Farmers and market sources claim that the price of DAP fertilizer has increased by Rs510 per bag since the beginning of this month.
The price of Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilizer has once more surpassed the Rs10,000 mark after rising by Rs1,500 per bag over the previous month to reach Rs10,886 per bag from Rs9,386 per bag.
Farmers and market sources claim that the price of DAP fertilizer has increased by Rs510 per bag since the beginning of this month.
They claimed that when commodity prices reached Rs 15,000 in 2022, the majority of small farmers stopped using fertilizer, which after prices fell everywhere else in the world also dropped in the local market but has since begun to rise once more.
All of the Rabi and Kharif crops use DAP fertilizer, and farmers are currently planting maize in Pakistan, particularly in Punjab.
A body to review industry proposals the Pakistani Shahzada Maan Kissan Itehad informed that in addition to DAP prices beginning to rise, urea fertilizer was also no longer offered at the government-set rate of Rs2,250 for a 50kg bag. According to him, urea fertilizer is being sold for between Rs3,200 and Rs3,300 per bag on the black market.
In addition to providing cheap gas to the fertilizer plants, he urged the government to take tough action against the fertilizer manufacturers and distributors because these subsidies were not being passed on to the farmers.
According to the National Fertilizer Development Company, the nation’s overall nutrient offtake during the first half of the current year increased by 44.7% year over year to 590,000 tons compared to the same month last year (NDFC).
The total amount of nutrients offtake during the first half of the fiscal year 2023 was 4,918,073 tons. As a result, the offtake of urea and DAP in the first half of the year 2022–23 was 3,368,993 tons and 621,139 tons, respectively.
Among the nutrients, the offtake of nitrogen and phosphate increased by 45.1 and 52.3 percent annually, respectively, in December 2022. However, compared to December 2021, potash offtake decreased by 91.6%.
The report emphasized that Pakistan produced about 763,000 tons of fertilizer-related products in December 2022. Urea made up the largest portion, at 576,000 tons. DAP (31,000 tons), Nitrophos (75,000 tons), CAN (73,000 tons), and SSP (7,000 tons) were additional products.
In December 2022, 194,000 tons of supplies were imported, including 193,000 tons of urea, 20 tons of DAP, and 500 tons of MAP. According to the report, compared to the 236,405 tons recorded in the same month last year, the total DAP offtake during December 2022 was 158,000 tons, an increase of 35.2% on an annual basis.
The report continued, “Increase in DAP offtake is due to downward trend of its price and low offtake was observed in previous year.”