Gujarat minister says state has enough fertiliser stock

[K.Karthik Raja]

Gujarat minister says state has enough fertiliser stock
Friday, Jun 13

AHMEDABAD - Gujarat, India's top cotton and groundnut producer,
has adequate fertiliser stock to meet the requirements of farmers in
the ongoing kharif sowing season and is also well prepared in the
event of any shortfall, Dilip Sanghani, Gujarat Minister for
Agriculture and Co-operation, said today.
Two other states--Karnataka and Maharashtra--are currently
facing shortage of fertilisers during sowing operations, leading to
violent agitation by farmers in some districts of these states.
"We have sufficient supply of fertilisers to meet the requirement
of
farmers. Central allocation of fertiliser is timely until now. We
have asked the central government to release 50% of our total
fertiliser
requirement so that a shortage situation does not arise," Sanghani
told
kences1
Gujarat requires 925,000 tn of urea this kharif season (Jun-Sep),
against 878,644 tn last year, because the state expects a substantial
increase in the area under cultivation, said S.R. Chaudhari, director,
Department of Agriculture, Gujarat.
The state needs 335,000 tn of DAP fertiliser this kharif season,
against 306,896 tn last year.
Chaudhari said Gujarat was likely to get 200,000 tn urea out of
the
total imports that the country was undertaking. The rest of its urea
requirement will be met by the central government.
"We haven't faced any fertiliser shortage problem yet and the
stocks will be sufficient this kharif season, provided the Centre
releases the state's quota timely," he said.
As per farm department of Gujarat, the state's kharif cotton
acreage is seen around 2.24 mln ha, against 2.52 mln ha last year,
while kharif groundnut acreage is expected at 1.85 mln ha, against
1.66 mln ha a year ago.
"We are monitoring the situation closely," Sanghani said.
.
IMPORTS AT KANDLA
India meets its annual requirement of fertilisers from domestic
production as well as imports, largely from Africa and West Asia. It
is
expected to import 6.9 mln tn urea and 3.5 mln tn DAP (Diammonium
Phosphate) in 2008-09.
The country's annual urea requirement is around 25 mln tn, while
DAP requirement is placed between 5 mln-6 mln tn.
Fertiliser imports are mainly undertaken from the two Gujarat
ports--
Kandla and Mundra. Kandla port, one of the largest and busiest ports
in India, is likely to handle 450,000 tn imported fertilisers during
Jul-Sep, said H.C. Venkatesh, the port's traffic manager.
The port is likely to handle around 600,000 tn imported
fertilisers in
Apr-Jun, he said. This includes urea, DAP and MOP (Muriate of Potash)
among other fertilisers.
"Around 12 vessels carrying fertilisers are scheduled to arrive at
Kandla this month, out of these 4 vessels will arrive by Jun 14 at the
port. Each vessel will be carrying cargo of around 35,000-40,000 tn,"
he said.
He said total fertiliser imports at Kandla port during Apr-Sep
are
estimated to be around 1.5 mln tn.
"There might be some congestion at the port during June and the
ship turnaround period might be delayed by one or two days depending
on the rake availability, but that won't be a major problem,"
Venkatesh said.
The turnaround time for a vessel carrying 40,000 tn cargo is
3.5-4.0
days at Kandla port.
"Total fertiliser imports at Kandla port in 2008-09 (Apr-Mar) are
likely to be around 5.000 mln tn, an increase of 1.000 mln tn from
3.916 mln tn imported in the year ago," he said.
Kandla had handled 2.04 mln tn imported fertilisers in 2006-07.
"Until September, most of the fertiliser imports will be mixed
including
urea, DAP and MOP. During Sep-Feb, urea will dominate the total
fertiliser imports," Venkatesh said.
Fertiliser imports normally taper off after February. End