January 4: The shortage of chemical fertilizers, a perennial problem faced by farmers, is not likely to end anytime soon. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock has completed a global tender and purchase agreement, but fertilizers will not be imported soon due to the shortage in the international market. 

To resolve the problem of fertilizer shortage which is plaguing the farmers every season, the government has increased the budget allocation significantly this year.  However, there has not been enough supply of chemical fertilizers.

In the current fiscal year, more than Rs 27 billion has been allocated to procure chemical fertilizers against Rs 12 billion in 2020/21. According to the ministry, 420,000 metric tons of chemical fertilizers were purchased in the previous year.

Although the ministry has increased the budget to purchase fertilizers, it is not an easy task to import the fertilizers. According to the ministry, the volume of fertilizer subsidy has also increased significantly this year compared to last year. The government had provided a subsidy of Rs 29.55 per kg for urea in the last fiscal year while it is providing a subsidy of Rs 100.13 per kg this year.

Similarly, the government had provided a subsidy of Rs 67.71 per kg last year which has increased to Rs 11.90 per kg.  Farmers will get a subsidy of Rs 70.41 per kg this year for Potassium, up from Rs 6.83 per kg. The Agriculture Inputs Company Limited and the Salt Trading Corporation Limited will import and distribute subsidized chemical fertilizers in the current fiscal year.

The warehouses of these two companies currently have 10,500 metric tonnes of urea, 1,200 metric tonnes of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) and about 500 metric tonnes of Potassium in stock. The current stock of fertilisers is not possible to meet the demand in the coming days. In the next three months, the ministry needs to supply at least 75,000 metric tons in the market.

Although both the companies have completed the procurement process to supply 150,000 metric tonnes of fertilizers in the market, the import process has been halted due to unfavorable circumstances in the international market, said a senior official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD). Agriculture Minister Mahindra Ray Yadav has expressed commitment to provide fertilizers to the farmers within the next four months.

In a press briefing on January 1, he said that the import of fertilizers has been halted due to the shortage in the international market itself. 

According to the MoALD, about 1.2 million tons of chemical fertilizer is required annually. Paddy plantation alone requires 4,48,067 tons of fertilizer, while 311,686 tonnes is needed for maize cultivation and 155,736 tonnes for wheat.