New Delhi: As farmers across states take to the streets to protest a shortage of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertiliser in the peak of sowing season, the Centre, while denying any such shortage, has deployed ministers, district magistrates (DMs) and MLAs to do damage control.
Farmers unions including the RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) are part of the protests. Experts blame the lack of government planning and slow increase in fertiliser subsidies for the issue.
Since DAP, which contains 46 percent phosphate and 18 percent nitrogen, is the second most popular fertiliser among Indian farmers behind urea, farmers are acutely sensitive to supply and price changes. With the rabi season for sowing having begun on 1 October, there is growing anger among farmers over the issue. The state and central governments have denied any shortages.
In Punjab, Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu visited distribution centres. Meanwhile, in several parts of Haryana, fertiliser is being distributed at police stations to reduce the possibility of violence.
In Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav tasked ministers and MLAs to check on the black marketing of DAP fertiliser. And with farmers scrambling for bags of fertilisers as the sowing window narrows, the BKS started its agitation Monday against the shortage in 15 state districts where the issue is said to be severe.
Madhya Pradesh BKS general secretary Mahesh Tiwari told ThePrint, “There is a shortage of DAP in many districts. Sowing season is at its peak but there is a huge shortage of supply. Last week, we met the agriculture minister and we learnt that the Union government was not able to import DAP from China and Russia at the right time and only half of the usual supply is available in the entire state.”
He added, “The sowing season for wheat and channa (chickpeas) is ongoing in several places and, it is being reported, that the fertiliser is being sold on the black market. Farmers have had to purchase it at an escalated price. We are protesting this in 15 district headquarters in the state. Last week the government assured us that the supply would be improved but nothing happened.”
Several farmer agitations have also been reported in the state. On Saturday, farmers protested the non-availability of fertiliser in Bhopal’s Bairasiya Mandi. Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) Ashutosh Sharma and the police had to step in.
A massive scuffle was reported at a fertiliser distribution centre in Tikamgarh district last Thursday, after Neha Lodhi, a farmer, who had come to collect fertiliser in former Chief Minister Uma Bharti’s village, Dunda, was allegedly beaten up by a woman constable.
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‘Farmers are waiting all night’
The situation in Uttar Pradesh is not very different. As the sowing season peaks and amid by-elections in the state, farmers’ protests against shortage have rocked the Yogi government. In western UP and Braj area, farmers were reported to have stood in queues for the whole night to procure the fertiliser. In one video circulating on social media, farmers braved the cold as they stood outside the Regional Cooperative Society in Atrauli, Aligarh district, on the night of 15 November with quilts and blankets.
This was a day after 360 bags of DAP fertiliser reached the cooperative society. With 15 November being Guru Nanak Jayanti, farmers who did not get fertiliser continued to wait through the night despite a notice informing them that the distribution would take place the next day. Similar incidents were also reported from Hathras, Mathura, and several other UP districts.
On Sunday, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reviewed the shortage of DAP in the state and asked DMs to constitute a committee to monitor the distribution on the ground and at the distribution centres, while Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi made surprise visits to cooperative centres to gauge the supply situation and check for black marketing.
A state government agriculture official told ThePrint, “Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi has called Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav to deploy more trains to transport racks of DAP at the earliest as farmers are facing a shortage of supply from Centre.”
“At a Saturday review meeting, the agriculture minister said that eight thousand metric tonnes of DAP will arrive in the state at distribution centres in the next two days. Presently, the state has 2.5 lakh metric tonnes of fertiliser for distribution,” the official added.
According to BKS general secretary (Uttar Pradesh) Shiv Dixit, “From Uttar Pradesh to Punjab, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharastra are facing huge shortage of fertilisers. Normally the government procures DAP before the start of the season but this time they were not able to procure it on time.”
He added: “The government is saying that this is due to disruption in the supply chain and the Russia-Ukraine war. Yes, the supply was affected but the war has not started suddenly. It has been going on for a while. The government should have adopted a counter strategy for procurement. Farmers are cultivating more land because of a good monsoon and if half of the sowing season is lost, it will impact farmers and the whole supply chain of wheat and other crops for which more DAP is used.”
