Mismanagement at shipping terminals blamed for fertiliser shortage

LAHORE: Importers and manufacturers of diammonium phosphate (DAP) on Monday blamed mismanagement at shipping terminals for short supply of fertiliser in the market that infuriated growers amid crucial stage of wheat plantation in the country.

As fertiliser requirements reached to maximum level at this time of year, it is sickening to note that DAP is in short supply in the market and farmers are facing problem in sourcing this vital input during cultivation of strategic wheat crop, said Ibrahim Mughal, chairman of Agri Forum Pakistan.

There is shortage of DAP fertiliser in the market at the time of its strong demand and dealers have started to taking advantage of the situation by increasing its price, Mughal said. Government should take action against responsible quarters in order to ensure smooth supply of DAP at affordable rates.

“Shortage of DAP fertiliser in the market may hit wheat productivity,” he said. DAP is one of the widely used fertilisers in the world. However, its application in Pakistan has been comparatively low primarily due to its high cost. It is the most concentrated phosphatic water-soluble fertiliser, which is used for all crops, especially at the time of sowing for better root development.

However, owing to its high prices, farmers have been reluctant to use it and instead opt to apply cheap and readily urea fertiliser.

This leads to unbalanced use of fertiliser, which mostly proved to be counterproductive especially keeping in view excessive use of cheap urea input. The brewing shortage will exacerbate imbalanced fertiliser application as it will further divert efforts from the path of attaining ideal nitrogen phosphate ratio.

Importers and manufacturers blamed mismanagement on the part of government for

short supply of DAP, claiming hurdles at terminal due to prioritised wheat and sugar import are causing delay in berthing and offloading of DAP fertiliser.

A spokesman of Fertiliser Manufactures of Pakistan Advisory Council (FMPAC) said import of DAP fertiliser was badly hit due to delay being faced at port terminals for the last about a month.

“We have been asking authorities concerned constantly for allowing smooth import of DAP cargoes but to no avail. A ship has to wait for two weeks before it was finally got some space at offloading area while another was allowed to enter port after ten days waiting for the berthing space,” he said.

He said importers of DAP and its raw material formally communicated to officials of ministry of maritime affairs about mismanagement at port on different occasions but no corrective measure had been taken in this regard.

The FMPAC spokesman said DAP prices could increase if demurrage charges are applied on delay in offloading of cargo. Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi was not available for the comment on obstacles in import of DAP through port.