Wheat, potato sowing to be hit by fertiliser shortage, says expert

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 31

The sowing of wheat and potato crops is likely to be affected due to the acute shortage of urea and diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertiliser in Ludhiana district.

Chief agriculture officer, Ludhiana, Dr Narinder Singh Benipal, said only around 7% stocks of urea and around 71% stocks of DAP fertiliser were left in the district and these were also depleting slowly.

The sowing of the wheat crop is expected to start in the first week of November and with the shortage of both urea and DAP, it is likely to affect the sowing, resulting in problems to farmers.

It is pertinent to mention that the farmer bodies in Punjab have already allowed operations of goods trains in the state.

In Ludhiana district, wheat is sown on around 2.5 lakh hectares, potato on 13,500 hectares, along with other crops.

Dr Benipal said that against the demand of 47,432 tonnes of urea in the cooperative societies of the district, only around 3,506 tonnes were left. Against the demand of 6,772 tonnes in Payal, the availability was 568 tonnes, in Ludhiana (West), against the demand of 7,043 tonnes, the availability was 478 tonnes, in Ludhiana (East), against the demand of 5,989 tonnes, the availability was 511 tonnes, in Raikot, against the demand of 7,452 tonnes, the availability was 320 tonnes, in Khanna, against the demand of 2,763 tonnes, the availability was 490 tonnes, in Samrala, against the demand of 5,603 tonnes, the availability was 685 tonnes and in Jagraon, against the demand of 11,857 tonnes, the availability was 453 tonnes.

Similarly, the supply of DAP fertiliser in Ludhiana district was 16,343 tonnes against the demand of 23,113 tonnes. In Payal, against the demand of 3,592 tonnes, the availability was 2,478 tonnes, in Ludhiana (West), against the demand of 3,568 tonnes, the availability was 1,941 tonnes, in Ludhiana (East), against the demand of 3,050 tonnes, the availability was 2,066 tonnes, in Raikot, against the demand of 2,989 tonnes, the availability was 1,939 tonnes, in Khanna, against the demand of 1,647 tonnes, the availability was 1,425 tonnes, in Samrala, against the demand of 3,322 tonnes, the availability was 2,667 tonnes, and in Jagraon, against the demand of 4,943 tonnes, the availability was 3,824 tonnes. He said the situation was such that the availability of both urea and the DAP fertiliser in the private sector was nil.

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