Govt forms task force to promote SSP fertiliser

New Delhi: The government has set up a task force under the aegis of Fertiliser Association of India to find out ways to improve the quality of Single Super Phosphate (SSP) fertiliser and promote its use as an alternative to Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP), Parliament was informed on Friday.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwant Khuba said the consumption of SSP has increased in the country from 44.88 lakh tonnes in 2020-21 to 56.81 lakh tonnes in 2021-22.

The government is promoting the combination of SSP and urea in the ratio of 3:1 in order to encourage its use among farmers. During the last rabi (winter) season, states like Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh had promoted SSP as a successful alternative to DAP, he added.

To further increase the consumption of SSP in the country, the Minister said the government has taken several steps.

A task force has been formed under the aegis of the FAI which will find out the ways and means to improve the quality of SSP fertilisers, image of the industry and to examine the various issues faced by the industry, he said. Freight subsidy was extended to SSP for the kharif and rabi season of 2022 on pilot basis to promote its usage.

Guidelines on SSP have been rationalised and the minimum capacity of new units has been fixed at one lakh tonnes per annum to increase the scale of production. According to the Minister, the domestic production of SSP has increased to 53.51 lakh tonnes in 2021-22 from 49.16 lakh tonnes in the previous year.

Meanwhile, India imported 152.7 lakh tonne of fertiliser, including urea and P&K, till December of the current fiscal, Parliament was informed on Friday.

Sharing data in his written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwant Khuba said: “The country imported 62.44 lakh tonne of urea and 90.26 lakh tonne of phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers during April-December period of the current fiscal”.

Among P&K fertilisers, the country imported 53.18 lakh tonne of Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), 16.22 lakh tonne of Muriate of Potash (MoP) and 20.86 lakh tonne of NPK soil nutrients till December of the current fiscal.

In the case of domestic production, the minister said the country’s total fertiliser production reached 362.73 lakh tonne during the April-December period of this fiscal. This includes 210.98 lakh tonne of urea and 151.75 lakh tonne of P&K fertilisers.

During 2021-22, the total domestic fertiliser production stood at 435.95 lakh tonne, while imports stood at 182.28 lakh tonne.

The minister said, “There is adequate availability of fertilisers in the country,” in a separate reply.

The availability of fertilisers has remained comfortable in Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in the ongoing 2022-23 rabi (winter) season, he said.

However, there was a higher demand for fertiliser in Rajashtan in view of the good monsoon.