Growing DAP, MOP use helps cut urea target

The government has reduced the urea use target for the fiscal year (FY) 2016-17 due to growing use of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and muriate of potash (MOP) in farming, officials said.
The government had set the target at 2.7 million tonnes of urea for the FY 2015-16. Against the target, about 2.25 million tonnes were used.
The urea use target for the current fiscal is about 2.5 million tonnes. Until January 11, 2017 over 1.1 million tonnes of urea were used, whereas the volume was over 1.2 million tonnes during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.  
The use of DAP, MOP and triple superphosphate (TSP) fertilisers is increasing day by day in view of their effectiveness in producing more crops.
The government has set a target to import 750,000 tonnes of DAP, 850,000 tonnes of MOP and 750,000 tonnes of TSP for this FY, according to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).
During the FY 2015-16, 650,000 tonnes of TSP, 800,000 toones of MOP, and 650,000 tonnes of DAP were imported.
Until January 12, 2017 the stock of urea was 482,000 tonnes, TSP around 200,000 tonnes, MOP 211,000 tonnes and DAP around 100,000 tonnes, according to the MoA.
The growing use of non-urea DAP, TSP and MOP is helping the farmers to use balanced fertilisers, according to agri-scientists.
DAP is the world's most widely-used phosphorus fertiliser, as its high nutrient content reduces handling, freight and application costs. DAP is produced in many countries across the world.
In the local market the price of TSP fertiliser is now around Tk 22 per kg, while DAP is Tk 25, MOP Tk 15, and urea around Tk 16.
Last year TSP was sold at US$ 330 per tonne in the international market. Now the price is between $ 270 and $ 289 per tonne, prompting the users to prefer it to urea.
The government has allocated over Tk 50 billion as subsidy for this purpose. There are around 5,300 MoA-appointed registered dealers for distributing fertilisers among the farmers.   
    talhabinhabib@yahoo.com