Nabha said that according to FCO-1985, licence of retailers/ PACS will be cancelled if they are found dabbling in such malpractices.
PUNJAB AGRICULTURE Minister, Randeep Nabha, on Saturday, threatened action against the dealers/ primary agriculture societies (PACS) of the state who hoard/black market or tag unnecessary products with Diammonium phosphate (DAP), which he said might cause panic buying among farmers.
Nabha said that according to FCO-1985, licence of retailers/ PACS will be cancelled if they are found dabbling in such malpractices.
Talking to the media, Nabha also detailed the availability of DAP in Punjab, highlighting that the state has been allocated 5.50 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) of DAP during the Rabi season of 2021-2022. For the month of October, 1.97 LMT of DAP was allocated of which 1.51 LMT was received. A total of 2.56 LMT of DAP has been allocated for the month of November 2021, of which a total of 1.60 LMT has been received till now.
As of November 6, a total of 0.67 LMT of DAP was available in different districts of Punjab, with 50 more rakes of the fertilizer – totalling over 1.0 LMT – expected to be received up to November 15. Seven rakes of DAP (18,304MT) have been received at Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Tarn Taran, Abohar, Muktsar & Rampuraphul during November 2021, Nabha said, adding that 12 rakes of DAP (34,558 MT) are in transit and will be delivered to Amritsar, Ropar, Batala, Ludhiana, Rajpura, Tarn Taran, Jalandhar, Muktsar and Sunam. At least 18 more rakes (50,000 MT) are indented at Indian Railways and will be received till November 15, 2021.
Nabha further said that prepositioning of DAP starts from August every year and this year around 1.50 LMT of DAP was deficient when compared to the previous year during the same period. The state, he said, was trying its best to tide over the crisis and the price of the fertilizer was high in the international market and the required quantity not available. The minister suggested that alternate Phosphatic fertilizers – like nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (NPK), and Single Super Phosphate (SSP) should also be used alongwith DAP to fulfill phosphatic requirements. About 0.34 LMT of NPK and 0.57 LMT of SSP was available in different districts of the state, he claimed.
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