Daily Times

Improved farm economy coupled with low fertilizer prices enhanced the total offtake of different fertilizers by 42.2 percent to 626,000 tonnes during the first two months of Kharif 2021 (April-May) as compared to the same period of Kharif 2020.

As per latest data of fertilizer offtake issued by National Fertilizer Development Company (NFDC), during Kharif 2021 (April-May), urea offtake was 811,000 tonnes, registering an increase of 68.2 percent over Kharif 2020. The cumulative DAP offtake during Kharif 2021 (April-May) was 219,000 tonnes which increased by 3.5 percent over the same time frame of the previous season.

Total nutrient offtake during May 2021 was 386,000 tonnes, which increased by 223 percent compared to 173,000 tonnes recorded in May 2020. The offtake of nitrogen, phosphate and potash increased by 573 percent, 5.5 percent, and 31.9 percent, respectively, in May 2021.

According to the NFDC data, the overall urea offtake during the month of May 2021 was 501,000 tonnes, showing 108.75 percent increase compared to 240,000 tonnes reported during the same period of the last year.

The total DAP offtake during the month of May 2021 stood at 173,000 tonnes, depicting an increase of 183.6 percent against the offtake of 61,000 tonnes in May 2020. This increase in the offtake of DAP is due to an upward trend in prices in both domestic and international markets.

Analysts have attributed several factors to the enhanced offtake including higher prices of sugarcane and wheat amid low fertilizer prices. They said that the GIDC impact led to the decline of urea by around Rs350 per bag of 50 kilograms. This too encouraged farmers to consume more urea and phosphates compared to the previous year.