Amid farmers shifting to use more of complex fertilizers when they are facing a shortage of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), manufacturers in India have been ramping up domestic production by importing raw materials and getting those made as per requirement.

Latest data show that the domestic output of complex fertilizers increased 11 per cent to 62.55 lakh tonnes (lt) during April-October period of the current fiscal.

The demand for the complex variety of fertilizer, which carries a combination of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potash (K) nutrients, has gone up in recent years as awareness has been improving with the introduction of soil health card (from 2017), S K Chaudhary, Deputy Director-General (natural resource management) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said recently. He said the crop nutrient ratio (N:P:K) which was at 8:4:1 in 2019 has come down to 5:1.8:1, which is close to the recommended level of 4:2:1.

According to a study by ICAR in 2023, as high as 90 per cent of the agricultural land has 90 per cent deficiency in nitrogen and phosphorus while 50 per cent of land is deficient in potash.

2020-21 record

Latest data released by the Fertilizer Ministry show that the production of all key fertilizers — urea, DAP, complex, single super phosphate (SSP) and ammonium sulphate — registered 2 per cent rise at 302.41 lt in the April-October period from 297.8 lt a year ago. The production of urea in the seven months under review dipped 1.2 per cent to 179.02 lt and that of DAP 7.3 per cent to 25.03 lt.

On the other hand, the SSP production has gone up 7.2 per cent to 31.76 lt and that of ammonium sulphate by 14.1 per cent to 4.05 lt.

With regard to sales of fertilizers during April-October period, the government data show that urea was 2.3 per cent up at 212.35 lt from 207.63 lt, Muriate of Potash (MOP for agriculture use) 24.8 per cent to 11.62 lt from 9.31 lt and complex by 22.7 per cent to 90.87 lt from 74.03 lt.

When the annual sales of complex fertilizers touched a record 121 lt in 2021-22, the first seven months then had about 75 lt of offtake which shows that in the current fiscal the complex fertilizer’s actual usage is likely to reach a record high, said an industry expert.

Urea Import price eases

Total import of fertilizers during April-October period dipped 24.2 per cent to 80.74 lt from 106.55 lt which included urea by 34.7 per cent to 24.76 lt, DAP 28.9 per cent to 27.84 lt, MOP 1.5 per cent to 15.34 lt and complex by 7.9 per cent to 12.8 lt.

The government data show that maximum retail prices of DAP in October was ₹1,350/bag (of 50 kg), the MOP was ₹1,500-₹1,550 per bag and complex was in the range of ₹1,230-₹1,700. Urea’s selling price remains at ₹267/bag (of 45 kg) which has not been changed for more than a decade.

The price of imported urea (FOB) dipped by 8.44 per cent to $369/tonne in October from $403/tonne a year ago and that of MOP (CFR) fell by 11.29 per cent to $283. But, the price of DAP (CFR) increased 7.9 per cent to $642/tonne.

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