No shortage of fertilizers in rabi season: Centre

New Delhi: The Centre on Friday said there is adequate availability of key fertilisers, including urea and DAP, across the country for the ongoing rabi season, rejecting reports of shortage in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
“There have been some media reports claiming shortage of fertilizers in Trichy, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. Such reports are beyond the facts,” the Fertiliser Ministry said in a statement.
It is clarified that there is more than adequate availability of fertilizers in the country to meet the needs of the ongoing rabi (winter) season, it said.
The central government is sending fertilizers as per need to all states, and it is the responsibility of respective state governments to ensure availability within the states through proper intra-district and inter-district distribution, it added.According to the ministry, urea requirement is projected at 180.18 lakh tonne for the 2022 rabi season. The pro rata requirement up to November 16 was 57.40 lakh tonne against which the government has ensured an availability of 92.54 lakh tonne.
During this period, sales of urea have been 38.43 lah tonne. Further, there is a closing stock of 54.11 lakh tonne lying with the states. In addition to this, there is a stock of 1.05 lakh tonne at Urea plants and 5.03 lakh tonne at ports so as to meet the demand, it addd In case of Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP), the ministry said the projected requirement is 55.38 lakh tonne for the rabi season.The pro rata requirement up to November 16 was 26.98 lakh tonne against which the ministry has ensured an availability of 36.90 lakh tonne.
During this period, sales of DAP have been 24.57 lakh tonne. Further, there is a closing stock of 12.33 LMT lying with the states. In addition to this, there is a stock of 0.51 lakhtonne at the DAP plants and 4.51 lakh tonne at ports so as to meet the demand.
Similarly, the projected requirement of Muriate of Potash (MoP) is 14.35 lakh tonne for the rabi season. The pro rata requirement up to Novembr 16 was is 5.28 lakh tonne against which the ministry has ensured an availability of 8.04 lakh tonne.
During this period, sales of MOP was 3.01 lakh tonne and is a closing stock of 5.03 lakh tonne lying in the states. In addition to this, there is a stock of 1.17 lakh tonne at ports so as to meet the demand of MOP.
In case of NPKS fertilisers, the projected requirement is 56.97 lakh tonne for the rabi season. The pro rata requirement up to November 16 was 20.12 lakh tonne against which the ministry has ensured an availability of 40.76 lakh tonne.
During this period, sales of NPKS have been 15.99 lakh tonne. Further, there is a closing stock of 24.77 lakh tonne lying in the states, while there is a stock of 1.24 lakh tonne at plants and 2.93 lakh tonne at ports so to meet the demand.
The projected requirement of Single Super Phosphate (SSP) is 33.64 lakh tonne for the rabi season. The pro rata requirement up to November 16 was 14.05 lakh tonne against which the ministry has ensured an availability of 24.79 lakh tonne.During ths period, sales of SSP have been 9.25 lakh tonne. Further, there is a closing stock of 15.54 lakh tonne lying in the states. There is also a stock of 1.65 lakh tonne available at plants so as to meet the demand.
“Thus, availability of urea, DAP, MOP, NPKS and SSP fertilizers in the country is adequate to meet needs of the rabi season,” the ministry asserted.
Currently, sowing of rabi (winter) crops such as wheat, gram and mustard are underway. Total coverage under all the rabi crops remained higher at 268.80 lakh hectare as on November 18 of this rabi season, higher than 250.76 lakh hectare in the year-ago period, as per the official data.