Business

Kerala on the brink of fertiliser shortage

KOCHI: Kerala, like its south Indian counterparts, is on the verge of a serious shortage of fertilisers even as the kharif season began on a positive note with sufficient rain for the seasonal activities to take off.

Everything from natural rubber to Kerala’s favourite variety of bananas — ‘nendran’ — depend on the availability of fertilisers, especially Factamfos, a major brand of fertiliser mix from Fertilisers And Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT).

According to reports, the public sector fertiliser company, which is still awaiting fertiliser subsidy and straddled with a working capital problem, has cut Factamfos production by as much as 50 per cent. This is mainly owing to the high price of sulphur, a major component of the fertiliser mix.

The price of sulphur, fertiliser industry sources here say, has gone up from about $70 a tonne last year to $740 a tonne now.

A farmer in Alanagd in Thrissur says that the self-help group in which he is a member, comprising about 250 farmers, has been facing shortage of Factamfos over the last fortnight.

This is a season during which rubber cultivators use a lot of the fertiliser mix, he adds.

A group of farmers in Marottichal too told The Hindu that the last consignment they received was five tonnes of Factamfos and since then supplies appear to have dried up. Both these groups of farmers are engaged in cultivating nendran. Another group of farmers in Vallikkunnam in Alappuzha district said that they were sensing a shortage of fertilisers this new season. The group is engaged in cultivating a variety of vegetables and bananas.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that over the last three months, including the first week of this month, Factamfos production has topped 90,000 tonnes.

The fertiliser mix has been evenly distributed in the four south Indian States, it is learnt.

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu depend a lot on production at FACT for the agricultural season and with Kerala, the dependency is nearly 100 per cent.

According to reports, FACT should get over Rs.150 crore in subsidy alone for the Factamfos it has sold this financial year, calculating that the subsidy is Rs. 20,000 a tonne.

While sulphur prices are going through the roof, FACT is also facing an acute shortage of rock phosphate and phosphoric acid.

Supply situation for both of the commodities has tightened in the international market, sources said here.

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