Rabi sowing on, Punjab still faces DAP shortage of 1.28 lakh tonnes
The state has 3.52 lakh tonnes of DAP, a key fertiliser ahead of rabi sowing, against requirement of 4.8 lakh tonnes
Punjab is facing acute shortage of di-ammonia phosphate (DAP), a key soil nutrient required for growing crops sown at the onset of winters, even as the rabi (wheat, potato and mustard) sowing season has started.
As on date, the state has 3.52 lakh tonnes of DAP against the rabi’s sowing season requirement of 4.8 lakh tonnes, a shortage of 1.28 lakh tonnes.
The state’s annual requirement of DAP is 8.5 lakh tonnes — 10% of the country’s yearly requirement of 80 lakh tonnes — of which 3 lakh tonnes to 3.5 lakh tonnes is used during kharif sowing.
This year, wheat is expected to be sown over 35 lakh hectares (86 lakh acres) in Punjab.
“We have received 3.52 lakh tonnes of DAP so far. The stock is not sufficient as per the state’s requirement,” said an official in the state agriculture department. The Centre, according to him, has promised supply of required stocks but due to season’s rush and nationwide need, DAP is in short supply.
During October-November, particularly between October 25 to November 15, that coincides with the start of rabi sowing, the state farmers add 50kg of DAP per acre for better yield. It is the responsibility of the Punjab State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd (Markfed) to start storage of DAP ahead of the season.
The shortage has led to panic among farmers. Last week, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) had held state-wide protests against sale of spurious fertilisers.
According to farm body general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan: “Time to sow wheat has already arrived and there is shortage of DAP. There are several instances where the farmers are being told that they have to buy liquefied nano DAP with every bag of DAP. We suspect that it lacks required nutrients which could impact the crop yield,” he added
Wheat is sown after paddy harvest which began in the first week of October on a full scale and immediately after that the farmers start preparing for wheat cultivation.
Owing to the shortage, the Centre has asked Punjab to take supplies of alternatives to DAP such as triple super phosphate (TSP), NPK (12-32-16) or single super phosphate (SSP). But according to officials in the state agriculture department, these are costlier options and doesn’t fulfil the soil requirement as DAP does.
The cost of a bag (50kg) of DAP is ₹1,350, triple superphosphate (TSP) ₹1,450, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) ₹1,480 and single superphosphate (SSP) ₹350. To fulfil soil’s nutrient requirement, three bags of SSP are required per acre.
The Centre had agreeing to give 4.5 lakh tonnes of DAP, 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of NPK and 1.5 lakh metric tonnes of SSP fertilisers to Punjab for rabi cultivation.
“A stock of 50,000 tonnes of DAP is in the transit,” said Gurjit Singh Brar, joint director officer in state agriculture department. “We are trying to fix shortage issues, but in the present scenario, we suggest farmers to use DAP in right proportion as suggested by the Punjab Agricultural University,” said Brar.
The DAP shortage has its roots in the ongoing war in Eastern Europe and West Asia. The war between Israel and Hamas has severely disrupted the global supply chain of DAP, leading to a significant shortage in India. Due to DAP crisis, the high sea trading of fertiliser has witnessed fluctuation of rates from $450 to $600-650.
Punjab agriculture director Jaswant Singh said that farmers can use alternative sources of DAP, which are equally beneficial and effective for rabi crops, as suggested by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). He said that farmers can use 75kg of NPK (12:32:16) per acre, or 150kg of SSP plus 20kg of urea per acre, or 50kg of TSP plus 20kg of urea per acre, or 90kg of NPK (10:26:26) per acre, instead of using a bag of DAP.
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