LT in excess of the requirement of 48 LT.

Uttar Pradesh, which requires maximum quantity of fertilisers, has faced a shortage of 3.62 LT during the season. The availability of urea was down by 2.87 LT, NPK was down by 2.05 LT and MoP by 60,000 tonnes.

However, DAP availability was raised by 1.87 LT to 7.37 LT as against the demand of 5.50 LT.

The supply of MoP was tight throughout the season due to late finalisation of import by some companies, a senior government official said.

Meanwhile, the total sowing areas in the kharif season stands at 930.53 lakh hectares till September 18, compared to 976.18 lakh hectares in the year-ago period. So far, 12 states have declared drought in 299 districts this year.

So, after facing a shortage in the kharif season, the Agriculture Ministry has asked the Fertiliser Ministry to make sure that farmers do not face any problems during the coming rabi season.

"The Department of Fertilisers has been requested to make suitable arrangements for meeting the fertiliser requirement for the ensuing rabi 2009-10 season," a senior official with the Agriculture Ministry said.

The country needs about 262.91 lakh tonnes of fertiliser for the 2009-10 rabi season, which is slightly more than the year-ago period, he said, adding the demand has been assessed after consultation with the states and the industry.