SAS Nagar, November 05, 2024: Taking seriously the black market of DAP fertilizer, charging more than the fixed rate or selling (tagging) of other agricultural inputs in the district, Deputy Commissioner Mrs. Ashika Jain to the Chief Agriculture Officer of the district; SAS has directed to check the fertilizer stock of agricultural input dealers in Nagar district.
In a review meeting with ADC Sonam Chaudhary, Chief Agricultural Officer (CAO) Dr Gurmail Singh and Deputy Registrar (DR) Cooperative Societies Gurbir Singh Dhillon at the DC office this morning, Deputy Commissioner Ms. Ashika Jain told the CAO and DR that the dealers and cooperative societies It should be mandatory to display the stock of available fertilizers on the notice board daily. Apart from this, overcharging of farmers at the time of sale of DAP or tagging of other agricultural inputs with the sale of DAP should also be strictly prohibited. He asked the agriculture officials to form teams with district administration officials for spot checks on fertilizer dealers.
The Deputy Commissioner said that SAS Nagar district has a stock of 3033 MT of fertilizers and farmers need not worry. These include DAP substitutes such as NPK (12:32:16, 15:15:15, 20:20:0:13, 16:16:16), single super phosphate, triple super phosphate.
He said that according to the advice given by soil scientists of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, DAP contains a mixture of 46 percent phosphorus and 18 percent nitrogen, while single superphosphate contains 16 percent phosphorus. Farmers can use three bags of this fertilizer instead of one bag of DAP. In addition, it also provides additional sulfur. Similarly, NPK 12:32:16 contains 32% phosphorus. One and a half bags of NPK 12:32:16 is equal to one bag of DAP. It also offers the added benefit of potash, which is not present in DAP.
He added that as per the advice of soil scientists, triple superphosphate contains 46% phosphorus and can be used at the same rate as DAP, which provides the benefit of additional sulphur, while NPK 10:26: 26 contains 26% of total phosphorus and can also meet the phosphorus requirements of crops. It also provides the added benefit of potash, which is not present in DAP.
The Deputy Commissioner assured the farmers not to worry about the alleged shortage of DAP and emphasized that these effective and readily available fertilizer substitutes can be used successfully.