CROP production is a function of numerous factors including environment, soil fertility, availability of inputs and plant protection measures. Here the importance of soil fertility in improving crop productivity would be highlighted.

Soil serves as a store house of nutrients essential for crop plant growth and development. Plant roots obtain nutrients from soil solution depending upon concentration of nutrients. Thus availability of nutrients in the soil solution has great bearing on crop growth and development and final production.

With cultivation of exhaustive crops yearly in intensive rice-wheat and cotton-wheat cropping pattern, depletion of soil fertility has been reported in cultivated fields. Addition of fertilisers in the form of commercial fertilisers, green manuring, farm yard manuring and composts is less than removal of nutrients from the soil in the from of crop uptake, leaching, volatilisation and de-nitrification.

Effective way of replenishing the soil solution with nutrients is balanced use of commercial fertilisers. Thus availability of fertilisers is important in this regard. Remembering, the country is not self-sufficient in production of fertilisers and depends on imported fertilisers every year that creates a burden on the national exchequer. This year too, the country will import 300,000 tons of urea from Saudi Arabia in the backdrop of acute shortage of 0.5 million tons of urea in the domestic market.

Urea is heavily used at the time of sowing as well as at later stages of vegetative crop growth. Key point is that the imported fertiliser should be made available in the market to ensure sufficient availability of the product at control rates. The government should consider distributing fertilisers through the Utility Stores Corporation and other similar facilities for this purpose.

Significant increase in the prices of fertilisers from the last many years has debarred the farming community to incorporate fertilizers in balanced amount. As a result the crop productivity has been dropped and the country is facing shortage of wheat, sugar, edible oil etc. This year too, owing to supply and demand gap and higher prices, the farmers would use less fertilizer in rice and cotton crops that would affect the country’s agricultural production negatively. To avoid further increase in the prices of fertilisers and to maintain prices at the current level, the government has to provide maximum subsidy on fertiliser. It is essential to avoid impact of fertiliser shortage on agricultural output.

It is important to mention that black-marketing and hoarding has an inflationary impact on fertiliser prices. The hoarders and black-marketers try to exploit the market at the time of sowing of crops. There is a need to take stern measures against these hoarders and black-marketers to dispel the effects of artificial shortage of fertiliser. One way to punish black-marketers and hoarders is to cancel licences of the dealers.

Out of 79.61 million hectares, some 23 million hectares are under major and minor crops. Fertiliser application is crucial for optimum crop production. Domestic production of fertilisers is less than the requirements. For instance, total urea production is about 4.8 million tons against a demand of 5.4 million tons, leaving a shortfall of 600,000 tons. Similarly, total production of phosphatic fertilisers is about 700,000 tons against its annual requirement of 1,300,000 tons, leaving a gap of 600,000 tons.

Since in the international market prices of fertilisers are much higher, the shortfall offers an opportunity to the middleman to earn higher profits through black-marketing and hoarding.

To ensure supply of urea, an inter-ministerial body of the government has decided to provide 50 per cent of total production to dealers and sell 50 per cent at control rates of Rs625 per 50kg bag at the warehouses of manufacturing plants.

Remembering, that prices of DAP have increased from Rs900-1,000 to Rs2, 800-3,100 in the market because few countries have monopoly over its production.

The prices of phosphorus powder have been increased by countries like Morocco, Egypt and some other producers who were monopolising the phosphatic fertilisers, like oil producers. It is encouraging that the government was providing a subsidy of Rs470 per 50kg bag in order to facilitate the farming community to apply vital fertiliser in balanced proportions.

DAP contains nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, essential primary macro-nutrients for growth and development of crop plants. The government has decided to cap DAP prices at Rs3,000 per 50 kg bag.

It is need of the hour to increase domestic production of fertilisers by installing plants not only to bridge the gap between demand and supply of fertilisers but also to cater to the increasing future requirements. It is encouraging that the government was planning to establish two new units of urea manufacturing and it has been said that by 2010 the country would be self-sufficient in urea production.

Fertiliser use efficiency depends upon availability of adequate irrigation water. It is pertinent to improve water supply to fields so that fertilser efficiency could be enhanced by timely irrigating crops. Increasing water storage capacity is also important to make water available for Rabi crops when there will be acute water shortage.