Fertiliser consumption jumps 18pc to 2.57MT

KARACHI: The country’s fertiliser consumption jumped 18 percent to 2.57 million tons during the first three months of the current summer crops season, indicating the country will book more cargoes to meet growing demand of fertilser.
The National Fertilizer Development Center (NFDC) latest data showed that farmers used 2.17 million tons of fertiliser last year.
It said farmers used 283,431 tons of diammonium phosphate (DAP) in the first three months (April-June) of 2015 as compared to 213,277 tons used in the same period last year, showing an increase of almost 33 percent.
"Farmers may have used higher fertilisers to cope up with the effects of rainfall, which drained nutrients as well as improved intake of acreage,” said Ahmed Ali Khan, research officer at NFDC.
Similarly, the use of urea surged 15 percent to 1.35 million ton in April-June.
It said application of nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphate and potash improved 19 percent to a cumulative 933,769 tons. The federal research institute projected that DAP’s offtake will grow 11 percent to 629,084 tons in the current Kharif season (April-September).
The urea consumption, however, will inch up 1.1 percent to 2.74 million tons. Application of nutrients will rise 4.5 percent to 1.89 million tons, it said.
The state-run Trading Corporation of Pakistan already imported 100,000 tons of fertiliser at the start of this crop season.
It also awarded contracts for the import of 150,000 tons of urea last week to meet its growing demand in Kharif season.
The NFDC data, however, surprised farmers and fertiliser dealers. Farmers said such increase in use of the chemicals didn’t reflect in outputs of cotton, sugarcane, rice, fodder, and various vegetables and pulses in the season.
“This (reported increase in fertilisers) is impossible," said Naseem Akhter, a fertiliser dealer from Noshero Feroz district in Sindh.
Akhter said farmers usually use higher quantity of fertilisers during wheat crop, as this is a leading profitable crop.
But farmers do not apply increased fertilisers for acquiring low-priced or loss giving crops, such as Kharif's cotton, rice, and sugarcane, he added.
“Landlords might have bought higher quantity for the next wheat crop, as fertilisers are usually short in supply during November to January," said Akhter, who is also a farmer.
He has grown cotton, cane, oil seeds (til) in the current summer season. He grows wheat in the winter season (October-March). He said many fertilizer manufacturing firms offer special discount to farmers through dealers.
Abdul Majeed Nizamani, president of Sindh Abadgar Board, didn’t agree with the uptrend. Nizamani said farmers may be growing many crops this season.
"They have grown fodder and cotton at larger areas," he said. He added that increase use should lead to increased yields of crops.
The Pakistan Central Cotton Committee data showed that cotton acreage rose 5.10 percent this season. Fodder cultivation may also increase to meet its growing demand in Eid-ul-Azha.