Fertiliser import pegged at 12 million tonnes during kharif

The fertilizer import to meet the demand and supply gap during the current Kharif agriculture season, which comes to an end on September 30, is pegged at about 12 million tonnes. This includes 3.2 million tonnes of urea, 4.82 million tonnes of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP), 3.24 million tonnes of Muriate of Potash (MoP) and 0.5 million tonnes of Nitogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK).

The Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) in consultation with the agriculture departments of the state governments had assessed the fertilizer need at 13.66 million tonnes of urea, 6.87 million tonnes of DPA, 2.29 million tonnes of MoP and 4.86 million tonnes of complex fertilizer like NPK for the current Kharif season.

The indigenous production of these fertilizers in different sectors, including public, private and cooperative, is estimated at 10.57 million tonnes of urea, 2.17 million tonnes of DAP and 4.4 million tonnes of NPK.

“The gap between requirement and indigenous production is met through imports”, said Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilizers Srikant Jena.

However, the requirement of fertilizers for ensuing Rabi agriculture season (October, 2010 to March 2011) is yet to be finalized by the DAC, he said.  

The total annual installed capacity of urea in all sectors is 20.03 million tonnes. Out of this, the combined capacity of 10 public sector plants is pegged at 6.30 million tonnes, while that of six plants in the cooperative sector and 14 private fertilizer units are estimated at 5.41 million tonnes and 8.30 million tonnes respectively.

According to the minister, urea is the only fertilizer under partial movement and distribution and statutory price control. It is imported for direct agriculture use on government account through State Trading Enterprisers (STEs) like MMTC, STC and IPL.

All other fertilizers including DAP, MoP, SSP and NPK are decontrolled or de-canalized since 1992 and are imported under Open General License (OGL), the minister informed.

The companies import these fertilizers as per the requirement as projected by the DAC. “Government is paying subsidy on these fertilizers under Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) policy” Jena said.

The Central government monitors availability of fertilizers at state level and state governments are responsible for further distribution within the respective states, he added.