DAP shortage persists in Haryana, demand-supply gap a worry

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, November 12

Short supply from the Centre during the kharif season, increase in the estimated area of mustard sowing and hike in the raw material for the DAP fertiliser are stated to be the reasons behind the current DAP crisis for farmers across the state.

Shortage piled up in October

In October, the Centre allocated 58,650 MT of DAP to Haryana against the need of 1.10 lakh MT. After the state took up the issue with the Centre, 94,000 MT was supplied. — An official

Target to sow mustard in 6.5L hectares

The target is to sow mustard in 6.5L ha, but it’s expected to cross 7L ha due to favourable sowing conditions for mustard in rain-fed areas in September, October. — Jagraj Dandi, Joint Director, Agri Dept

Sources said 2 lakh MT of the fertiliser was given to Haryana by the Centre against the requirement of 3 lakh MT, which has had a cascading effect on the rabi season.

“Due to the shortfall of 1 lakh MT of DAP during kharif season, the opening stock on October 1 (start of rabi season) with Haryana was 50,000 MT,” an official said.

Sources added that the shortage started piling up in October when the Centre allocated 58,650 MT of DAP to Haryana against the initial requirement of 1.10 lakh MT. “After the state government took up the issue with the Union Agriculture Minister, 94,000 MT of the fertiliser was supplied to Haryana in October,” an official said.

However, the gap between the demand and supply is still continuing as per the figures available on the online dashboard of the Department of Fertilisers of the Centre.

The figures showed that the overall supply of DAP from October 1 to November 11 has been much above the requirement — against the requirement of 1.5 lakh MT of DAP, 1.91 lakh MT was supplied. However, 1.7 lakh MT DAP was sold till November 11, which is much above the estimated requirement to date.

There is still a requirement of 1.29 lakh MT DAP, which will mainly be used in sowing wheat and for further needs till March 31, 2022.

Dr Jagraj Dandi, joint director, Haryana Agriculture Department, said: “We have a target to sow mustard in 6.5 lakh hectares, but this area is expected to cross 7 lakh hectares due to favourable sowing conditions for mustard, especially in the rain-fed districts of the state in September and October. The estimated wheat sowing area is 25 lakh hectare.”

Farmers maintained that moisture in the soil after rains led them to sow mustard instead of bajra.

Sandeep Beniwal, a farmer of Darba Kalan village in Sirsa, said he sowed five acres of mustard and planned to sow another 17 acres of wheat. “I have been standing in a queue in Chopta town for two days with no hope of getting DAP. The queue is getting longer every day,” he said.

A state government note mentioned that importers and manufacturers put on hold their imports and manufacturing process during May this year due to hike in prices of the raw material of DAP fertiliser in the international market. Consequently, the country faced a shortage.