The state governments denied there is a shortage. For instance, UP’s agriculture minister said in review meeting that there was adequate supply.
Mohini Mohan Mishra, the all-India general secretary of BKS, said, “We usually promote the organic way of farming, but farmers’ habits cannot be changed overnight. Diammonium phosphate is essential for farming, particularly in northern India. The government was not right because many states facing shortages.”
Govt denies shortage in Punjab
When the crisis had initially begun in Punjab and farmers’ unions began protesting, the central government released a statement denying the shortage, despite reports from several places.
“Some reports published in the media recently claiming shortage of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) in Punjab and its resultant effect on prospects of Rabi crop are misleading, misplaced and devoid of factual position,” it said in a statement on 31 October.
The central government statement further said, “It may be noted that at the beginning of October-2024, 99,000 Metric tonnes (MTs) of DAP, 59,000 MTs of NPKs (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertiliser) and 78,000 MT of Single Superphosphate (SSP) fertiliser was available in the stock of the state. Further, in Oct-2024 (up to 29.10.24), 92,000 MT of DAP, 18,000 MT of NPKs and 9,000 MT of SSP have been supplied to the state by the Department of Fertilizers, Government of India. Thus, in Oct-24 (upto 29.10.24), Department has ensured total availability of 1,91,000 MT of DAP, 77,000 MT of NPKs and 87,000 MT of SSP.”
It further added, “As per data in Oct-2024 (upto 29.10.2024), 1,00,000 MT of DAP, 28,000 MT of NPKs and 12,000 MT of SSP have been consumed in the state for Rabi-2024-25 cropping season. Thus, at present about 90,000 MT of DAP, 49,000 MT of NPK and 76,000 MT of SSP are available in state.”
However, the government admitted that “the import of DAP got affected due to the Red Sea crisis, ongoing since January, which has resulted in fertiliser ships to reroute an additional distance of 6500 km via the Cape of Good Hope. Despite these challenges, the Government of India has maintained stable fertiliser prices (₹1,350 for a 50 kg bag) through two back-to-back cabinet decisions, ensuring affordability for farmers.”
The BJP sent Union minister Bittu to check the availability in centres. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also held a meeting with Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers and BJP state president J.P. Nadda in Delhi over the issue.
A former BJP minister in Punjab admitted that there was a “huge shortage of fertiliser in the state and the concerns over it had been conveyed to the Centre”.
‘Poor planning to blame’
Experts blamed the government’s poor planning as well as fertiliser subsidies for the shortage. On 18 September this year, the Union government had approved a subsidy of Rs 24,475 crore on DAP and other complex fertilisers (P&K). However, the subsidy on DAP has not increased much, discouraging companies from importing fertiliser.
The government provides fertilisers such as urea and DAP to farmers at subsidised prices via manufacturers and importers. While urea subsidy varies from time to time, in order to keep its selling price constant amid market fluctuations, non-urea fertiliser subsidy such as that for DAP, NPK and MOP fertilisers, is given on a per-tonne basis to companies.
An agricultural expert, who did not wish to be named, said, “An estimated 60 lakh tonnes of demand exists during the rabi season and much of consumption happens during mid-October and mid-December. But this time, there was hardly 15-15 lakh tonne in stock at the start of the sowing season due to poor planning. Only 19.7 lakh tonnes were imported during April-September and the crisis started from the kharif season.”
The expert added, “The low increase in fertiliser subsidy is also a major reason behind the decline in DAP imports. The subsidy is given by the government to fertiliser companies to provide fertilisers to farmers at concessional rates. However, importing DAP at rates fixed by the government under the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme has become a loss-making deal for fertiliser companies.
Devender Sharma, an agricultural analyst, told ThePrint, “Why did the government not take accountability for the crisis? They know these requirements well in advance, then why was sufficient supply not procured?”
“When we talk about ease of doing business, nobody talks about the ease of farming. Farmers are being lathi-charged and they are facing hardship but there is no accountability. If paddy has not been procured why has the FCI (Food Corporation of India) chairman not been held accountable? Only the supply chain issue is not the real reason behind shortage and nationwide crisis.”
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)