Punjab Suffers Shortage of Fertilizers Before Rabi Sowing Season

Punjab is currently facing a severe shortage of Di-ammonium Phosphate, an agro chemical used to fertilize the crops in farming. With the onset of Rabi crops season, the state of Punjab finds itself with only 74000 metric tonnes of DAP.

This issue however is not only restricted to the state of Punjab as the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers had already called a meeting to address this issue of the shortage of chemicals and fertilizers before the rabi cropping season in September itself.

In June 2021, the government had already raised the subsidies of dap and other non-urea-based fertilizers by 14,775 crore rupees. The government of India increased the subsidies on DAP from Rs 500 per 50 kg bag (or Rs 10,000 per tonne) to Rs 1,200 per 50 kg bag (or Rs 24,000 per tonne).

What is DAP?

DAP or Di-ammonium Phosphate is a fertilizer which contains 18% Nitrogen and 46% Phosphorus (P2O5).  This fertilizer is soluble in water and is easily absorbed by the plants it’s usually applied to the area where the seed is sown to grant the plant with most amount of nutrients needed for it to grow.

Why Is It Needed?

With the ongoing Rabi cropping season in India, it is time to sow wheat & potatoes which are crops that need a lot of nutrients to grow and can be considered as cash crops.

Normally the state has a reserve of fertilizers and chemicals at the ready to help with the farmer’s need, like last year in 2020, when the state had about 3.5 lakh tonnes of DAP stocked up for the Rabi cropping season.

This has even lead the agriculture minister Randeep Singh Nabha, to seek for the union minister of the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers to acquire an adequate supply of DAP for the state.