Andhra Pradesh

Fertilizer crisis set to get worse

Sangareddy: The ongoing crunch for a variety of complex fertilizers in Medak district is expected to deepen by the kharif season.

At present, the demand for complex fertilizer, diammonium phosphate (DAP), which is used as basal application for rabi crops, is in short supply.

The district has a sown area of 1.5 lakh acres this rabi under various crops and the demand for complex fertilizers is 7,500 tonnes at the rate of one bag per acre.

However, the district has so far received 1,500 to 2,500 tonnes of the DAP.

As a result of the short supply, dealers are making merry by increasing the price on each bag. At present, a bag of DAP, which normally is priced at Rs. 480, is going at a premium of Rs. 550.

Farmers who have gone for much larger acreage this year due to good rains have no clue how to save the crops.

Speaking to The Hindu Assistant Director of Agriculture J. Ramchander Rao said that the problem is with the short supply of two essential ingredients in manufacturing DAP, sulphuric and phosphoric acids.

The cost of these ingredients has shot up from US $ 90 to US $ 500 per kilogram in the international market leaving nothing for domestic consumption.

Then again the Government on its side has few options left as most of the public sector fertilizer manufacturing units like FACT and NFL are closed down and it has to rely on cooperative sector giants like IFFCO and Kribhco or the private fertilizer manufacturers like Coromandel and Zuari.

The district administration, which is perplexed by the crisis, has decided to keep strict vigil at the retail outlets in different parts of the district.

Joint Collector Ramshankar Nayak has asked officials of the Agriculture Department to post its staff at each shop to oversee distribution of the scarce commodity.

Similarly an assistant director cadre officer has been posted at the Moosapet Railway Godown to distribute incoming fertilizer to different mandals.

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